Genetic Resources Policy Committee (GRPC) - Members

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GRPC Members as of January 2007:

Carlos Correa (Chair) - (Argentina) Professor Carlos Correa followed studies on economics and law at the University of Buenos Aires from which he also obtained his doctorate. He is the Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Industrial Property Law and Economics at the same University. He has advised UNCTAD, UNIDO, WHO, CBD Secretariat, IICA, South Centre and other international and regional organizations on technology and intellectual property issues. As FAO consultant, he participated in the negotiations of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Professor Correa is the Chair of the GRPC.
Teresita H. Borromeo - (NARS Representative) - (Philippines) Teresita H. Borromeo holds an MSc in Plant Breeding and a BSc in Agronomy from the University of the Philippines. She is Professor in Crop Science Cluster at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños and teaches crop science, plant breeding and plant genetic resources conservation and management. She is Chair of the Rice Technical working Group of the National Seed Industry Council as well as Examiner for Rice on behalf of the Plant Variety Protection Office. As the Philippine Delegate Prof. Borromeo was involved in the negotiations of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Prof. Borromeo represents the NARS on the GRPC.
Orlando de Ponti (Private Sector Representative) - (The Netherlands) Dr Ir Orlando de Ponti graduated from the Wageningen Agricultural University, the Netherlands in 1971, discipline plant breeding. In 1980 he obtained his doctorate with a dissertation on resistance breeding to insects at the same university. In 1991, he made the change-over to industry, in his function as Managing Director, Research and Development, Nunhems B.V., Haelen, The Netherlands, the international seed breeding company which is part of Bayer CropScience. Dr Ir de Ponti represents the Private Sector on the GRPC.
Anthony Gregson (Alliance Board Representative) - (Australia, Board Chair Bioversity International) Dr Tony Gregson is a grain grower from Victoria’s Wimmera region, Australia and chemist with PhD and DSc degrees from the University of Melbourne. He has an extensive science and corporate research management background. He is Chairman of Bioversity International, Chairman of the Molecular Plant Breeding Co-operative Research Centre, Deputy Chairman of Plant Health Australia and Chairman of the Victorian Committee of the Crawford Fund. Dr Gregson represents the Alliance Board on the GRPC.
Chee Yoke Ling (NGO Representative) - (Malaysia) Chee Yoke Ling is a lawyer trained in international law, with law degrees from Cambridge University (UK) and the University of Malaya ( Malaysia). Currently, she is Legal Advisor to the Third World Network and is based in Beijing. For more than 20 years she has been very active in policy research and advocacy, focusing on trade, environment and development issues, with early years working with local communities. She has been a key NGO player at the international level, representing the Third World Network in many international conferences and meetings. Of particular concern in her work are the ecological, social and economic impacts of globalization as well as intellectual property rights and development.
Shadrack Moephuli (Agricultural Research Council) - South Africa Shadrack Moephuli is currently President and Chief Executive Officer, Agricultural Research Council, South Africa. He holds an M.S. degree in Reproductive Physiology (Endocrinology) from the University of Connecticut and a PhD from the University of Connecticut, Centre for Environmental Health, with a focus on the environmental and biochemical causes of reproductive failure in humans and farm animals (mammals).
Benito Odala Eliasi (Farmers' Organizations) - Malawi Benito Odala Eliasi holds an MSc in Agricultural Economics, a Masters Degree in Human Ecology and a BSc in agriculture. He has vast experience in dealing with Farmer Based Organizations and is currently working as the Executive Director for Farmers’ Union of Malawi, whose main task is the promotion and protection of farmers’ interest within as well as outside the country. He serves as member of various governmental committees on agricultural research and institutional development in Malawi. Moreover, he has been appointed by the Southern Africa Confederation for Agricultural Unions to be responsible for Capacity Building of National Commodity Associations in the 16 countries of Southern Africa. Mr Eliasi represents Farmers’ Organizations on the GRPC.
Emile Frison (Committee Secretary) - (Belgium) Dr Emile Frison is Director General of Bioversity International, since 2003. Prior to this, he was Director of the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP) and was instrumental in strengthening that Programme, especially in Africa. He has spent most of his career in international agricultural research for development. A plant pathologist by training, he obtained an MSc from the Catholic University of Louvain and a PhD from the University of Gembloux in Belgium. Dr Frison is the GRPC Secretary.
Mike Gale (Science Council Representative) - (UK) Professor Mike Gale retired from his position as Associate Research Director at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK in 2003. He started his research on wheat genetics at the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge in 1968. He received his BSc in Genetics from Birmingham University and his PhD from the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, UK. He is currently a John Innes Foundation Emeritus Fellow at the John Innes Centre and a Professorial Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia. Professor Gale’s major role, however, is as a Member of the CGIAR Science Council (2004-present), on behalf of which he represents the GRPC.
Mahmoud Solh (Alliance Executive Representative) - (Lebanon) Dr Mahmoud Solh holds a PhD in Genetics from the University of California, Davis, USA, and has an impressive record of scientific publications covering research in crop improvement and management of agricultural research and development. He has rich experience in donor relations and fund raising, and an in-depth knowledge of needs and aspirations of the national agricultural research and development systems in Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region and beyond. Dr Solh is currently the Director General of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Prior to that he wasthe Director of Plant Production and Protection Division at the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Dr Solh represents the Alliance Executive on the GRPC.
Dan Leskien - bio forthcoming
Carl-Gustaf Thornström - (CGIAR Member) (Sweden) Dr Carl-Gustaf Thornström (Ph D) is Associate Professor in genetic- and plant breeding policies. He is a senior research adviser to Sida and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science. Thornström´s research focus is on the policy level mainly: genetic resources, intellectual property rights and subsequent coherence issues across international agreements and processes; for example life patents, GMOs, protection of traditional knowledge, enclosure of biological/genetic commons, access to genetic resources and proprietary science. Dr Thornström is a CGIAR member of the GRPC.