Final conference: Proposal for a food and health research infrastructure in Europe (EuroDISH)

Last Updated : 10 September 2015

Proposal for a food and health research infrastructure in Europe.

Welcome

DG Research & Innovation, European Commission, Belgium

Petra Goyens is a Research Programme Officer on Food, Health and Well-Being in the Agri-Food Chain Unit of the Bioeconomy Directorate within the Directorate-General for Research & Innovation. In this position she is engaged in research policy development and Horizon 2020 program management in the area of nutrition and health. She follows the Joint Programming Initiative "A Health Diet for a Healthy Life" and follows-up on various FP7 research projects. Previously she worked as Project Adviser at the European Research Council Executive Agency (ERCEA) in the Call and Project Follow-up Coordination unit. Petra holds MSc degrees in Biomedical Sciences, in Biostatistics and in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. Petra obtained her PhD in Biological Health Sciences at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, where she also worked as a post-doc/project leader on EU-funded FP6 collaborative research projects.

Introduction to EuroDISH

Krijn Poppe LEI Wageningen UR, the Netherlands

Krijn J. Poppe is a business economist working in research management at the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI) of Wageningen University and Research Centre, located in The Hague, the Netherlands. He is involved in the management of several large, multidisciplinary research projects for the EU, including EuroDISH. He co-chairs the collaborative working group AKIS (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems) of the EU's Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR). His current research interests focus on agricultural policy issues, monitoring, competitiveness of the European food sector, the agricultural knowledge and innovation system, cooperatives and ICT. From 2009 - 2011 he worked part-time as Chief Science Officer at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, and for twelve years (1999-2011) Krijn was Secretary-General of the European Association of Agricultural Economists. He is Honorary Secretary-Treasurer of the EAAEP Foundation (that publishes the European Review of Agricultural Economics), chairs the Steering Group of the journal EuroChoices, and chairs the foundation eRNAC on research concerning cooperatives. He co-owns a small arable family farm.

EuroDISH conceptual design of DISH-RI: Research Infrastructure on food related to nutrition & health Q&A sessions & Panel Discussion

Prof. Pieter van 't Veer Wageningen University, the Netherlands

Professor Pieter van 't Veer chairs the Nutrition and Epidemiology group, Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University. His drive is to strengthen evidence-based food and nutrition policy at national and European level. To this end, he has published on meta-analyses (WCRF global report), validation of pan-European nutrition surveillance (EFCOVAL), and alignment of micronutrient recommendations (EURRECA). His current work addresses infrastructures for food and health research in Europe (EuroDISH) and establishing a distance-learning curriculum in Nutritional and Public Health Epidemiology. He is a member of the Health Council of the Netherlands and chairs the national advisory board on nutrition surveillance.

FoodManufuture: Views from a related FP7 project

Dr Lilia Ahrné SP Technical Research Institute, Sweden

Dr Lilia Ahrné is Director of the Department for Process and Technology Development at SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and a member of the Executive Committee at the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST). Lilia also holds the role of Associated Professor in Food Engineering at Chalmers Technical University in Gothenburg, Sweden. She has a MSc and a PhD in Food Engineering from the Catholic University of Portugal. Her research interests are to understand the effect of processing on physical, chemical and structural characteristics of foods, and to use this knowledge to develop new processes and products. Processes under study include both traditional and novel technologies. She has extensive experience in coordination of industrial and European research projects.

European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI): Health and Food

Dr Gabriela Pastori Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBSRC, UK

Dr Gabriela Pastori is Head of European Relations. She has a PhD in Biological Sciences, and obtained her Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches at the University of Paris XI in 2003. After working several years as a researcher, Gabriela moved to BBSRC's Head Office as Programme Manager for Engineering and Biological Systems, and then into European Relations becoming responsible for European initiatives and activities, with emphasis on ERANETs, JPIs and research infrastructures. Gabriela represents the UK as Chair of the ESFRI Strategic Working Group on Health and Food.

