Brief biographies from Citizens' Jury witnesses.

Following a degree in Food Science and Economics at Reading University, Alison Austin had spells with two 'Fast Moving Consumer Goods' manufacturing companies, working in marketing before joining Sainsbury’s. Within the company she has undertaken a number of different senior management roles, ranging from advertising and marketing to trading, spending the past eight years within the Technical Division. Her current remit covers environmental management, socially responsible sourcing, sustainable production, food and health, and product safety. In addition, she has a wide-ranging communications brief on technical issues covering sustainability and consumer issues.

In 2002, Alison joined the Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment and has also contributed to the Expert Advisory Panel for the Science Policy Research Unit on the recent Horizon Scanning Research Programme review by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

In January 2001, Alison was awarded an OBE in recognition of her contribution to the environment and sustainable development.

Simon Barber is Director of the Plant Biotechnology Unit, EuropaBio – the European Association for Bioindustries – in Brussels, Belgium.

Simon obtained his first degree (BSc) in Agricultural Botany from the University College of North Wales, Bangor. Following this, he worked as an agricultural extension officer for the Government of the Republic of Zambia assisting in farmer and farm family training in horticultural and field crop production.

Simon gained a postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, and then worked for seven years (1983–1990) in the oilseed rape (canola) breeding programme at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Station in Saskatoon, Canada. From 1990–1997 he worked for the regulatory branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and was a member of a team that developed and implemented the Canadian regulatory process for Plants with Novel Traits (primarily plants derived through genetic modification). During that time Simon was involved in discussing plant biotechnology safety assessment in numerous international fora and gained a good understanding of international plant biotechnology regulation.

In 1997 he joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) secretariat in Paris and assisted the 29 OECD Member countries in working towards biotechnology regulatory harmonisation by co-ordinating the work of the Working Group on Harmonization of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology.

In 1999, Simon joined EuropaBio, and has been working with companies using modern biological techniques in plant variety development. During this time he has had an opportunity to discuss plant biology with members of the European Member States, the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament.

Andy Coghlan has been a reporter with the New Scientist magazine for 16 years and has reported on GM crops from the outset.

Sue Davies is Principal Policy Adviser at the Consumers' Association with responsibility for food issues.

The Consumers' Association (CA) is an independent, not-for-profit, research-based organisation that campaigns on behalf of UK consumers. It is funded through the sale of the consumer information that it produces including Which? and Health Which? magazines. Food issues have always been one of the CA's main areas of work.

Sue Davies is also the European chair of the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue food working group which brings together consumer organisations from across the European Union and United States. Prior to working at the CA, she worked on food issues within a local authority environmental health department.

Sue was awarded an MBE in this year's New Year's Honours list for services to food safety.

Professor Mike Gasson is Head of Food Safety Science at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich. He holds a PhD in molecular genetics and a Professorship from the University of East Anglia. He has been involved in molecular biology, microbiology and genetics research for almost thirty years, with a particular interest in the genetics of food-relevant micro-organisms, including lactic acid bacteria.

Until recently he was Deputy Chair of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) that advises the UK Government on the safety of novel foods including applications of gene technology. In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) that advises the UK Government on microbiological issues relevant to the food chain.

Since May 1999, Beate Kettlitz has been food officer at BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation in charge of technical food-related questions of particular consumer concern, such as GM food, antibiotics, hormones, functional food, novel food, food supplements and organic products.

A food chemist, specialising in hygiene matters, her research interests are consumer-related questions of concern in the context of biotechnology but also in other food-related areas, such as food safety in general, functional foods, claims and food supplements.

The first part of her career was in the field of food inspection and food control with particular focus on dietetic food and dairy food. From 1995 until 1999, she was Technical Product Manager Nutrition in charge of technical regulatory advice for an American company selling dietetic products, food supplements and functional food in Europe.

James Maryanski is Biotechnology Co-ordinator with the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Dr Maryanski joined the FDA in 1977. Since 1986, he has been responsible for co-ordinating the development of the FDA's food biotechnology policy. He received a BSc in microbiology in 1965 from Ohio State University, after which he was employed by the US Public Health Service in Cincinnati, Ohio, to develop dry-heat processes to sterilise unmanned spacecraft for NASA. After leaving the Public Health Service, Dr Maryanski studied microbiology, molecular biology, and marine science at the University of New Hampshire, where he received a PhD in 1972.

He then spent four years at the National Institute for Dental Research, of the National Institutes of Health, investigating mechanisms of carbohydrate transport and cellular adhesion in dental micro-organisms. Dr Maryanski has served as an expert consultant on food biotechnology for the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization. He has received the FDA Commissioner's Special Citation and Commendable Service Awards for his work in food biotechnology.

Dr Sue Mayer is the Director of GeneWatch UK, a not-for-profit group that monitors developments in genetic technologies. GeneWatch aims to bring the public interest, environmental protection and animal welfare to the fore in decision-making about how or whether to use the new genetic technologies. Sue is a qualified veterinary surgeon with a doctorate in cell biology. In the past she has worked as a vet in practice, as a university lecturer, for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Greenpeace. She was a co-founder of GeneWatch in 1998.

Stuart Musgrove studied food microbiology at college, before moving into analytical chemistry concentrating particularly on the local food manufacturing sector.

After a short spell in academia, he moved to Somerset to set up a new concept in local authority enforcement know as a 'Food Chain Unit'. Many other councils have followed Somerset's lead. The unit enforces the legislation delegated to the county council in animal health and welfare, animal feeds, fertilisers and the composition and labelling of human foodstuffs.

Stuart was invited to address the FSA Board before it discussed the issues surrounding the new European Union (EU) GM food proposals and has also addressed the EU Parliament Environment Committee.

Pete Riley is the Senior Real Food and Farming Campaigner for Friends of the Earth. Having graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a BSc (Hons) in Ecology in 1975, he has worked on several sustainable farming, food and energy production projects in the Vale of Evesham for 16 years.

Since 1997 he has worked for Friends of the Earth on the Real Food and Farming Campaign, which covers GM food and crops, pesticides, farming policy and the rural economy. He also volunteered for Friends of the Earth in local groups from 1975 to 1997, when he mainly worked on water pollution, pesticide pollution and farming.

Paul Rylott
Obtained a BSc in agriculture from Newcastle University and a PhD in plant physiology from Edinburgh University. His first career move was 12 years working in the agricultural supply chain, firstly as an agronomist, later as national seed manager for the largest seed supply company in the UK. His past six years have been spent working in the biotechnology area, culminating in his current role as Head of BioScience at Bayer CropScience Ltd. His current role is to develop and implement the strategies needed to ensure a responsible introduction of genetically modified crops into the UK.

He currently holds multiple posts including: Steering Board Member, UK National Public Debate on GM Crops; Expert Panel Member, Prime Minister's Strategy Unit on Costs and Benefits of GM Crops; and acting chair of the Agricultural Biotechnology Council.