Speaker Biographies

Keynote Presentations

Day 1 Speakers

Day 2 Speakers

Moderators

Paola Testori Coggi

Director General, DG Health & Consumers, European Commission

Paola Testori Coggi is Director General in the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers of the European Commission since April 2010. In July 2007 she became Deputy Director General for Health and Consumers with specific responsibility for food safety and animal health, inspections and scientific matters. Since 2000, as Director for the Safety of the food chain, she has been responsible for the White Paper on food safety and the legislative action programme as well as the management of emergencies.
She was previously Advisor for consumer health in the Cabinet of Commissioner Emma Bonino and she worked on the definition of the new EU policy on consumer health after the food safety crisis. Paola Testori Coggi joined the European Commission in 1983 in the Directorate-General for Environment where she worked until 1989 in the field of the control of dangerous chemicals and industrial risks. Afterwards, she served as Member responsible for the research programmes on life sciences, environment and energy in the Cabinet of the Vice-President of the European Commission, Filippo Maria Pandolfi. She also worked in the EU Joint Research Centre where she was responsible for administrative coordination. Paola Testori Coggi is a biologist from the University of Milan, Italy, with a Master degree in Ecotoxicology. In 2008 she received a Doctor Honoris Causa in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cluj, Romania.

Jo Leinen MEP

Chair of Committee on Environment, Health and Food Safety , European Parliament

Jo Leinen is Chair of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety at the European Parliament. He is a Member of The Conference of Committee Chairs and Delegation for relations with India. He is Substitute for Committee on Foreign Affairs and Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. First state law examination (1972). Graduate of the Collège de l'Europe, Bruges (1973). Second state law examination (1976). Lawyer in Freiburg/Breisgau (1977-1984). European affairs secretary of the SPD youth organisation (1977-1979). Member of the SPD's environment commission (1981-1985). Member of the Saarland regional executive of the SPD (1985-1999). Member of the SPD's European affairs commission (1996-1998). Vice-President of the European Environmental Bureau, Brussels (1979-1984). President of the Union of European Federalists (since 1997). Vice-President, International European Movement (since 2003). Member of Püttlingen (Saarland) council (since 1999). Member, Saarland Regional Assembly (1985-1999); Chairman, European affairs committee (1994-1999). Minister of the Environment, Saarland (1985-1994). Vice-Chairman, Committee on Constitutional Affairs (2002-2004). Chairman, Committee on Constitutional Affairs (since 2004). Member, Committee on the Regions (1995-1999). Member, Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (1995-1999). Member of cultural, social and sporting organisations. Vice-President of Eurosolar e.V. Member of the European Parliament (since 1999). German Environment Foundation Prize (1985).

Mella Frewen

Director General , CIAA

Mella Frewen has been Director General of the CIAA since July 2007. Her previous positions include 5 years as Director for Government Affairs, Europe, Middle East & Africa, for Monsanto, dealing with issues including agricultural biotechnology, conventional agriculture and agri-chemistry. Prior to that she was International Relations Director for Cerestar, then Europe’s biggest starch producer. From this role and her earlier ones in the Ferruzzi and Eridania Begin-Say Groups, stationed in Brussels, she has a wide experience of relations with the different Institutions of the European Union and trade associations within the food chain, as well as with the agricultural and chemical sectors. Many other Food Industry related activities during this period include: Food Industry Member of the EU Commission’s Advisory Committee on Arable Crops, of the Commission’s Standing Committee on Renewable Energy and of the Commission’s Advisory Committee on Non-Food and Textile crops; Secretary General of the EBB (European Biodiesel Board) from 1997 to 2000. Mrs. Frewen has worked in the Agri-food sector in Europe for 20 years. She has a Master of Science degree from the National University of Ireland, and completed a post-graduate course at the University of Brussels (ULB). She also holds an INSEAD diploma on International Operations Management. Mrs. Frewen, an Irish citizen, lives in Brussels with her husband and daughter.