Joint Programming Initiative - A Health Diet for a Healthy Life (JPI HDHL): Views from the Vice Chair of the JPI HDHL Q&A sessions & Panel Discussion

Dr Martijntje Bakker ZonMw, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

Dr Martijntje Bakker is a member of the management team at ZonMw and Vice Chair of the Joint Programming Initiative Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life (JPI HDHL). She has a PhD in Health Sciences from Maastricht University and has vast experience in the field of public health having held positions as a researcher, project manager, policy advisor and manager. Martijntje also has vast political and administrative experience from her role as a member of the management board on behalf of the Ministry of Health, the Netherlands.

Roadmap towards DISH-RI: Research infrastructure on food related to nutrtion & health Q&A sessions & Panel Discussion

Karin Zimmermann LEI Wageningen UR, the Netherlands

Karin Zimmermann is a senior project manager and scientist at LEI Wageningen UR and has broad expertise in market strategy and consumer-driven supply chains and product development for the food industry. She studied Farm Economics at the Applied University of Delft in the Netherlands. She has worked in many national projects with the food industry to develop added value strategies for new food innovations. Based on those experiences, she was invited to become pillar coordinator of the "Consumer Driven and Responsive Supply Chain" as well as a member of the Vasco da Gama process in the FP6 project ISAFRUIT. Karin then became coordinator of the FP7 project Connect4Action which aimed to improve the dialogue between food technologists, consumer scientists and consumers. She contributes to many EU projects concerning new food technology and food innovation. At national level, she is the coordinator of Market Intelligence, a leading project for the fruit and vegetable sector. She is an experienced international project manager in several FP6 and FP7 European projects, including EuroDISH.

Q&A sessions & Panel Discussion

Andrew Smith ELIXIR, UK

Andrew Smith is a senior external relations officer at ELIXIR, he joined in 2011. Andy manages ELIXIR's engagement with Member States, supporting new countries in joining. He also leads on ELIXIR's engagement with the EU institutions and the ESFRI process in general. Andy is responsible for developing ELIXIR's industry strategy and runs the ELIXIR Innovation SME support programme. Previously he worked in Brussels for the UK Research Office (UKRO), covering various research programme and policy fields, including FP7 National Contact Point helpdesks and supporting UK delegations to FP7 Programme Committees. Andy has also previously held roles in regional government, focussing on EU Structural Funds, and on education programmes in Slovenia and the Czech Republic.

Dr Silvia Miret-Catalan Unilever, the Netherlands

Silvia Miret-Catlan is Director of Nutrition and Health Discover at Unilever with a PhD in Biology and international experience in both academic and industrial research as well as R&D management. Silvia attained both her BSc and PhD in Biology at the University of Barcelona. Having then worked as a Marie-Curie post-doctoral fellow at King's College London, she began working for Unilever in 2003 as a Marie-Curie industrial fellow. She has since remained working for Unilever in various roles, including group leader and senior project leader, beginning her most recent role as Director of Nutrition and Health Discover in July 2014.

Silvia Bencivelli Freelance science journalist, Italy

Silvia Bencivelli (MD) is an award-winning Italian freelance science writer and journalist. Her main journalistic credits include the daily newspaper la Repubblica and Le Scienze (Italian edition of Scientific American). She works for the Italian public broadcaster Rai as a radio speaker and producer (for Radio3 scienza, Radio3) and as a TV speaker and author (Nautilus, Rai Scuola). She is a lecturer and academic committee member of the Master Course La Scienza nella Pratica Giornalistica ("Science in Journalistic Practice") at Sapienza University of Rome. She has written several books, including Comunicare la scienza ("Communicating Science"), with Francesco Paolo De Ceglia (2013). She is a member of the managing board and treasurer of SWIM (Science Writers in Italy), member of the professional science writer association, European Union of Science Journalists' Association (EUSJA), and member of the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ).