GM crop body appoints Dr Shanthu Shantharam executive director

The Association of Biotech Led Enterprises - Special Interest Group on Agriculture Biotechnology (ABLE - SIGAB) has appointed veteran agricultural biotechnologist Dr Shanthu Shantharam as executive director to mobilise the agriculture biotechnology industry in India.

A seasoned professional with over 35 years of experience in the field of agriculture biotechnology primarily related to policy and regulatory affairs, and technology assessment, Dr Shantharam is an advocate of genetically modified (GM) agriculture and has worked as an independent consultant on biotechnology and biosafety and environmental risk assessment of GM crops with his own consulting firm, Biologistics International in the US.

Former Fulbright Scholar, Dr Shantharam has worked as branch chief of the Biotechnology Regulatory Affairs at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in Washginton, DC for 15 years.

He has also been a senior research scholar in science, technology and environmental policy at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School and later as global head for regulatory compliance at al Syngenta International, AG, Basel, Switerland.

Dr. Shantharam has been a visiting research fellow at the International Food Poilicy Research Institute, and a visiting biotechnology advisor to the World Bank, both in Washignotn, DC.

He has an honours degree in Botany from Bangalore University, and a master's degree in plant science from the MS University of Baroda and a Ph. Dfrom Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.