Meet the Scientific Advisory Committee

SAC Brochure

Harnessing science to transform food systems

The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) comprises eminent scientists from around the world, dedicated to addressing systemic challenges that exist in transformation pathways through credible, evidence-based and science-driven solutions.

 

Learn more about the SAC

Members

PROFESSOR OLANIKE ADEYEMO 

Professor Olanike Adeyemo is a COMSTECH Distinguished scholar and represents sub-Saharan Africa on the 6th Steering Committee of the World Food Security’s High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) on Food Security and Nutrition (2021-date). She is the Pioneer Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships), University of Ibadan, Ibadan (2017-2021). Her research is in “One Health”, an innovative and transdisciplinary research approach that cuts across traditional boundaries and paradigms to create novel, conceptual, methodological, and translational innovation at the environment-livestock-wildlife-human interface with significant policy implication for Nigeria, the African Continent, and the rest of the world. She has a patent, copyrights and 135 publications. Among other preferments, Professor Adeyemo is an expert on the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on food additives, contaminants, natural toxins, and residues of Veterinary drugs (2011-2026) and a Council member of International Professional Recognition Committee (IPRC) for Research Management, South Africa. In 2022, She was invited by the British Council to join the Steering Committee of the Going Global Partners’ Group as an International representative. Professor Olanike Adeyemo is an elected Fellow of Nigerian Academy of Science, African Academy of Sciences, The World Academy of Sciences and International Science Council. 

OLANIKE ADEYEMO
KAOSAR AFSANA
PROFESSOR KAOSAR AFSANA

Professor Kaosar Afsana has over 30 years of experience in public health and nutrition embracing research, implementation, management and policy-influencing. She was the Director of BRAC Health, Nutrition and Population Programme of BRAC (largest NGO in the world) where she conceived and led breakthrough interventions in RMNCH and nutrition. Having rich background in implementation and research on varied issues, she broadened her scope of work and capacity to expand innovative interventions in both development and humanitarian sectors. At present, her implementation experience mingled with research focuses on public health and nutrition, early child development, health systems and humanitarian crisis. Her knowledge and experience in research, implementation and policy advocacy in fact have positioned her in many international and local agencies including the government of Bangladesh to influence science-policy interfacing at country and global levels in diverse fields of health and nutrition. Prof Afsana has authored books and widely published journal papers and book chapters. She has been awarded with many prestigious awards for her academic and professional excellence. 

 

DR. MOHAMED AIT KADI

Dr. Mohamed AIT KADI is presently Resident Member of Hassan II Academy of Sciences and Technology. He was President of the General Council of Agricultural Development, a high level policy Think Tank of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development and Forestry in Morocco. He was the Chief Agricultural Negotiator of the free trade agreement between Morocco and the United States. He chairs the Scientific Committee of the Adaptation of Africa’s Agriculture Initiative. He has been a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Morocco, the CGIAR Consortium Board and IFPRI’s Board. Presently he is member of the International Advisory Council of the Bioeconomy Summit. He has served in many high level international assignments. He has earned his engineering and doctorate degrees of “Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire HassanII”, Rabat, Morocco, “Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et Forêts”, Paris, France and Utah State University, USA. 

MOHAMED AIT KADI
OUSMANE BADIANE
DR. OUSMANE BADIANE

Dr. Ousmane Badiane, Distinguished Fellow of the African Association of Agricultural Economists, recipient of the Africa Food Prize in 2015 and member of the World Academy of Sciences, is the founder and Executive Chairperson of AKADEMIYA2063. He has over 30 years of experience as an academic and a practitioner in international development. As the Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), he was instrumental in developing and guiding the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). As Lead Specialist for Food and Agricultural Policy at the World Bank, he served as advisor to the Vice President for Africa and originated projects with funding ranging from US$5 million to US$150 million. Between research and development finance, Dr. Badiane taught Economics of Development in Africa at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies for many years. Dr. Badiane received PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Kiel in Germany. He is also the recipient of a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of KwaZulu Natal.

