National Agricultural Biotechnology Council NABC Letter from …nabc.cals.cornell.edu › Publications › NewsArchive › NABCnews... · 2013-07-23 · 1 National Agricultural Biotechnology

1

National Agricultural Biotechnology Council

Letter from the Chair . . .NABCnews

Winter 2002 no. 24

Providing an open forum forexploring issues in

agricultural biotechnology

Ralph W.F. Hardy, PresidentAllan Eaglesham, Executive Director

Susanne Lipari, Associate CoordinatorBoyce Thompson Institute, Room 419

Tower RoadIthaca, New York 14853

607-254-4856 tel 607-254-1242 [email protected]

http://www.cals.cornell.edu/extension/nabc

NABC’S PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES ARE TO:

❧ provide an open forum for personswith different interests and concerns tocome together to speak, to listen, to learn,and to participate in meaningful dialogueand evaluation of the potential impactsof agricultural biotechnology❧ define issues and public policy op-tions related to biotechnology in the food,agricultural, biobased industrial product,and environmental areas❧ promote increased understanding ofthe scientific, economic, legislative, andsocial issues associated with agriculturalbiotechnology by compiling and dissemi-nating information to interested people❧ facilitate active communicationamong researchers, administrators,policymakers, practitioners, and otherconcerned people to ensure that all view-points contribute to the safe, efficacious,and equitable development of biotech-nology for the benefit of society❧ sponsor meetings and workshops, andpublish and distribute reports that pro-vide a foundation for addressing issues.

W. Randy WoodsonNABC Chair 2001–2002

W. Randy WoodsonNABC ChairPurdue University

The National AgriculturalBiotechnology Council was

founded 14 years ago as a not-for-profit organization. Currently, ourmembership includes thirty-sixleading not-for-profit agriculturalresearch and educational institutionsin the United States and Canada. Weseek to provide all stakeholders anopportunity to speak, to listen, andto learn about issues surroundingagricultural biotechnology. Thefourteenth NABC public meeting,Foods for Health, will be held inMinneapolis May 19–21, 2002. Theconference promises to feature wide-ranging viewpoints and perspectiveson this critical topic. A recent report(http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk.) from theRoyal Society, Genetically ModifiedPlants for Food Use and HumanHealth – An Update noted, “Webelieve that the public debate aboutGM food must take into accountwider issues than science alone,but we wish to stress the importanceof informing debate with soundscience.” We could not have said itbetter, and NABC 14 promises torise to the challenge.

A December 20, 2001, ruling bythe US Supreme Court validatedpatents on genetically engineeredplants. This decision, involvingPioneer HiBred International, Inc.,allows Pioneer to enforce its patentson corn seed in internationalmarkets. Furthermore, the decisionreinforced a 1985 ruling by the USPatent and Trademark Office thatratified the issuance of patents onplants. These decisions followed the1980 US Supreme Court judgmentallowing a genetically engineeredmicrobe to be patented. These rulingshave spawned the commercialagricultural biotechnology sector,driving much of the industryconsolidation that has occurred overthe past 10 years. As with otherissues, NABC was there, promotingpublic dialog and debate at our

meeting in 1995, for example, onDiscovery, Access, and Ownershipof Genes.

In a recent article in Science(295:674–677), our colleagues atthe University of California-Davisreported on the state of agriculturalbiotechnology in China. This reportillustrates the significant involvementof that country in agbiotech—thelargest use of GM crops outsideNorth America. Cited in the reportare significant increases in produc-tion resulting from adoption of Btcotton, as well as improvements infarmers’ health due to reducedpesticide use. The authors made noteof several advantages in Chinarelative to agbiotech, includingwell trained scientists and largecollections of germplasm.

Whether it is the global foodsupply, public acceptance ofagricultural biotechnology, environ-mental risk, the biobased economy ofthe future, or foods for health, NABCwill continue to provide a forum formeaningful and constructive dialogand debate on the key issues.


2

will talk on “When Agriculture andMedicine Merge: The Hope and theHurdles.”

Much of the meeting will bestructured around panel discussions,chaired by invited moderators.Groups of speakers will provide briefpresentations on a central theme,followed by discussion sessions, inwhich the audience will be invitedto participate.

Gregory Jaffe (Center for Sciencein the Public Interest), Jeffrey Burk-hardt (Univ. of Florida), and SusanBorra (American Dietetic Association)will address federal regulatory issues,ethical aspects, and consumerconcerns related to diet and health.

The historical relationship betweenscience and technology and food,and safety considerations will beaddressed by after-dinner speakersCharles Muscoplat and AnneKapuscinski (both University ofMinnesota).