Despina Spanou

Principal Advisor, DG Health & Consumers, European Commission

Despina Spanou is since 1 April 2010, Principal Adviser at the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers. She works on policy and communication and also chairs certain stakeholder fora, including the Platform for action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and the High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical activity as well as the Alcohol and Health Forum. She also represents the Directorate General for Health and Consumers at the High Level Forum on the Competitiveness of the food chain. She was previously the Deputy Head of Cabinet for the European Commissioners for Health Mr. Kyprianou (2004-2008) and Mrs. Vassiliou (2008-2010). Despina Spanou started her career at the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition after having practised European competition law for a number of years with the Brussels branch of a US law firm. She is a qualified lawyer and holds a Ph.D in European law from the University of Cambridge. In 2004, she joined the Cabinet of Markos Kyprianou as Member and was nominated as Deputy Head of Cabinet in 2007. She maintained this position under Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou when she took over the portfolio of Health in 2008 through to the beginning of the Barroso II Commission mandate. During her time at the Cabinet of Health and Consumers, she acquired significant experience through the handling of a wide range of DG SANCO policy issues. She coordinated food chain issues, including the avian flu crisis in 2006, EU food trade relations with Russia, and biotechnology, including international aspects. She also advised on public health policy files, including the first European Partnership on Action against Cancer and relations with third countries on health issues.

Susanne Løgstrup

Director, European Heart Network (EHN)

Susanne Løgstrup is Director of the European Heart Network (EHN), a Brussels-based alliance of heart foundations in Europe. Mrs. Løgstrup is responsible for coordinating EHN’s research. She has overseen the development and publication of EHN papers on food, nutrition and CVD prevention; EHN’s position on nutrition and health claims; a systematic review of consumer understanding of nutrition labelling; a research paper on EU’s fruit and vegetable policy; and reviews of front-of-pack nutrition schemes. She has been responsible for several pan-European projects, including on children, obesity and associated avoidable chronic diseases. Mrs. Løgstrup represents EHN at the EU Platform for action on diet, physical activity and health. Previously, Susanne Løgstrup was an Attorney-at-law in Copenhagen and Paris. Susanne Løgstrup holds masters’ degrees in Law (Candidata Juris, Copenhagen, Denmark) and Business Administration (MBA, Paris, France/Hartford, US).

Roberto Ciati

External Scientific Relations Director, Barilla Group

Mr Roberto Ciati is External Scientific Relations Director for Barilla. He is responsible for the development and implementation of the group's scientific policies, which involves extensive cooperation with government institutions and the scientific community. Mr Ciati also acts as Chairman of the Bread Committee in the Associazione Italiana Industrie Prodotti Alimentari (AIIPA, the Italian Food Production Industry Association), is the Italian representative in the Association Internationale de la Boulangerie Industrielle (AIBI, International Industrial Breadmakers Association) and is a member of the regulatory and technical committees of several other trade associations and International Life Sciences Institute. Prior to his current role, Mr Ciati held a number of positions in Barilla, including Research Nutrition Manager, Head of Ingredients Research and Quality Manager. He has been with the company since 1989. Mr Ciati holds a Masters degree in "Food Chemistry & Technologies" and a Bachelors degree in Chemistry from the University of Parma.

Ellis Vyth

Researcher , VU University Amsterdam

Ellis Vyth is a researcher at the Department of Health Sciences, VU University Amsterdam since 2007. She has a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Health (Wageningen University, Netherlands). Ellis is evaluating the front-of-pack nutrition logo “Choices” among consumers and producers. She has used different settings to evaluate the effect of the logo, such as supermarkets and worksite cafeterias. Further, Ellis quantified the effects of the logo on healthier product development by food manufacturers. Currently, she is calculating the potential health effects of the logo in cooperation with the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands (RIVM). Ellis published several articles in both national and international peer-reviewed journals. She is giving presentations at many national and international conferences and meetings. Ellis closely works with food producers, governmental organizations, retailers, catering organizations, consumer organizations and nutrition networks. Ellis is also developing and giving trainings about science communication, presenting and visualizing science.