DR. ROBERT BERTRAM

Dr. Rob Bertram is Chief Scientist in USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, where he leads USAID’s evidence-based efforts to advance agricultural and food systems research supporting the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future.  He oversees USAID’s food security research portfolio spanning the U.S. University-led Feed the Future Innovation Labs, the CGIAR and other International Agricultural Research Centers and public-private partnerships in agricultural biotechnology, all of which collaborate with and build capacity of national research organizations across Africa, Asia and Latin America. He is active in multilateral science contexts, where he leads USAID participation in the CGIAR and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, chairs the FAO Global Action on Fall Armyworm Technical Committee, and formerly chaired the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and has also served as a Senior Official in the Executive Committee of Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement. 

 

ROBERT BERTRAM
BARBARA BURLINGAME
PROFESSOR BARBARA BURLINGAME 

Professor Barbara Burlingame is co-chair of the Sustainable Diets Task Force of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS), member of the HLPE Steering Committee of CFS, and Professor of nutrition and food systems, and the ex-Chief of nutrition at FAO. She has a PhD from Massey University and undergraduate degrees from University of California, Davis (nutrition science and environmental toxicology). Since 2016, she has been Professor on nutrition and food systems at Massey University, where her current role is adjunct professor at Massey Riddet Institute. From 1998 - 2014 she worked at the FAO, first as Senior Nutrition Officer and then as Chief/ Deputy Director of Nutrition. Before joining FAO, Dr Burlingame spent 12 years as Nutrition Programme Leader at the New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Throughout her career, she has been a member of many scientific advisory boards and international committees; author of many scientific papers and UN publications, book chapters and reference books; and editor of several food and nutrition journals, including 13 years as Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, and currently as Specialty Chief Editor at Frontiers. Her expertise includes food composition, nutrient requirements, dietary assessment, integrated/sustainable food systems, biodiversity for food and nutrition, indigenous peoples' food systems, and sustainable diets, and provision of scientific/policy advice on food security and nutrition. She is also a Fellow of the IUNS. 

 

PROFESSOR JENNIFER CLAPP
Professor Jennifer Clapp is a Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability and Professor in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo, Canada. She has published widely on the political economy of food security and sustainability in a global context. Her recent books include Food, 3rd Edition (2020), Speculative Harvests: Financialization, Food, and Agriculture (2018), and Hunger in the Balance: The New Politics of International Food Aid (2012). Professor Clapp is Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security and a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an International Fellow of the Swedish Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. She has received numerous awards for her interdisciplinary research.

 

JENNIFER CLAPP
RUBEN ECHEVERRÍA
DR. RUBEN ECHEVERRÍA 

Dr. Ruben Echeverria is Sr. Advisor, Agricultural Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is Director General Emeritus of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT.cgiar.org). During 2020-2021 Ruben chaired the Global Commission on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification; was Sr. Advisor to the FAO LAC Regional Office; and Sr. Research Fellow at IFPRI.org. Ruben was Executive Director of the Science Council of the CGIAR and worked in agriculture and rural development for more than a decade at the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB.org). In the 1980s, he conducted research in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, based at the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR). Ruben studied Agronomy in Uruguay and Agriculture Economics in the US with special emphasis on the economics of technical and institutional change. Ruben is a Member of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee of Food Security.

 

DR. HILAL ELVER 

Dr. Hilal Elver is a professor of international human rights law and international environmental law, and the co-director of the Climate Change, Democracy and Human Security project at the University of California Santa Barbara. From May 2014 to May 2020, Elver served as the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, responsible for carrying out the right to food mandate as prescribed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. She is currently serving as an appointed member of the Steering Committee of the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the World Committee of Food Security (CFS) and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the UN Food Systems Hub. She maintains several affiliations with academic institutions worldwide.  Select reports, articles, op-eds, and interviews are featured on her  website: hilalelver.org

SHENGGEN FAN
DR. SHENGGEN FAN

Dr. Shenggen Fan is currently Chair Professor and Dean of Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy (AGFEP) at China Agricultural University (CAU). Prior to joining CAU, Dr. Fan served as Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) from 2009 to 2019.  He was a member, vice chair and chair of food and nutrition council of the World Economic Forum from 2010 to 2018. He is currently a member of the CGIAR System Board and Vice Chairs of the Board of Trustee of the International Rice Research Institute and International Food Policy Research Institute.  He is a Fellow of Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), and an Honorary Life Member, International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE). Dr. Fan received a PhD in applied economics from the University of Minnesota and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Nanjing Agricultural University in China.