Future contributions of agriculturalresearch to medicine and improve-ment of human health will be thetheme of talks by Irwin Goldman(University of Wisconsin, andHarvard University Arnold Arbore-tum), Harry Preuss (GeorgetownUniversity School of Medicine), andMich Hein (Epicyte). This sessionwill be moderated by Rick Borchelt(Whitehead Institute).

Michael Fernandez (Pew Initiativeon Food and Biotechnology) willmoderate a panel on foods for diseaseprevention, to which Clare Hasler(University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) Samuel Lehrer (TulaneUniversity) and John Howard(ProdiGene) will contribute.

Lifestyles, choice, and wellness willbe the theme of presentations byLaurie Demeritt (Hartmann Group),

Linda Golodner (National ConsumersLeague), and William Horan(farmer). Jean Kinsey (The FoodRetail Industry Center, and Univer-sity of Minnesota) will serve asmoderator.

Presentations over lunch will bemade by Mary Clutter, AssistantDirector for Biological Sciences atthe National Science Foundation(“Supporting Comprehensive ‘Foodsfor Health’ Research: a New Model”)moderated by Ronald Phillips(University of Minnesota), and byGeorge McGovern, former USSenator, now the US Ambassador atFAO (“Our Healthy Future: TheGlobal Context”) moderated byRobert Bergland (University ofMinnesota, previously Secretaryof Agriculture).

As is NABC’s tradition, workshopswill allow attendees and speakersto discuss, strategize, and makerecommendations for dealing withthe challenges and opportunities offoods for health, in terms of:

• Therapeutics and Treatment—applying agriculture to medicine.

• Foods to Prevent Disease—applying agriculture to health.

• Consumer Lifestyles andChoices.

Mark Becker (University of Minne-sota) will moderate the subsequentWorkshop Summary session.

A conference synthesis will beprovided by Jeffrey Kahn (Universityof Minnesota).

On the afternoon of Tuesday, May21, a special session focused onMinnesota will highlight innovationsin agriculture, food, and medicine.Industry (e.g. Cargill, General Mills,Schwann’s) and medical/health (e.g.Mayo Clinic, ViroMed, Algenics)representatives will participate.

NABC’s fourteenth annual meetingwill be titled Foods for Health.

Hosted by the University of Minne-sota and held in Minneapolis, May19–21, 2002, it will provide a uniqueintegration of agriculture, food,nutrition, medicine, and health.Agricultural and food scientists,nutritionists, medical experts, andleaders in consumer, ethics, andregulatory issues will gather to setthe course for the future.

Presentations and discussions willcover the latest research and theimplications of new developmentsin these overlapping fields. Discus-sion topics will include:

• improving nutritional composi-tion of food for a healthierpopulation,

• approaches to safety and efficacyin new technologies,

• the potential for using naturalconstituents of plants to treatdisease,

• a new model for supportingfoods-for-health research,

• crops to generate disease-fightingfactors,

• how new products will fit thegovernment regulatory mold,

• the future of edible vaccines,• technology choices for growers

and consumers, and• the role of science and technol-

ogy in the pursuit of a healthyfuture.

Shiriki Kumanyika and CharlesArntzen will be the keynote speakers.The presentation by Dr. Kumanyika,Professor of Epidemiology at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, willbe titled, “Diet-Related ChronicDiseases: Moving from Cause toPrevention.” Dr. Arntzen, Directorof the Arizona Biomedical Institute,

Foods for Health will be the theme ofNABC’s 14th annual meeting

3


Shiriki Kumanyika

Shiriki Kumanyika is Professor ofEpidemiology and Associate Dean

for Health Promotion and DiseasePrevention at the University ofPennsylvania School of Medicine.She received her BA in Psychologyfrom Syracuse University, MS inSocial Work from ColumbiaUniversity, PhD in Human Nutritionfrom Cornell University, and Masterof Public Health from the JohnsHopkins University School ofHygiene and Public Health. Herresearch interests include theepidemiology and management ofobesity with a particular focus onAfrican Americans, women’s health,and cultural issues in behavioralinterventions. She is currentlyparticipating in several studies onobesity prevention and treatment.

Dr. Kumanyika has been involvedin numerous advisory, policy, andconsensus-development activitieswithin the United States and inter-nationally. She chaired the workinggroup on Public Health Approachesto Obesity Prevention for the Councilof the International Obesity TaskForce. Other IOTF activities includedparticipation in a WHO workshopon obesity prevention in 1998, anational strategy workshop onobesity in Australia in 1999, andone in Barbados for the EasternCaribbean region in 2000.

Gregory Jaffe

Gregory Jaffe has a BA in biologyfrom Wesleyan University, and

a degree in law from Harvard. Forseven years he was a trial attorneyfor the Environmental and NaturalResources Division of the USDepartment of Justice, then wasa Senior Counsel with the AirEnforcement Division of theEnvironmental Protection Agency,before joining the Center for Sciencein the Public Interest as Co-directorof the Biotechnology Project.

Early in his career, Mr. Jaffe wrotea law-review article on regulatoryissues surrounding biotechnologyand genetically modified organisms.At the Department of Justice, headvised the Assistant AttorneyGeneral on biotech issues andworked with a federal interagencycommittee addressing biotechnologypolicy. At EPA he was awarded abronze medal for commendableservice, a special achievement award,and a gold medal for performance.

He is a strong advocate for federalpositions in federal court, and hasspoken publicly on behalf of EPA.He serves on the Pew Initiative onFood and Biotechnology’s Stakehold-ers’ Forum and on the University ofPennsylvania Bioethics Center’s GMOConsumer Values Panel. He haspublished articles on agriculturalbiotech in the Christian ScienceMonitor and the Food and Drug LawInstitute’s Update magazine.

Charles J. Arntzen

Charles Arntzen was appointedto the Florence Ely Nelson

Presidential Endowed Chair atArizona State University in Tempein 2000. He also serves as theFounding Director of the ArizonaBiomedical Institute, and as a mem-ber of President Bush’s Council ofAdvisors on Science and Technology.

Dr. Arntzen’s primary researchinterests are in the utilization of plantbiotechnology for enhancement offood quality and value, for expressionof pharmacologically active productsin transgenic plants, and for over-coming health and agriculturalconstraints in the developing world.He is recognized as a pioneer in thedevelopment of “edible vaccines.”

He has held faculty positions at theUniversity of Illinois and MichiganState University, and visiting pro-fessorships in France, Australia,and China. In 1984 he joined theDuPont Company in Wilmington,DE, as Director of Plant Scienceand Microbiology, and in 1988 hewas appointed Dean and DeputyChancellor for Agriculture at TexasA&M University. Subsequently hewas Director of the University’s PlantBiotechnology Program at the Insti-tute of Biosciences and Technology.From 1995 to 2000, he was Presidentand CEO of Boyce ThompsonInstitute for Plant Research, Inc.


4

Charles C. Muscoplat

Charles Muscoplat has been VicePresident for Agricultural Policy

and Dean of the College of Agricul-tural, Food, and EnvironmentalSciences at the University of Minne-sota since 1999. He serves also asDirector of the Agricultural Experi-ment Station. Prior to his universityappointments he was Vice Presidentfor Medical Affairs at MGI Pharma,Inc. (formerly Molecular Genetics,Inc.), and he served the company invarious executive positions from1983. He played key roles in thedevelopment of the first biotech-based animal health product (mono-clonal antibody) in the United Statesand the first biotech-based plantproduct (herbicide-tolerant corn).

From 1976 to 1983, Dr. Muscoplatwas a member of the faculty of theUniversity of Minnesota in veterinarymedicine, and from 1975 to 1976was a postdoctoral associate at theSloan Kettering Institute for CancerResearch in New York. He has beenappointed to a number of NationalAcademy of Sciences boards andcommittees focusing on sciencepolicy, and has served on the USDepartment of State’s ResearchAdvisory Committee. He is on theBoard of Directors of the MinnesotaAcademy of Science. He holds a PhDin veterinary microbiology from theUniversity of Minnesota.

R. Jeffrey Burkhardt

Jeffrey Burkhardt is Professor ofAgriculture and Natural-Resource

Ethics and Policy in the Food andResource Economics Department atthe University of Florida. He receivedhis doctorate in philosophy with agraduate minor in economics fromFlorida State University in 1979,and joined the faculty of theUniversity of Florida in 1985. Heteaches courses on agriculture andnatural-resource ethics, scienceethics, and the philosophy ofeconomics, and administers theCollege of Agricultural and LifeSciences’ teaching, research, andextension programs in agricultureand natural-resource ethics.

Dr. Burkhardt is co-author oftwo books on ethics and agbiotech,Plants, Power, and Profit (1991) andMaking Nature, Shaping Culture(1995). He has published numerousprofessional and popular articles onethical issues in the agricultural andnatural-resource system, the ethics offood and agricultural biotechnology,ethics in science, and the philosophyof economics.

He has served on several nationalpanels for USDA, NAS, NABC, CAST,and NSF. In January 2000, hewas appointed by Secretary DanGlickman to the US Department ofAgriculture’s Advisory Committee onAgricultural Biotechnology.

Susan Borra

Susan Borra is Senior VicePresident and Director of

Nutrition at the International FoodInformation Council (IFIC) inWashington, DC, a non-profitorganization that provides sound,science-based information onnutrition and food safety to healthprofessionals, educators, governmentofficials, journalists, and consumers.At IFIC, she is responsible for direct-ing communications programs,executing public affairs strategies,and managing nutrition and food-safety issues. She oversees thedevelopment of consumer-educationmaterials and programs aboutnutrition, food safety, and health.IFIC and the IFIC Foundationprograms are supported by the foodand beverage industry.