Anna Maria Corazza Bildt

MEP, European Parliament

Anna Maria Corazza Bildt is a Member of the European Parliament. She was elected in June 2009 by the votes of the Swedish people for the “Moderate” Party and she is part of the European People Party group (EPP). She is a member of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, the Civil liberties, Home Affairs and Migration Committee, the EU Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission, the Delegation for the countries of the Arab peninsula (DARP) and a member of the board of the Moderate party for Stockholm. Her professional career started in 1987 in the field of development cooperation - working for UNESCO, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome, at the Delegation to the OECD and the World Bank in Paris - and in the field of human rights for the United Nations in Geneva. Anna Maria Corazza Bildt was the longest serving civilian in the peace missions during the Balkan wars, for 6 years, from 1992 to 1996 for the United Nations in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, and from 1996 to 1998 for the first European Union post war reconstruction operation in Sarajevo. She lived in the besieged Sarajevo and moved to Stockholm directly from Sarajevo in 1999 after having married Carl Bildt. Anna Maria Corazza Bildt is also an active entrepeneur. She is Co-founder of ItalianTradition.com -which specialises in promoting and selling Italian quality food in Europe, in particular traditional and typical foods from her region - and of the "Antico Borgo di Tabiano Castello", which manages the Relais de Charme in the historic town of her family in the Parma hills. In 2002 she published the Swedish bestseller, “From Parma with love, people, food and tradition”. She is a member of the Board of the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Sweden. Quality of food has been her core issue in her professional and political career. For her commitment, she was awarded many prices such as the “Grand Officer in the Order of the Star of the Italian Solidarity” by the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano for the high merits acquired as Italian living abroad, in particularly in contributing to the diffusion of Italian genuine food products in the Swedish markets. She also was given the “Silver sun” Women entrepreneur of the year, by Italian handicrafts organization Confartigianato in 2009; she was also awarded the Price Axel Munthe, Villa San Michele for promoting good relations between Italy and Sweden and for her commitment for human rights during the Balkan wars also in 2009. She speaks fluent English, French, Italian and Swedish. She also understands Spanish, German and to some extent Serbo-Croatian. She is a tennis instructor and player at high level.

Will Gilroy

Communications Director, The World Federation of Advertisers

Will Gilroy joined the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) in 2002 as Communications Manager and was made Director of Communications in 2007. He has responsibilities for a number of public affairs dossiers, internal and external communications and media relations. A public affairs expert on advertising and children and food and beverage advertising, he coordinates The Responsible Advertising and Children Programme (www.responsible-advertising.org), which brings together advertisers, agencies and the media worldwide to address issues relating to advertising and children. The group seeks to bridge corporate public affairs and marketing functions in order to help marketers better align their practices with public and political sensitivities. It also represents key industry interests before bodies, such as the World Health Organisation, Codex Alimentarius, the European institutions and national regulators. Will also has special regional responsibilities for Latin America and Asia-Pacific and coordinates the WFA activities in these regions. Prior to joining the WFA, he spent seven years as a press and TV journalist working in France, UK and Spain covering issues ranging from European politics, Corporate Social Responsibility and immigration to travel and sport. Clients included ARTE, Channel 4 and The Times, London. A British national, Will is a graduate of Modern Languages from St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University and speaks French and Spanish.

May Shelton

Project Officer for Food Marketing to Children, Consumers International

May Shelton is Project Officer for Food Marketing to Children, Consumers International (CI), the world federation of consumer groups with over 220 member organisations in 115 countries. May joined Consumers International office in London to work on the campaign for food marketing to children. She is specifically working on the development of a manual on monitoring the marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children, to be published later in the year. Before joining CI, May worked for a number of years as a senior research consultant at the Future Foundation regularly speaking at internal and external events. She has also worked as a research manager at the London South Bank University. She holds a degree in Sociology from Goldsmiths College in London.

Catie Thorburn

President, Generation Europe Foundation

Catie Thorburn is a “social entrepreneur” born in Scotland but resident in Belgium for the past 35 years. As the President and the driving force of Generation Europe Foundation, which she established in 1995, she helped create a communication platform between Europe’s young citizens and future leaders, the private and public sectors. Several million young people benefit each year from the awareness campaigns run through the publishing activities, online interactions and broadcast events. Prior to this she created and ran a multinational in the field of publishing and software localisation, and took it onto the New York Stock Exchange (Nasdaq) in 1986. She was a Consultant for the Eurexpansion Group and the international director of the “Club de Bruxelles”, a leading European think-tank. She is a Board member of several NGOs in Bruxelles, France, Romania, Greece, United Kingdom and Spain and is an accomplished musician.