DR. AMEENAH GURIB-FAKIM
Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim has served as the 6th and First Female President of the Republic of Mauritius (2015-2018). Prior to that, she has been the Managing Director of the Centre International de Développement Pharmaceutique (CIDP R & I), Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Mauritius. Since 2001, she has served successively as Dean and Pro Vice Chancellor (2004-2010). She authored and co-edited 30 books, book chapters and scientific articles in the field of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Fellow of several academies and societies, she received international prizes including the 2007 l’Oreal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science; the African Union Commission Award for Women in Science, 2009. In 2021, she has been appointed as Distinguished Professor at the John Wesley School of Leadership, Carolina University, USA. In June 2016, she was in the Forbes List for the 100 ‘Most Powerful Women in the World’; 1st among the Top 100 Women in Africa Forbes List 2017, 2019. She is honoured as one of Foreign Policy’s 2015 Global Thinkers and is the recipient of 6 Honorary Doctorate.
AMEENAH GURIB-FAKIM
DR. LIU GUODAO
PROFESSOR MOHAMED HASSAN

Mohamed Hag Ali Hassan is currently President of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences (SNAS) and Chairman of the Governing Council of the United Nations Technology Bank, Turkey. He was Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Khartoum; Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Centre for International Development (ZEF), Germany; President of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP); founding Executive Director of TWAS; President of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS); founding President of the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC); Chairman of the Council of the United Nations University (UNU); and Chairman of the Honorary Presidential Advisory Council for Science and Technology, Nigeria. He was vice- chair of the scientific group of the UN Food Systems Summit. Among his honours: Comendator, Grand Cross, and National Order of Scientific Merit, Brazil; and Officer, Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. He is a member of 12 merit-based academies of science, which include, TWAS, AAS, the academy of Sciences of South Africa; the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Mohamed Hassan
SJOUKJE HEIMOVAARA
DR SJOUKJE HEIMOVAARA

Dr Sjoukje Heimovaara is since 1 July 2022  President of the Executive Board of Wageningen University & Research (WUR). She studied Plant Breeding at WUR and obtained her PhD at Leiden University. She subsequently worked at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and the international plant breeding company Royal Van Zanten, as Research & Development Director and thereafter as CEO. From 2020 until 30 June 2022, Heimovaara was Director of the Agrotechnology and Food Sciences Group at WUR. Sjoukje Heimovaara has cross-sector experience in government, contract research, fundamental research, higher education, as well as in the corporate world. Sjoukje Heimovaara is a council member and deputy chair of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (AWTI), which advises the Dutch government and parliament on policy concerning science, technology, and innovation. She is also a SDG 12.3 Champion, and member of the Supervisory Board of the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology.

PROFESSOR MARIO HERRERO ACOSTA

Professor Mario Herrero is a professor of sustainable food systems and global change in the Department of Global Development, a Cornell Atkinson Scholar, and a Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences. His research focuses on increasing the sustainability of food systems for the benefit of humans and ecosystems. He works in the areas of food systems and the environment, climate mitigation and adaptation, livestock systems, true cost of food, sustainability metrics, and healthy and sustainable diets. He has played senior roles in many global initiatives on food and the environment (FAO Food Systems Coordination Hub, IPCC, UN Food Systems Summit, AgMip, etc). He is currently a Coordinating Lead Author of the forthcoming IPBES-Nexus Report and a Commissioner and Executive Committee member of the EAT-Lancet 2.0 study. Mario is a highly-cited researcher according to the Web of Science, and is in the top 10 of Reuters list of most influential climate change scientists. He obtained his postgraduate degrees from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

MARIO HERRERO ACOSTA
THOMAS HERTEL
PROFESSOR THOMAS HERTEL

Professor Thomas Hertel is Distinguished Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. Prof. Hertel’s research and teaching focuses on international trade, food and environmental security. He is a 2022 recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize and is a Fellow, and a Past-President, of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), Fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Honorary Life Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists. He is also the founder and Executive Director of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) which now encompasses more than 26,000 researchers in 179 countries around the world. 