Ms. Borra currently serves asPresident of the American DieteticAssociation (ADA), and is a pastchairman of the ADA Foundationand secretary/treasurer of the ADABoard of Directors. She is active withthe American Heart Association andthe Society for Nutrition Education,and has served on the Subcommitteeon Interpretation and Uses of DietaryReference Intakes of the NationalAcademy of Sciences.

Prior to joining IFIC, she served asDirector of Consumer Affairs at theFood Marketing Institute where shemanaged nutrition, food safety, andconsumer-affairs programs for theretail food industry.

5


Harry G. Preuss

Harry Preuss is Professor of Physi-ology, Medicine and Pathology

at the Georgetown University Schoolof Medicine. He has authored over500 medical articles including morethan 170 peer-reviewed scientificpapers.

Dr. Preuss is on the advisoryeditorial boards of seven journals.He has edited four books on aging,nephrology, and/or hypertension, andrecently authored the best seller TheProstate Cure. He is the President ofthe Certification Board for NutritionSpecialists, is a past-President of theAmerican College of Nutrition andrecently became the ninth Master ofthe College. He has served on threeNIH advisory councils: ExecutiveDirector’s, Aging, and AlternativeMedicine, and is a former EstablishedInvestigator of the American HeartAssociation, as well as an EmeritusMember of the American Society forClinical Investigations. He wrote thesection on nutrition in the Encyclo-pedia Americana.

His major interests lie in the fieldof aging and manifestations of agingsuch as obesity, hypertension, dyslip-idemias, and insulin resistance, andin discerning how these processes areaffected by dietary interventions andsupplements.

Anne R. Kapuscinski

Anne Kapuscinski is Professor ofFisheries and of Conservation

Biology, the founding Director of theInstitute for Social, Economic andEcological Sustainability (ISEES) andan Extension Specialist in Biotech-nology and Aquaculture at theUniversity of Minnesota.

Dr. Kapuscinski is an authorityon biosafety policies and science,and ecological effects of geneticallyengineered organisms. She has servedon federal advisory committees onbiotechnology under three admin-istrations. In 2001, she received aPew Marine Conservation Fellowshipto support her work with industry,government, and public-interestgroups to improve the safety gover-nance of biotechnology. Her researchinterests include the effects of fish-eries and aquaculture on geneticdiversity of wild fish populations.

She serves on the US Secretary ofAgriculture’s Advisory Committeeon Agricultural Biotechnology andon a National Academy of Sciencescommittee on conservation ofAtlantic salmon. In 1997, she wonthe USDA Honor Award for Envi-ronmental Protection. Under herguidance, ISEES works with leadersin business, consumer, public-interest, foundation, and academicgroups to implement a “safety first”approach to GM organisms for theenvironment and human healthworldwide.

To register for

Foods for Health:

http://www.coafes.umn.edu/nabc2002/register.html

(details on page 11)

Irwin Goldman

Irwin Goldman is an AssociateProfessor in the Department of

Horticulture, University of Wiscon-sin. He received a BS in agriculturalscience from the University ofIllinois, an MS in crop science fromNorth Carolina State University, anda PhD in plant breeding and geneticsfrom the University of Wisconsin. Hispost-doctoral research was on maizegenetics at the University of Illinois.He returned to Wisconsin in 1992.

Dr. Goldman’s teaching includescourses in plant breeding andgenetics, evolutionary biology, andvegetable crops. He is responsible forbreeding and genetic research oncross-pollinated veg crops, primarilycarrot, onion, and beet. His researchinvolves the interface betweenhorticulture and medicine to developunderstanding of the medicinal valueof secondary compounds in vegetableplants.


6

Clare M. Hasler

Clare Hasler has a BS in HumanNutrition from Michigan State

University (1981), and an MS innutrition science from the Pennsyl-vania State University (1984). In1990, she was awarded a dual PhDin environmental toxicology andhuman nutrition from Michigan StateUniversity. Her postdoctoral workwas at the Laboratory of CellularCarcinogenesis and Tumor Promotionat the National Cancer Institute.

In 1992, Dr. Hasler was hired todevelop the Functional Foods forHealth (FFH) Program, a joint effortbetween the Chicago (UIC) andUrbana-Champaign (UIUC) cam-puses of the University of Illinois.She served as the FFH Program’sfounding Director until 2000, is nowthe Associate Director of Outreachand Industry Liaison for the Program,and is pursuing an MBA.

