Biographies of the Panel of Eminent Experts on Ethics in Food and Agriculture
Mr Francisco J. Ayala, USA
Born in 1934 in Madrid, Spain. A citizen of the United
States since 1971. Professor of Biological Sciences and of
Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine (United
States). Former President and Chair of the Board of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science. Member
of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and
Technology. Author of more than 700 articles and 15 books.
Mr Ayala's scientific research focuses on population and
evolutionary genetics, including the origin of species,
genetic diversity of populations, the origin of malaria, the
population structure of parasitic protozoa, and the
molecular clock of evolution. He also writes about the
interface between religion and science and on philosophical
issues concerning epistemology, ethics and the philosophy of
biology. For photo, click
here.
Ms Chen Chunming, China
Born in 1925. Founding President of the Chinese Academy of
Preventive Medicine from 1983 to 1992. Continues to serve as
a Professor of Nutrition and Senior Advisor to the Academy.
Currently Chair of the National Expert Committee on AIDS
Prevention and Control and Vice Chair of the National
Consultation Committee on Food and Nutrition. A member of
the World Health Organization Expert Advisory Panel on
Nutrition since 1979. Chair of the Committee for Ethics of
the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine and a member of
the Ethics Committee of Biomedical Research in Asia. Awarded
the FAO Certificate of Achievement in Nutrition in 1992. Ms
Chen has focused on population nutrition and nutrition
policy studies since 1982. She designed the current National
Nutrition Surveillance System in China and is the key
supervisor of the system. She is an expert on the nutrition
status of children and the general population, and on the
food consumption behaviour of Chinese people during economic
development. For photo, click
here.
Mr Asbjørn Eide, Norway
Born in 1933. Former Director and now Senior Fellow of the
Norwegian Institute of Human Rights, attached to the
University of Oslo. Former Secretary-General of the
International Peace Research Association. Member and former
Chair of the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights, and former Special
Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on the Right to Food as a
Human Right. Mr Eide is currently Chair of the United
Nations Working Group on Minorities. He has published
extensively on human rights issues and is Doctor Juris of
the Lund University. For photo click
here.
Ms Noëlle Lenoir, France
Born in 1948. Jurist, Member of the French Constitutional
Court (first woman to be appointed to this court). President
of the European Group on Ethics of the European Union.
Former President of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization's International
Bioethics Committee. Member of the Consultative Forum for
Dialogue between Europe and the United States on
Biotechnology. Ms Lenoir is an Associate Professor at the
Law School of University of Paris II on Bioethics and Human
Rights. For photo, click
here.
Mr Mohammed Noor Salleh, Malaysia
Born in 1940. Forester and former Director-General of the
Forest Research Institute of Malaysia. Former President of
the International Union of Forest Research Organizations and
former Chair of the Asia Pacific Association of Forest
Research Institutions. Former member of the Technical
Advisory Committee for the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research and for the Scientific
Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility.
Mr Salleh is currently a member of the Malaysian Human
Rights Commission, President of the Malaysian Nature Society
and Secretary-General of the Academy of Sciences, Malaysia.
He manages a research company on biotechnology and a
forestry consultancy company. For photo, click
here.
Mr Mohammed Rami, Morocco
Born in 1952. M.Sc. in Quantitative Sciences and Fisheries
Management, University of Washington, Seattle, United
States. Former Director of the Moroccan Fisheries Research
Institute, Casablanca (1986-1992). Former Director of
Fisheries and Aquaculture, Ministry of Fisheries, Rabat
(1992-1998). Mr Rami is currently Adviser to the Prime
Minister of Morocco on External Economic Affairs and
Fisheries Policiese.
Ms Lydia Margarita Tablada Romero,
Cuba
Born in 1947. Doctor in Medicine and Director-General of the
National Center of Animal and Plant Health and Professor of
Microbiology at the Havana Agricultural University. Until
1998, a member of the State Council and National Assembly in
Cuba. Ms Tablada Romero is an emerit member of the Cuban
Academy of Science. For photo, click
here.
Mr Melaku Worede, Ethiopia
Born in 1936. Geneticist and former Director of Plant
Genetic Resources Centre of Ethiopia. Former Chair of the
African Committee for Plant Genetic Resources. Vice-Chair,
and later Chair, of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources
for Food and Agriculture. Mr Worede was the recipient of the
Right Livelihood Award (also referred to as the Alternative
Nobel Prize) in 1989, Stockholm, Sweden, for achievements in
genetic resource work. For photo, click
here.
3 May 2001
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