PROFESSOR ELIZABETH HODSON DE JARAMILLO
MARTA HUGAS
DR. MARTA HUGAS

Dr. Marta Hugas served as Chief Scientist at the European Food Safety Authority until 1st March 2022. The position addressed the development of EFSA’s scientific strategic direction. In 2020 Marta was appointed to the scientific group preparing for the UN Food Systems Summit held in 2021. She was co-coordinator of Action Track 2: Shifting to sustainable consumption habits. Marta held several positions at EFSA (2003-2022): Head of Biological Hazards Unit, Head of the Risk Assessment and Scientific Assistance Department, Head of the Biological Hazards and Contaminants Unit (BIOCONTAM) and Chief Scientist . Prior to joining EFSA, she worked for the Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology (IRTA) in Spain, as Head of the Food Microbiology and Biotechnology Unit. From 1992 to 2004 she was an Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona.Marta holds a BSc in biological sciences, an MSc in genetics and microbial biotechnology and a PhD in food microbiology. She has extensively published papers and book chapters on food safety, risk assessment and governance.

DR. ANDREW KAMBUGU

Dr. Andrew Kambugu, the Sande-McKinnell Executive Director at the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), College of Health Sciences, Makerere University (Mak). He is an adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, USA and also honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medicine at Mak. He received his basic medical training (MB.ChB) as well as his masters in Internal Medicine (M.Med) at Makerere University in Uganda and undertook specialist training in infectious diseases at the University of Utah and the University of Manitoba. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), United Kingdom (London).

Dr. Kambugu previously served as the Head of the Research Program Prevention Care and Treatment Programmes at the IDI. He has over 14 years of HIV clinical and programming experience and is a member of two national HIV subcommittees of the Ugandan Ministry of Health. He has made significant research contributions in the areas of antiretroviral therapy and opportunistic infections and has over 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals. 

Dr. Andrew Kambugu
Dr Segenet Kelemu
DR. SEGENET KELEMU

Dr. Segenet Kelemu is Director General & Chief Executive Officer, and the first woman to lead the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe). She is a 2014 L’Oréal-UNESCO Laureate for Women in Science Awards, and one of the top 100 most influential African women featured in the May 2014 Edition of Forbes Africa. In April 2018, the Women Economic Forum awarded Dr. Kelemu their highest award “Woman of the Decade in Natural and Sustainable Ecosystems” for outstanding leadership. She has received other awards and recognitions including recognition by Bill Gates, as one of five ‘heroes in the field’ who are using their talents to fight poverty, hunger, and disease, and providing opportunities for the next generation (2018); the TWAS Prize for Agricultural Sciences (2011); the 2019 College of Agriculture Alumni Fellow of Kansas State University, USA (2019);  Science Honoree of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St Louis, Missouri, USA (2019), the TWAS Regional award for leadership and building vibrant scientific institutions (2020); The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry International Fellow (2020); and The Ellis Island Medal of Honor, New York (2022). She has been featured in The CEO Magazine, Australia, as one of the six exceptional leaders from around the world, breaking ground and shattering the glass ceiling; in “the Mind of the Universe”, Time Magazine, the BBC, the CNN’s African Voices, among others. She serves in various Boards, science advisory panels in major global initiatives and has served in international juries of key science awards.