She is Assistant Professor ofNutrition in the Department of FoodScience and Human Nutrition atUIUC, is a participant in the Divisionof Nutritional Sciences and theEnvironmental Toxicology Program,and is an Adjunct Assistant Professorof Pharmacognosy in the College ofPharmacy at UIC. Her research isfocused on the role of soybean incholesterol-lowering in humans, aswell as the cancer-preventive actionof prune phytochemicals.

For more information onFoods for Heath :

http://www.coafes.umn.edu/nabc2002

Mich B. Hein

Mich Hein is President and Direc-tor of Epicyte Pharmaceutical,

Inc., San Diego, and an AdjunctProfessor in the Department of CellBiology at The Scripps ResearchInstitute. Prior to founding Epicytein 1996, he served on the facultyof the Departments of MolecularBiology and Cell Biology at Scripps.

Dr. Hein received his BS from theHonors Tutorial College at OhioUniversity and his MS and PhD inplant physiology from the Universityof Minnesota. He has 20 years ofprofessional experience in plantbiology, molecular biology, andimmunology, including commercialresearch and development at Epicyte,Monsanto, and PPG Industries.

His research has focused onmucosal immunology and the useof plant-derived proteins for sup-plementing the immune system.He is co-inventor, with Dr. AndrewHiatt, of Epicyte’s Plantibodies™technology, as well as its transporttechnology, for delivering therapeuticagents to epithelial tissues.

Rick E. Borchelt

Rick Borchelt is Director ofCommunications and Public

Affairs at the Whitehead Institute forBiomedical Research, Cambridge, MA.

Dr. Borchelt received his bachelorsdegree in biology at SoutheastMissouri State University and hedid graduate work in entomologyand science journalism at the Univer-sity of Maryland, College Park, afterwhich he was involved in science andtechnology public affairs as SeniorWriter and Associate Editor forcampus publications. Subsequently,he was with the National Academy ofSciences as Manager of Media Rela-tions, and the US House of Repre-sentatives as Press Secretary to theCommittee on Science, Space andTechnology. In 1994, he joined theClinton administration as SpecialAssistant for Science and TechnologyPublic Affairs and was Press Secretaryto the White House Science Advisor,John H. Gibbons.

In 1996 he joined LockheedMartin as National Media RelationsManager, and in 1998 became aVanderbilt faculty member detailedto NASA’s George C. Marshall SpaceFlight Center in Huntsville, AL. Mostrecently, he returned to Washingtonas Director of Communications forthe DOE’s Office of Science, where heimplemented a strategic communica-tions plan for public outreach ontheir science portfolio.

7


Michael Fernandez

Michael Fernandez is Director ofScience for the Pew Initiative on

Food and Biotechnology. He overseesthe Initiative’s research into scientificquestions generated by agriculturalbiotechnology, including the reports,workshops and conferences pre-pared by Initiative staff.

Previously, Dr. Fernandez served asAssociate Administrator for the Agri-cultural Marketing Service at theUSDA where he was responsible forall science and technology programs,including agricultural biotechnologyand the implementation of theNational Organic Standards Program.

From 1995 to 1999, he served asSpecial Assistant to the AssistantAdministrator at the EnvironmentalProtection Agency’s Office ofPrevention, Pesticides and ToxicSubstances. In this capacity, headdressed issues related to biotech-nology, pesticides, and food safety.Before that, he served as ChiefAgricultural Science and TechnologyAdvisor to the Senate Committee onAgriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

He received his undergraduatedegree in biology from PrincetonUniversity and a doctoral degree inbiochemistry and molecular micro-biology from the University ofChicago.

Samuel B. Lehrer

Samuel Lehrer is Research Pro-fessor of Medicine, Adjunct

Associate Professor of Microbiologyand Immunology, and AdjunctProfessor of Environmental HealthSciences at Tulane University HealthSciences Center, New Orleans.

During Dr. Lehrer’s 25 years atTulane, his research interests haveencompassed food and environ-mental agents that cause allergicreactions. The major focus has beenthe identification and characteriza-tion of shrimp allergens, as well asthe immunopathogenesis of shrimpallergy. More recently, other studieshave been directed at allergy-riskassessment for genetically modifiedfoods.

He has published over 400 peer-reviewed publications and abstracts(including 64 on seafood allergies)and has given some 65 lecturesworldwide. He is a member of twelvenational and international societies,including the American Academy ofAllergy, Asthma and Immunology, theAmerican Association of Immunolo-gists, the Collegium InternationaleAllergologicum, and the Institute ofFood Technologists. He serves on theFDA Allergenic Products AdvisoryCommittee and the NationalAcademy of Sciences StandingCommittee on Biotechnology, Foodand Fiber Production and theEnvironment.