Dr. Michael Kunze

Professor and Director, Institute of Social Medicine, University of Vienna

Prof. Dr. Michael Kunze was born in Vienna, Austria in 1942. In 1961, he studied medicine at the University of Vienna. He went on to secure positions at the university, which included Research Assistant; M.D., Assistant Professor Medical Faculty; Head, Department of Social Medicine and Associate Professor. He has been full Professor and Director at the Institute of Social Medicine, University of Vienna since 1983, and has produced approximately 600 publications.

Margherita Caroli

President, European Childhood Obesity Group (ECOG)

Margherita Caroli is a paediatrician and a nutritionist with a PhD in Paediatric Nutrition. She has been working at the Paediatric department in D Camberlingo Hospital since 1980 until 1998 when she was nominated Head of the Nutrition Unit at the Department of Prevention ASL Brindisi up to now. She has been the scientific coordinator of several projects at regional, national and European level in the field of promotion of health and prevention of obesity and chronic diseases mostly in children. She is also member of numerous national committees and task forces at national and European level. She is also frequently temporary advisor for WHO in the field of paediatric nutrition related to obesity. She has been Board Member of the European Childhood Obesity Group, of the Italian Society of Obesity, of the EASO Task Force on Childhood Obesity, of the Italian Society of Paediatric Nutrition and President of the ECOG. M Caroli has been an invited speaker in more than 120 scientific meetings, conferences and workshop. She has written numerous papers in national and international journals, and she is also a reviewer for several international scientific journals. She has collaborated to several scientific books and she edited three books in childhood obesity and nutritional education.

Laurence Doughan

Co-coordinator of the National Food and Health Plan , Public Service of Health, Food Safety and Environment – Belgium

Biography to appear shortly...

Basil Mathioudakis

Head of Unit, Food Law, Nutrition and Labelling , DG Health & Consumers, European Commission

Basil Mathioudakis has a scientific background having studied first Biochemistry and then Human Nutrition at the University of London. He joined the European Commission in 1982. He has worked on food legislation for 25 years covering a variety of dossiers (dietetic foods, food supplements, nutrition labelling and addition of vitamins and minerals to foods) before taking charge of the Unit. Since 2004 he chairs the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) - section General Food Law. As representative of the European Commission has followed work on the relevant subjects at international level (Codex Alimentarius, World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation). He also follows closely the work of the scientific advisory bodies in the area of Nutrition in general and in particular on the subjects for which his unit is responsible. For 15 years (1982-1997) he was the secretary of the Working Group on Nutrition and Dietetic Foods of the Scientific Committee for Food of the European Commission which was the predecessor of the European Food Safety Authority.

Pr. Dr. Markwart Kunz

President, The Federation of European Specialty Food Ingredients Industries (ELC)

The ELC President, Pr.Dr. Markwart Kunz, is a member of the Executive Board of Südzucker AG. He is responsible in the Südzucker Group for functional food, bio fuels, research and development including nutrition science, and production. From 1997 onwards he was Head of the Business Unit Sugar / Special Products, after being appointed Head of the Research, Development and Services Department (ZAFES) of Südzucker AG in 1992. Previously he was Head of the Palatinit Division of Südzucker AG. His scientific background is Chemistry and Biochemistry. In addition, he is Professor (hon.) at the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Monique Goyens

Director General, BEUC

As Director General of BEUC Monique represents 41 independent national consumer associations in 30 European countries acting as a strong consumer voice in Brussels, ensuring that consumer interests are given weight in the development of policies and raising the visibility and effectiveness of the consumer movement through lobbying EU institutions and media contacts. Having a background in law she has published numerous articles in scientific journals on consumer and European law. Prior to BEUC, Monique led the Belgian Commission Universitaire pour le Développement with international and national donors and partners in developing countries. She had been BEUC’s Senior Legal Adviser and contributed to the promotion of consumer interests through research as Project leader for European Affairs at Centre de droit de la consommation–UCL.