PROFESSOR RATTAN LAL

Professor Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University. He received B.Sc. from PAU, Ludhiana (1963); M.Sc. from IARI, New Delhi (1965); and Ph.D. from OSU, Columbus, Ohio (1968). He was Sr. Research Fellow at University of Sydney (1968-69), soil Physicist at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria (1970-87), and Professor of Soil Science at OSU (1987 to date). He has authored/co-authored over 1000 refereed journal articles and 550 book chapters, and written and edited/co-edited 100 books. He received an Honoris Causa degree from 9 universities throughout Europe, USA, South America, and Asia; the Medal of Honor from UIMP, Santander, Spain (2018); the Distinguished Service Medal of the IUSS (2018); and is fellow of 5 professional societies. Dr. Lal has mentored 117 graduate students and 185visiting scholars. He was President of the WASWC(1987-1990), ISTRO (1988-1991), SSSA (2006-2008), and IUSS (2017-2018). He holds the Chair in Soil Science and is the Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainability Issues for IICA, and member of the 2021 U.N. Food System Summit Science Committee and Action Tracks 1 & 3. Dr. Lal is laureate of the GCHERA World Agriculture Prize (2018), Glinka World Soil Prize (2018), Japan Prize (2019), U.S. Awasthi IFFCO Prize (2019), Arrell Global Food Innovation Award (2020), World Food Prize (2020), India’s Padma Shri Award (2021).He is an honorary member of the Moldova Academy of Sciences (2022) , and a member of the Academia Europaea(2022).He received the   Presidential Award of SSSA(2022), and the IPCC-Nobel Peace Prize Certificate (2007). The PAU, Ludhiana, named its Soil Science and Agronomy building as Rattan Lal Laboratories in 2020.

RATTAN LAL
LYNNETTE NEUFELD
DR. LYNNETTE NEUFELD

Dr. Neufeld began her career in an academic position at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico where she led a variety of implementation research and impact evaluation studies to improve the impact potential of social protection programs in Mexico and the region. She then brought her passion for improving the generation and utilization of evidence in program design and delivery to non-governmental organizations, most recently the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, before joining FAO as Director of the Food and Nutrition Division in early 2022.  Dr Neufeld is President of the International Union of Nutrition Scientists (IUNS), Past-Chair of the Micronutrient Forum Steering Committee, former Board member of the American Society of Nutrition, and has been member of several WHO and other technical advisory groups.  She has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and holds a Master’s and PhD in International Nutrition from Cornell University.

PROFESSOR NITYA RAO SWAMINATHAN

Professor Nitya Rao is Professor, Gender and Development at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom and Director of the Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development. She has worked extensively as a researcher and advocate in the field of women’s rights, gendered wellbeing, and justice, with a particular focus on food, nutrition, health and livelihood security. She has published extensively on the gendered changes in agrarian relations, migration and livelihoods, especially in contexts of climatic variability and economic precarity. She has consistently engaged with policy and practice, at both the global and local levels. Apart from supporting networks of women farmers in India, she served on the Global Advisory Committee of the United Nations Girls Education Initiative for over a decade. She is currently a member of the Steering Group of the High-Level Panel of Experts to the Committee on World Food Security, and Commissioner, EAT-Lancet 2.0 on healthy and sustainable diets.

NITYA RAO SWAMINATHAN
Jean-François Soussana
DR. JEAN-FRANÇOIS SOUSSANA

Since April 2017, Dr. Jean-Francois Soussana is Vice-Chair for international of INRA, which became INRAE as of January 2020 (French National Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Food, www.inrae.fr), after being Scientific Director for Environment since 2010. He obtained his PhD in plant physiology at USTL Montpellier in 1986 after an engineer degree in agronomy. After becoming senior scientist at INRA, he became the director of a research lab on grassland ecosystems and global change until 2009. Since 1998, Dr. Soussana is member of the Working Group II of IPCC and was Lead Author for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Assessment Reports and of the Special Report on climate change and land. He contributes to scientific expertise for FAO (e.g. State of Food and Agriculture, 2016) and is a member of the Science Group of the UN Secretary General Food Systems Summit held in 2021. He coordinates national and European (EC FP5, FP7 and H2020) research projects on climate change, soils and agriculture. He co-chairs the Integrative Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases and the Steering Council of AgMIP, an international modeling program on climate change impacts on agriculture. Dr. Soussana is member of the Climate High Level Council reporting to the French Prime Minister, member of the governing boards of the Joint Programing Initiative on agriculture, food security and climate change (FACCE JPI, 22 countries) and of the Mission Board of the EC on soil health and food. He is also a member of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the initiative ‘4 per 1000. Soils for Food Security and Climate’. Dr. Soussana was a highly cited researcher (Clarivate Analytics, 2018). He has published over 180 refereed research papers in international journals, cited close to 25,000 times (Google Scholar), as well as two books and a dozen of book chapters. He was awarded a shared Nobel Prize for Peace (2007) (with all Lead Authors of IPCC AR4), the French civil merit for Agriculture (knight 2009, commander 2017), the Légion d'Honneur (knight, 2020) and the gold medal of the French academy for agriculture (2011).

DR. SHAKUNTALA THILSTED 

Dr. Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted is Director, Nutrition, Health and Food Security Impact Area Platform, CGIAR. She was awarded the 2021 World Food Prize for her ground-breaking research, critical insights, and landmark innovations in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquatic food systems. She was awarded the 2021 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award for research innovation. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS). She was Vice Chair of the UN Food Systems Summit 2021: Action Track 4 - Advance Equitable Livelihoods, and also a Food Systems Champion. In 2022, Shakuntala was appointed co-chair of the EAT-Lancet 2.0 Commission. Shakuntala holds a PhD from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark. She holds Honorary Doctorates from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and The University of the West Indies. 

SHAKUNTALA THILSTED
JOACHIM VON BRAUN
PROFESSOR JOACHIM VON BRAUN

Professor Joachim von Braun is Distinguished Professor for Economic and Technological change at Bonn University, in the Center for Development Research (ZEF).  His research is on economic development, science and technology policy, poverty reduction, food and nutrition security, agriculture, resource economics, climate, and trade. von Braun is President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican, and member of German National Academy of Science, the World Academy (TWAS), the African Academy of Sciences, and other academies. In 2020 and 2021 he served as Chair of the Scientific Group for the Food Systems Summit 2021 of the UN Secretary General. He is Vice President of the NGO WHH (Welthungerhilfe) and was director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Washington DC. He published more than 250 peer reviewed publications. 

PROFESSOR AMAN WIRAKARTAKUSUMAH

Professor Aman Wirakartakusumah, Rector of IPMI International Business School (2019-2027), Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Technology, IPB University, Fellow of Indonesian Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science & Technology (IAFoST), The Immediate Past President of IAFoST (2020-2022), and the President of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST for 2022-2024). Professor Wirakartakusumah was Rector of IPB University from 1998-2002, Ambassador of Indonesia to UNESCO-Paris (2004-2008), Represented the Ministry of Food Affairs Indonesia at FAO-WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (1994-1998), and member of Scientific Group at UN Secretary General for UN Food System Summit 2020-2021.He has bridged the coonection with industry as scientific director at ILSI SEA and member Board of Trustee. Professor Wirakartakusumah obtained his degree from IPB University in 1972, his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Food Science/minor in Chemical Engineering from the UW-Madison, USA in 1977 and 1981, respectively.

AMAN WIRAKARTAKUSUMAH
David Zilberman
PROFESSOR DAVID ZILBERMAN

David Zilberman holds the Robinson Chair in the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department, University of California at Berkeley.   He received the 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture and was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science 2019. David served as the 2018-19 President of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA). He's a Fellow of the AAEA, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, an Honorary Life Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, and a Hagler Fellow at Texas A&M University. He has over 400 refereed journal articles ranging from Science to ARE-Update and has edited over 30 books. He has led the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program and Masters of Development Practice at UC Berkeley. David’s BA is from Tel Aviv University and his Ph.D. is from Berkeley. He has also served as a Consultant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the World Bank, and FAO. David's research analyzes water, innovation, supply chain, and the interactions between agriculture, energy, and the environment. 

Ex officio members 

MÁXIMO TORERO CULLEN
DR. MÁXIMO TORERO CULLEN

Dr. Máximo Torero Cullen is the Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He joined the Organization in January 2019 as Assistant Director-General for the Economic and Social Development Department. Prior to joining FAO, he had been Executive Director at the World Bank Group since November 2016 and, before the Bank, Dr. Torero led the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). More information on his research work and accademic background can be found here