Julie Borlaug
Borlaug Consulting and the Borlaug Foundation

As President of Borlaug Consulting, Julie Borlaug is a specialist with 22 years of experience in technology and innovation; internal/external messaging; conceptualizing and implementing strategic initiatives to drive public and private sector partnerships; fundraising; business; development; and domestic and international public speaking. Julie has helped many start-ups, small businesses, and NGOs develop or reshape their corporate messaging to align with their target audiences, like farmers, financial partners, and regulatory bodies. She works seamlessly with her clients' leadership, internal communications, and marketing teams for long-term success.  She has successfully created and implemented personalized government relations and outreach for clients with federal agencies, Congressional members, and key stakeholder groups. Julie has assisted in the fundraising efforts of NGOs to create long-term growth funding plans and map out new donors. Julie often speaks on behalf of clients at high-level events to further brand awareness and her clients' corporate message.

For 22 years, Julie Borlaug has successfully worked in international agricultural development, agricultural communications, and external and corporate relations. As the granddaughter of Dr. Norman Borlaug, she works to champion his legacy and lend a voice to his desire to see more successful collaborative partnerships across sectors and scientific disciplines to bring better and faster innovation to end hunger.She is the president of Borlaug Consulting and the Borlaug Foundation. Ms. Borlaug serves on several boards and advisory councils, including the Council of Advisory for the World Food Prize, the Advisor to CIMMYT, the Global Farmer Network advisory board, the Champion’s Council Network for the UN Food Systems Summit, the Board of Trustee for Agricultural Science & Technology (CAST), the U.S. National Food Systems Dialogues, the Texas A&M Agriculture Vice Chancellor’s advisory board, Counterpart, AgTech PR,the Thought for Food Challenge Board, and the Global Coalition for Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture. Ms. Borlaug received a B.A. from Texas A&M in international studies and political science and an M.B.A. from the University of Dallas.

Rodomiro Ortiz
Genetics and Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Rodomiro Ortiz (Lima, Perú; 1958) is Faculty Professor and Chair of Genetics and Plant Breeding at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and SLU Breeding Network Chairman. He holds a PhD in Plant Breeding & Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and worked as young researcher at UNALM (Perú), Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP, Perú) and Rutgers University, was scientist and director of various CGIAR Centers (CIMMYT. ICRISAT, IITA), and held a Nordic professorship on plant genetic resources at the then Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University of Denmark (merged thereafter with the University of Copenhagen). Professor Ortiz has written ca. 1000 reports, of which about 50% are journal articles or edited book chapters with h-index of 79 and cited by 25810 [as per Google Scholar on 2024.08.07]. The CGIAR awarded to IITA the prestigious 1994 King Baudouin Award for the multidisciplinary research of the team working in plantain and banana improvement, in which he was program leader. In 2012, Plant Breeding Reviews dedicated him its volume 36. Professor Ortiz was the principal investigator of SLU/ICARDA–led research development partnership project Adapting durum wheat varieties to the Senegal Basin for food security that won the 2017 Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security. He was given the Bertebos Prize 2022 for mastering the use of new molecular scientific methods to be a driving force in the breeding of crops of great importance for food supply in Africa, America and Europe. Professor Ortiz was member of CGIAR Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC, 2015–2019) and of the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (CoSAI, 2020–2021), international fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA) since 2019, member of the Royal Physiographic Society at Lund (KFS) from 2021 onwards, and fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS) since 2021.

Steven Runo
Professor of Molecular Biology at Kenyatta University

Dr. Steven Runo is a Professor of Molecular Biology at Kenyatta University. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Kenyatta University in 1998, followed by a Master's degree in Biotechnology from the same institution in 2003. After completing his Master's, he was awarded a PhD fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation to pursue Molecular Biology in a Sandwich program between Kenyatta University and the University of California, Davis, earning his PhD in 2008. He then undertook postdoctoral training at the University of Sheffield (UK) and the University of Virginia (USA) before accepting a faculty position at Kenyatta University. Currently, his lab uses molecular genetic tools to understand interactions between parasitic plants that limit crop production in Africa and their hosts. In recognition of his contributions to science, Steven Runo was awarded the Royal Society Africa Prize in 2020.