Anne Heughan

External Affairs Director, Unilever

Anne Heughan is a State Registered Dietitian. She is currently working for Unilever as External Affairs Director. Prior to this Anne was European Nutrition and Health Manager in Unilever where she worked on key innovations and nutrition and health communications. Before joining Unilever, she was Deputy Director of the Coronary Prevention Group and was involved in developing nutrition policies and campaigns such as school meals, children and heart disease and graphical nutrition labelling. Previously she was Account Director at Burson- Marsteller, a large Public Relations company. Anne started her career as a Community Dietitian in the NHS in London. She was responsible for introducing, managing and developing nutrition education in schools. During her career she has sat on many government and industry committees looking at science, diet and health. She is currently chair of the CIAA Nutrition and Health claims working group as well as the FDF Nutrition Group. She is currently a trustee of the British Nutrition Foundation and a Board member of European Food Information Council. She is also a member of the British Dietetic Association, the Nutrition Society and the Guild of Food Writers.

Chiara Tomalino

Food Policy Officer, EURO COOP

Chiara Tomalino is Policy Officer for food and food retail issues at Euro Coop, the European Community of Consumer Co-operatives. She co-ordinates the Euro Coop Food Retail Working Group, which gathers experts within the different Euro Coop’s member organizations, and follows the policy and legislative developments at EU level in the field of food safety, food quality, health and nutrition, the food chain. Chiara holds a Master degree in Management and Political Science from the Bocconi University of Milan and Sciences Po Paris where she oriented her researches on the Common Agricultural Policy and the evaluation of public policies. On these topics, following her research work at Notre Europe, she published a briefing on “Rural development in EU policy: a retrospective”.

Josephine Wills

Director General, The European Food Information Council (EUFIC)

Josephine Wills is Director General, European Food Information Council, Brussels, Belgium. (B.Vet.Med., PhD., MRCVS). Having qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in London in 1981, Jo spent several years in veterinary practice and earned her PhD from the University of Bristol Veterinary School, in 1986. After several years postdoctoral research at the University of Manchester Medical School, she joined the company Mars, where she worked in science, communication, and regulatory roles for 18 years, latterly as European Head of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for all product categories. In January 2006, Jo was appointed to Director General of the European Food Information Council, based in Brussels. Jo has published over 80 scientific papers, edited four books and lectured extensively worldwide. In the past 7 years, EUFIC has researched consumers understanding and use of nutrition information on labels, and together with leading academics, has published this work in peer-reviewed scientific journals. These papers can be accessed at www.eufic.org .

Marta Baffigo

Director Global Public and Regulatory Affairs, Kellogg Company

Marta Baffigo is Director Global Public and Regulatory Affairs at Kellogg. She is responsible for providing leadership for Kellogg’s worldwide public affairs and regulatory programs. She is also the company liaison worldwide between professional associations, government agencies and trade associations on nutrition health policy and advertising practices. Dr Baffigo is the chair of the CIAA Diet Task Force and the CIAA Addition of Nutrients project group. Before joining Kellogg’s in February 2004, she worked for Kraft Foods as Manager European Affairs. She holds a doctorate in Food Science and Technology from the Università di Milano, Facoltà di Agraria, where she conducted an experimental thesis in biochemistry in the Department of Agrifood Molecular Sciences. She lives in Belgium and has two children.

Annelies Rotteveel

Lecturer in Nutrition , The Hague University (on behalf of EFAD)

Annelies qualified as a Dutch dietitian (Hogeschool Arnhem & Nijmegen). In 2000 she obtained a Master's degree in Nutrition and Health from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. She has more than 6 years experience in the food industry, working in product development and regulatory affairs. Currently she is a Lecturer in Nutrition & Dietetics at the Hague University of Applied Sciences, where dietitians are trained. She teaches courses in Food Science, Functional Foods and Food Labelling and she also supervises thesis work. Annelies is a member of EFAD (European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians).