John A. Howard

John Howard is founder and ChiefScientific Officer of ProdiGene, a

biotechnology company in CollegeStation, TX, that is focused onbiopharmaceuticals and industrialproducts from plants. He has over25 years experience in directingbiotechnology groups in research,regulatory, production, intellectualproperty, and business developmentfor two Fortune 500 companies andone start-up company.

Dr. Howard is author of over fiftypublications and patents, is currentlyan Adjunct Professor at Texas A&MUniversity, and serves on severaladvisory boards.

Prior to forming ProdiGene, hewas Director of the Protein ProductsDivision of Pioneer Hi-Bred Inter-national, Inc., where he foundeda program to develop and producerecombinant protein products fromplants. From 1987 to 1994, hewas Director of the BiotechnologyResearch Department at Pioneer.

He began his career at StaufferChemical Company in Richmond,CA (1978–1987), where he initiatedand directed a biotechnologyresearch program responsible forcrop improvement.

He received his doctoral degree inbiochemistry from the University ofCalifornia at Riverside.


8

William Horan

William and Pamela Horan farm3,500 acres in partnership

with William’s brother Joe in abusiness known as Horan BrothersAgricultural Enterprises. Theyproduce corn and soybeans.

Mr. Horan currently serves on theNational Corn Growers AssociationPublic Policy Team, and the IowaState University State ExtensionCouncil. He also is a Board Memberof the United States Grain Council,and is on the Board of Directorsof the National Corn GrowersAssociation.

He is past President of the IowaCorn Growers Association and ofthe Calhoun County (Iowa) FarmBureau. He has a BS from SouthDakota State University.

Registration details forFoods for Heath:


(see page 11)

Laurie Demeritt

Laurie Demeritt is President andChief Operating Officer of The

Hartman Group, Bellevue, WA, aconsulting and market-research firm.The Hartman Group specializes inthe analysis and interpretation ofconsumer lifestyles, and how theselifestyles affect the purchase and useof health and wellness products andservices. Their client base includes anumber of Fortune 500 consumerpackaged goods companies, pharma-ceutical firms, and mass and naturalfood retailers.

As President, Ms. Demeritt isresponsible for the quantitative andqualitative market-research andclient-services departments, and isthe team lead on all consultingprojects, including brand-develop-ment strategies, retail services, andnew product market analysis. Shewas instrumental in developingunique systems for understandingconsumer behaviors and motivations,including ethnographic researchmethods, social network observa-tions, and interactive studies.

Her background includes a BAfrom Cornell University and an MBAfrom the University of Washington.

Linda F. Golodner

Linda Golodner was appointedExecutive Director of the National

Consumers League (NCL) in 1985,and was elected President and CEOin 1991. NCL is the nation’s pioneerconsumer organization–since 1899–bringing consumer power to bear onmarketplace and workplace issues.

Ms. Golodner chairs the NationalCouncil on Patient Information andEducation, the Alliance to ProtectElectricity Consumers, and theAlliance Against Fraud in Telemark-eting and Electronic Commerce, acoalition of more than ninety groupsorganized to combat fraud throughcombined efforts and public educa-tion. She serves on the boards of theNational Patient Safety Foundation,the Union Community Fund, theRugmark Foundation-USA, and theAmerican National Standards Insti-tute where she chairs the ConsumerInterest Council.

She is a founding member of, andco-chairs, the Child Labor Coalition,which is concerned with interna-tional and domestic exploitation ofchildren in the workplace, and shehas served on the Department of theTreasury Advisory Committee onInternational Child Labor. She co-chaired the White House ApparelIndustry Partnership and serveson the Board of Directors of itssuccessor organization, the FairLabor Association.

9


Ronald L. Phillips

Ronald Phillips is Regents’ Pro-fessor and McKnight Presidential

Chair in Genomics, and Director ofthe Center for Microbial and PlantGenomics, University of Minnesota.He earned BS and MS degrees fromPurdue University and a PhDfrom the University of Minnesota;postdoctoral training was at CornellUniversity.

Throughout his career, Dr. Phillipshas coupled plant genetics withresearch advances in tissue cultureand molecular biology to enhanceunderstanding of the basic biologyof cereal crops. His research at theUniversity of Minnesota includedone of the earliest programs inmodern plant biotechnology relatedto agriculture.

He is a founding member andformer Director of the Plant Molecu-lar Genetics Institute of the Uni-versity of Minnesota. He has editedsix books, and published over fiftychapters, a hundred refereed-journalarticles, and two hundred abstracts.

From 1996 to 1998, he was ChiefScientist of the USDA, in charge ofthe National Research InitiativeCompetitive Grants Program. In1991, he was elected a member ofthe National Academy of Sciencesand is currently Chair of the Sectionon Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences.From 1999 to 2000 he served asPresident of the Crop Science Societyof America.

Jean Kinsey

Jean Kinsey is Professor of AppliedEconomics and Co-director of the

Food Retail Industry Center at theUniversity of Minnesota.

Dr. Kinsey was Chair of the Boardof Directors of the Federal ReserveBank of Minneapolis from 1996 to1997. She is a Fellow and Presidentof the American Agricultural Eco-nomics Association (2002), and haspreviously served on their ExecutiveBoard of Directors and FoundationBoard. She has been President andBoard Member of the AmericanCouncil on Consumer Interests.

She has conducted research andpublished articles on a variety oftopics including: consumer creditbehavior; changing food-consump-tion patterns; the economics ofinformation and consumers’ welfareloss; the marginal propensity toconsume food away from home whenwives work part-time and full-time;where people purchase their food;retail store performance; and theretail food industry.

Her work has been published inmany journals, books, and otherpublications.

She received her Master’s andPhD degrees from the University ofCalifornia-Davis, and her BA fromSt. Olaf College, Northfield, MN.

Mary Clutter

Mary Clutter is Assistant Directorof the National Science Foun-

dation. She is responsible for theBiological Sciences Directorate thatsupports fundamental research inbiology.

Dr. Clutter is the US Chair of theUS-European Commission TaskForce on Biotechnology, a memberof the Board of Trustees of the Inter-national Human Frontiers ScienceProgram, a member of the Board ofRegents of the National Library ofMedicine, a member of the NationalAgricultural Research, Extension,Education and Economics AdvisoryBoard, Chair of the BiotechnologySubcommittee of the Committee onScience of the National Science andTechnology Council (NSTC), Co-chair of the Subcommittee on Eco-logical Systems of the Committee onEnvironment and Natural Resources/NSTC, and Co-chair of the NSTCCommittee on Science’s InteragencyWorking Group on Plant Genomes.She is also a member of numerousprofessional societies and has servedon the Board of Directors of theAmerican Association for theAdvancement of Science (AAAS).She is a Fellow of the AAAS andof the Association for Women inScience.

She received her BS in biologyfrom Allegheny College and herMaster’s and PhD degrees from theUniversity of Pittsburgh.


10

Mark P. Becker

Mark Becker graduated with a BSin Mathematics from Towson

State University in 1980, and with aPhD in Statistics from the Pennsyl-vania State University in 1985. Hethen joined the University of Floridaas Assistant Professor of Statistics. In1989, he was appointed as AssistantProfessor of Biostatistics at theUniversity of Michigan School ofPublic Health, subsequently waspromoted to Professor of Biostatistics,then served as Associate Dean forAcademic Affairs.

Dr. Becker is currently Dean of theUniversity of Minnesota School ofPublic Health. He was elected aFellow of the American StatisticalAssociation in 1999. He has beenPrincipal Investigator on NationalInstitutes of Health and NationalScience Foundation statisticalmethods research grants. In addition,he has been statistical co-investigatoron research grants funded by theNational Institutes of Health, theCenters for Disease Control, and theAetna Quality Care Research Fund.His research on statistical method-ology has appeared in leadingjournals of biometrics, medicalstatistics, sociology, and statistics.He has co-authored publications injournals of accident analysis andprevention, dentistry, epidemiology,health-services research, medicine,nursing, nutrition, and occupationalhealth.

George McGovern

George McGovern was a USSenator for South Dakota from

1963 to 1981, and the Democraticcandidate for President in 1972.

Mr. McGovern, the son of aMethodist minister, grew up in SouthDakota and flew thirty-five combatmissions during World War II. Aftergraduating from Dakota WesleyanUniversity, he earned MA and PhDdegrees in American history andgovernment from NorthwesternUniversity in Chicago. He taughthistory and political science atDakota Wesleyan before beginninghis political career.

He was elected to the US Congressin 1956 and re-elected in 1958.President John F. Kennedy namedhim the first Director of the Food forPeace Program. McGovern led theway in expanding nutrition programsduring his three terms in the USSenate. In 1998 he was appointedas the US Permanent Representativeto the United Nations Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO)in Rome.

In his most recent book, The ThirdFreedom: Ending Hunger in OurTime, published in 2001, Mr.McGovern lays out a workable andaffordable program to end worldhunger.

Robert Bergland

Robert Bergland is Vice Chair ofthe University of Minnesota

Board of Regents, and lives on thefamily farm where he was born andraised near Roseau, Minnesota.

A graduate of the University ofMinnesota’s College of Agricultural,Food and Environmental Sciences,Dr. Bergland served as a member ofthe US Congress (1970–77) and asSecretary of Agriculture underPresident Carter (1977–80).

He was President of FarmlandWorld Trade from 1981 to 1983 andGeneral Manager of the NationalRural Electric Co-operative Associa-tion from 1983 to 1993.