Carl Ramage
Rautaki Solutions PTY LTD

Dr. Carl Ramage (GAIDC) is the Managing Director of Rautaki Solutions, a consultancy business dedicated to fostering innovation and research excellence within the life sciences sector. He specialises in establishing sustainable capabilities in biosafety and bio-risk management, and the formulation and execution of compliance management strategies. His expertise extends to initiatives for the commercialisation and pathway to market of biotech products for the biomedical, agricultural, and food sectors. Notably, he is the sole Excellence Through Stewardship auditor in Australasia. Carl has a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Queensland (AUS), a Master of Science (Hons I) degree from Canterbury University (NZ), and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Shade Sabitu
Director, Regulatory Science and Operations, Pivot Bio

Shade Sabitu has spent the last 17 years ensuring innovative and sustainable products get into the hands of farmers around the world by working with regulators and other stakeholders to get agricultural biotech products approved for field trials and commercial distribution. For the past 6 years, she has been with Pivot Bio where she leads a team responsible for ensuring the safety of its products, while enabling its freedom to operate in countries of interest at state and federal levels. She also represents Pivot Bio at various trade associations including BPIA and BIO. Her previous experience includes regulatory roles at companies like Corteva and Indigo Ag. Her background is in Molecular Biology and Business Administration and constantly looks for ways to grow and share knowledge with others.

Irene Sacristán Sánchez
Directorate General Health and Food Safety of the European Commission

Irene Sacristán Sánchez is head of unit for Biotechnology in the Directorate General Health and Food Safety of the European Commission. She joined the Commission in 2003, spending several years working on the development and negotiation of pharmaceutical legislation. Before joining the Biotech Unit, she was head of the policy development and legislative unit in the European Anti-Fraud Office. She is a lawyer by training

Reinhilde Schoonjans
MSC, PhD Biotechnology and European Patent Attorney (EPA)

Dr. Reinhilde Schoonjans is Team Leader GMO Food Feed Safety, Comparative and Environmental Risk Assessment. Her Team is part of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Unit for Nutrition and Food Innovation (NIF), Parma, Italy. Protein Safety (incl. Allergenicity, Toxicity), Nutrition, Human and Animal Dietary Exposure, ERA and Post Market Environmental Monitoring are among the disciplines covered in the evaluations of GM Plants. Reinhilde and her Team also work on future approaches to protein safety and on guidance evaluations for GM-NGT animals. Previously, she coordinated a mandate on Synthetic Biology (in microorganisms, plants and animals). Other topics of expertise include biodiversity-related protection goals for environmental risk assessment, epigenetics and the cloning of farmed animals, as well as risk assessment of nanomaterial/small particles used in the food and feed chain. Reinhilde Schoonjans is a Biotechnologist holding a PhD from Ghent University, where she performed research on bispecific antibodies for cancer immunotherapy. In 2005 she qualified as European Patent Attorney for the European Patent Office (Munich), before joining EFSA

Lourdes D. Taylo
Project Leader of the Bt Eggplant Project; University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)

Dr. Lourdes D. Taylo is an Entomologist working at the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Banos. She finished her Doctor of Philosophy in Entomology in 2003, specializing in Host Plant Resistance to Insects at UPLB minor in Genetics. She has the opportunity to work with Dr. William D. Hutchison, University of Minnesota, St. Paul Campus, USA, on a short internship program on IRM of Bt corn. At the Entomology Laboratory, IPB, she is involved in vegetables, fruits, feeds, industrial crops, and ornamental entomology. She has been the designated Project Leader of the Bt Eggplant Project. She is an Affiliate Professor at the Institute of Weed Science, Entomology and Plant Pathology, University of the Philippines Los Baños. She has published numerous papers in local and international reputable peer-reviewed journals. She has received several awards for paper and poster papers presented in local and international scientific meetings. In 2022, the Department of Biotechnology Program Office awarded her as one of the Filipino Faces of Biotechnology for their work on Bt eggplant, the first genetically modified vegetable in the Philippines.

German Vighi
Board member GeneSprout Initiative; KU Leuven Plant Institute

German Vighi is an agricultural engineer with a master's degree in plant biotechnology and is currently completing a PhD in bioscience engineering. As a board member of the GeneSprout Initiative—an early-career platform dedicated to science outreach and advocacy on new genome techniques in agriculture—German Vighi co-leads the Policy and Advocacy Team, driving efforts to foster transparent dialogue and inform public understanding of gene-editing technologies. In addition, German is actively involved in Young LPI, where he leads the Magazine Team to publish a quarterly magazine showcasing the latest research and activities of the Leuven Plant Institute (LPI). Passionate about science and science communication, German is committed to bridging the gap between scientific research and the broader community.

Justus Wesseler
Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy at Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Prof. Dr. Justus Wesseler holds the chair in Agricultural Economics and Rural Policy at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He has a degree in agricultural, environmental and natural resource economics from the University of Göttingen, Germany. His research work is on bioeconomy economics and policies. The major focus is on the contribution of value chains to improve sustainability and the impact of new technologies and regulations on the value chain in this respect. His research work has been published in more than 100 contributions to peer reviewed journals and books. He is president of the International Consortium of Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR). He has been involved in a number of small and large scale international research project as team member and/or coordinator and been invited to serve as an adviser in academia and research.