Salvatore Gabola

Chair of Public Policy and Communications Committee, Union of European Beverages Associations (UNESDA)

Salvatore Gabola is the Chair of Public Policy and Communications Committee for the Union of European Beverages Associations (UNESDA) and the Director of Public Affairs for Coca-Cola Europe Group. He has also spent time directing public policy and stakeholder relations for Coca-Cola at a global level. He has been actively involved in directing Coca-Cola’s public affairs strategy in Europe since July 2000, managing the company’s relationship with institutions and stakeholders across the European Union. He has been responsible for Coca-Cola’s contribution to legislative and political debates at a regional level as well as for developing and protecting the company’s corporate reputation as an industry leader in sustainable business. Sustainability is a focal area for the company. It includes empowering people and communities as well as working to reduce the company’s environmental impacts. Salvatore is responsible for ensuring that Coca-Cola Europe Group fully engages with its stakeholders in the areas most closely related to its business and sustainability priorities. Salvatore first joined Coca-Cola in 1997 as Director of European Environmental Affairs. In 2003 and 2004 he was given several global assignments, including the leadership of the worldwide team that developed the company’s first ever global environment report. In this role he also led on worldwide communications around the Coca-Cola programme on alternative refrigeration. Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Salvatore spent seven years with Fiat, working across Brussels and Turin in European public affairs. Salvatore holds a post-graduate degree in European Affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges.

Luiza Bara

Director of Policy and Strategy, European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)

Luiza joined EPHA in March 2009 and is responsible for directing the political work of the organisation. Luiza steers EPHA’s policy development and strategic advocacy work and manages the organisation’s external relations and partnerships from a political perspective. She directs the work of the Policy and Campaign Managers, and is assisted by the EU Affairs Officer. Before joining EPHA, Luiza Bara has worked as senior manager in European platforms of NGOs. Her professional experience also includes working in national and European institutions, as well as the private sector. She has an academic background in political sciences and European policies. Luiza speaks English, French, Romanian, Italian and Spanish.

Juliane Kleiner

Head of Unit for NDA Panel, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Dr Juliane Kleiner is head of EFSA’s Dietetic products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) unit. The NDA Unit deals with health claims, novel foods, infant formulae/dietetic foods, dietary reference values and allergies. Juliane obtained a Ph.D. degree in human biology (theoretical medicine) from the University of Marburg (Germany) and earned a Master’s degree in nutritional sciences from the University of Giessen (Germany). After some years of university work at Marburg she started at the European branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI Europe) for which she worked seven years as a senior scientist, responsible for the scientific management and support of the food safety programme. Since March 2004 she has worked at EFSA. She was first acting head of the Contaminants Unit, and then moved as a senior scientific officer to the former Scientific Expert Services where she contributed to the set-up of its scientific activities. She then became team leader of the Scientific Committee of the Scientific Committee and Advisory Forum Unit. Since March 2008 she has been leading the NDA unit.

Thorbjoern Christensen

Consultant, Danish Ministry of Taxation

Thorbjørn Christensen obtained an MSc in Economics, University of Copenhagen, 1996 and MSc in Quantitative Development Economics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, 1995. Since Mr. Christensen graduated he has worked intensively with taxation in particular with the taxation of goods with externalities. First he worked in the area of environmental taxation and has analysed, developed and drafted proposals for several environmental taxes. Recently he has been working with alcohol and tobacco taxation and the Danish taxes on certain foods, e.g. the Danish taxes on ice cream, chocolate and sweets and soft drinks. During the last two years he has in addition analysed and drafted a proposal for a tax on saturated fat in certain foods.

Franco Sassi

Senior Health Economist, OECD

Franco Sassi is a senior health economist at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), responsible for the OECD Economics of Prevention project. Previously, he was a senior lecturer in health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)and director of the graduate programme in Health Policy, Planning and Financing. Franco obtained his doctorate in health economics from the University of London. The overarching theme of his research and publications is the evaluation of health interventions. He holds an adjunct professor position at the Université de Montréal and held visiting positions at a number of universities in the United States, including University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University, University of California at San Francisco, and Duke University, as well as at the Catholic University of Rome. He was awarded a 2000-01 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy.