11


at the heart of the University ofMinnesota-Twin Cities “East Bank”campus at 615 Washington AvenueSE, Minneapolis.

A block of rooms at the Metro-dome will be held until April 27,2002. Reservations may be made at1-800-822-6577 or 612-379-8888.Indicate that you are attending theNABC Foods for Health conferenceto receive the special rate: $104 fora single room or $114 for a double.

Travel Shuttle service from theMinneapolis/St. Paul InternationalAirport is available through ExpressShuttle USA, which runs every halfhour at a cost of approximately $13one-way, $21 round trip. Taxicabservice is also available from theairport at a cost of approximately$25 one-way.

Payment and Billing Registrationis coordinated by the University ofMinnesota College of ContinuingEducation. Payment options include:check payable to the University ofMinnesota; a purchase order fromyour institution; or credit card charge(VISA, MasterCard, Discover card orAmerican Express). Payment must bein US dollars and must accompanyregistration. Registration can be doneon the web (http://www.coafes.umn.edu/nabc2002/register.html) witha credit card number or via adownloaded PDF file for mailingor faxing to the conference registrar.Information on ContinuingEducation Credit, scholarships,special needs, and refunds isavailable at the same URL.

Jeffrey Kahn

Jeffrey Kahn is Director of theCenter for Bioethics, and Professor

in the University of Minnesota Schoolof Medicine. The Center’s focus is onpolicy, working with policy makers,healthcare professionals, and univer-sity communities. He also has facultyappointments in the Division ofHealth Services Research and Policyand the School of Public Health inthe Department of Philosophy.

Prior to joining the Minnesotafaculty in 1996, Dr. Kahn wasDirector of the Graduate Program inBioethics and Assistant Professor ofBioethics at the Medical College ofWisconsin. From 1994 to 1995, hewas Associate Director of the WhiteHouse Advisory Committee onHuman Radiation Experiments,which published The HumanRadiation Experiments in 1996(Oxford University Press).

His work explores the intersectionof ethics and public health policy,including research ethics, ethics andgenetics, and ethical issues in publichealth. His degrees are in microbiol-ogy (BA, UCLA, 1983), health policy(MPH, Johns Hopkins, 1988), andphilosophy/bioethics (PhD, George-town, 1989). He recently publishedBeyond Consent: Seeking Justice inResearch (Oxford University Press),and writes the bi-weekly column“Ethics Matters” on CNN Interactive(CNN.com).

The early registration fee–beforeApril 2–is $285. The full fee is

$310. This will cover all conferencematerials, a copy of the proceedingsvolume from the 2001 conference(Genetically Modified Food and theConsumer) and a copy of the pro-ceedings volume from Foods forHealth, the Sunday reception anddinner, Monday’s continentalbreakfast, lunch, and reception,and Tuesday’s continental breakfastand closing luncheon.

Student Registration Studentswho register for the conference maybe asked to show student identifica-tion at check-in. The early registra-tion fee for students is $195, i.e.before April 2. The fee is $220 onApril 2 or later. This fee covers allconference materials, the proceedingsvolumes for the 2001 and 2002conferences, the Sunday receptionand dinner, Monday’s continentalbreakfast, lunch, and reception, andTuesday’s continental breakfast andclosing luncheon.

Spotlight on Minnesota SessionRegistration This special sessionwill be held Tuesday May 21,immediately following Foods forHealth, to highlight agricultural, foodand medical innovations in Minne-sota. The registration fee is addi-tional: $50 for those registeringbefore April 2 and $60 thereafter.Student early registration fee forSpotlight on Minnesota is $25 byApril 2 and $50 thereafter.

Hotel Reservations The registra-tion fee does not include lodging.The conference will be held at theRadisson Hotel Metrodome, located

Registration forFoods for Health


12

DatedInformation

Enclosed

NABCBoyce Thompson Institute, Rm. 419Tower RoadIthaca, NY 14853

GENERAL INFORMATION ON FOODS FOR HEALTH:http://www.coafes.umn.edu/nabc2002

Registration information:Registrar, University of Minnesota, 20 Coffey Hall, 1420 Eckles Avenue,

St. Paul, MN 55108612-625-5726

fax [email protected]


Conference program information:NABC Host, University of Minnesota, 277 Coffey Hall, 1420 Eckles Avenue,

St. Paul, MN 55108612-625-6710

fax [email protected]

http://www.coafes.umn.edu/nabc2002/schedule.html

For room reservations at the Radisson Hotel Metrodome, Minneapolis:1-800-822-6577 or 612-379-8888, and mention the NABC Foods for Health conference

Documents

National Agricultural Biotechnology Council NABC Letter from …nabc.cals.cornell.edu › Publications › NewsArchive › NABCnews... · 2013-07-23 · 1 National Agricultural Biotechnology