Kate Trollope

Editor, EU Food Policy

Kate Trollope edits EU Food Policy, the leading online news service and newsletter which she set up last year. She has more than 16 years’ experience writing about European food policy, reporting on health claims, food labelling, advertising to children as well as food additives, GMOs, cloned food and a host of other hot topics. She also moderates and speaks at food conferences concerned with these topics. EU Food Policy is online at www.eufoodpolicy.com and has a breaking news service as well as the weekly report on what has happened that week in the European Commission, European Parliament and Council.

Miguel Fernandes da Silva

Director, Health and Nutrition Policy, EAS

Miguel Fernandes da Silva is Director for Health and Nutrition Policy at the Brussels-based consultancy European Advisory Services (EAS), which is specialised in European and International regulation on food. After having provided public affairs advice to a range of companies from different sectors including, chemicals, food and biotech, Miguel joined EAS in 2004, since when he has been focusing on food law, with specific expertise on food labelling, claims and nutrition and health policy. Miguel provides companies with regulatory and strategic advice for the marketing of their products in Europe. He also advises international food companies on global regulatory and policy trends in the area of health and nutrition. He is a member of the European Food Law Association (EFLA), regularly speaks at a number of international conferences and he is also the author of various publications on food issues. Miguel Fernandes da Silva has a Degree in Political Sciences, a Diploma in Business Administration as well as a Master of Arts in European Political and Administrative Studies (College of Europe).

David Byrne

Former European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, European Commission

David Byrne began his career as a barrister in Ireland in 1970, became Attorney General of Ireland in 1997, and was appointed the first European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection in 1999. As European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr. Byrne’s responsibilities included policy development and bringing forward legislation to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers on these issues. He maintained a particular interest in tobacco control and was responsible for the drafting and enactment of legislation in Europe banning cross border advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products. During this time, the European Union was instrumental in designing and achieving consensus on the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the world’s first global health treaty. His other responsibilities included the pan European response to health threats such as SARS and Avian Influenza and the food crises arising from BSE and Foot and Mouth disease; development and implementation of a new EU Health Strategy and Programme; development of the strategy on bio-terrorism; the formation of agreements with the trading partners of the European Union (EU) to ensure mutual adherence to food safety regulations; regulation of GMOs in the EU; and promotion of consumer confidence in e-commerce and cross border trade. Before commencing his public service work, Mr. Byrne practiced law as a barrister for almost 30 years, specializing in constitutional, civil and European law. He became a Senior Counsel in 1985 and was Leader of the Irish Bar from 1997 until his appointment as European Commissioner in 1999. During his time as Attorney General he participated as one of the negotiators of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998 and drafted and oversaw the major constitutional amendments required by that agreement, which were approved by referendum in May 1998. Since retiring from membership of the EU Commission, Mr. Byrne acted as Special Envoy to the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) on a project to amend the International Health Regulations dealing with the monitoring, surveillance and response to global communicable diseases such as SARS and Avian influenza. These regulations were adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2005 and are the second of the two global health treaties sponsored by the WHO. He has also agreed to take up various advisory roles in health, including; Chair of the Ethics Review Committee of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) WHO, Lyons. Patron of Health First Europe (HFE), Brussels. Chair Cardiovascular Research Institute, Trinity College, Dublin Member Advisory Board Royal College of Physicians, London. He is currently a non executive director of Irish Life and Permanent Plc. and Kingspan Plc. Chair, Board of the National Concert Hall, Dublin

Delphine Millot

Director, Grayling

Delphine Millot is a Director at Grayling, a global communications consultancy specialising in Public Relations, Public Affairs, Investor Relations, and Association Management. Delphine is based in Grayling Brussels and has specialist EU public affairs and public relations expertise in the fields of health, food safety, consumer protection, agricultural, and trade. She is currently responsible for the development and management of the EU public policy strategies of leading blue chips in the food and drink sector. In the past, she has also been responsible for managing the communication campaigns of trade associations in the field of energy and the environment. Delphine is a French national and a frequent speaker at lobbying seminars at the College of Europe and diverse public affairs workshops in Brussels. She graduated from Sciences-Po Strasbourg in France (specialisation in European politics) and the Superior Institute of Public and Political Management (ISMaPP). Delphine also completed a one-year programme in the Economics and Business Department of the Trinity College in Dublin.