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2024 FSANZ Stakeholder Forum – Collaboration in food regulation: Working together for impact | 20 June, Melbourne | Tickets now available

FSANZ Fellows

We developed the FSANZ Fellows program to create a network of experts who can provide us with objective expert advice and critical review. The program also helps to develop academic links and networks.

Since FSANZ established the program in 2000, its contributions have been very valuable. FSANZ Fellows have provided expert advice on applications, proposals and other risk assessment activities of the agency. FSANZ Fellows, within their relevant areas of expertise, also have peer reviewed FSANZ work and provided training opportunities to FSANZ staff.

There are currently 24 FSANZ Fellows from a wide range of scientific and professional fields, including:

  • nutrition
  • epidemiology
  • risk research
  • economics
  • plant breeding and genomics
  • food science/processing/technology/safety/surveys
  • science communication
  • synthetic biology
  • horticultural food safety
  • immunology
  • microbiology

Current FSANZ Fellows

Photo Bio
 
  • Adjunct Professor Andrew Bartholomaeus is a toxicologist with considerable experience in chemical regulatory areas, including agricultural, veterinary and industrial chemicals, complementary medicines, and gene technology products. 
  • An adjunct professor at the University of Queensland and the University of Canberra, Professor Bartholomaeus has previously been an expert adviser to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, and was a member of the International Life science Institute biotechnology steering group. He has held senior positions in toxicology with the Therapeutic Goods Administration and FSANZ. 
  • Professor Bartholomaeus is also a member of the Society of Toxicology and ACTRA.
 
  • Emeritus Professor Mary Barton is a veterinary diagnostic microbiologist with a focus on bacterial infections in animals and antibiotic resistance in microorganisms.
  • Professor Barton has had a distinguished career as a veterinary microbiologist. Professor Barton has made significant contributions to government taskforces on antibiotic use in livestock, food safety and public health, as an educator and postgraduate research supervisor, and as a leader in the veterinary profession.
  • Professor Barton was a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council Foodborne Diseases Working Party, the Joint Expert Technical Advisory Committee on Antibiotic Resistance, and the Expert Advisory Committee on Antibiotic Resistance including holding the position of Deputy Chair.
 
  • Professor Louise Burke OAM is an expert in sports nutrition, exercise metabolism, and supplements.
  • Professor Burke is the Chair in Sports Nutrition at Australian Catholic University. She is a sports dietitian with 40 years of experience and worked at the Australian Institute of Sport as Head of Sports Nutrition and Chief of Nutrition Strategy. Professor Burke is an editor of the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. She was a founding member of the Executive of Sports Dietitians Australia and a Director of the International Olympic Committee Diploma in Sports Nutrition.
  • Professor Burke was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2009 for her contribution to sports nutrition.
 
  • Associate Professor Robert Clark is an expert in sample surveys, statistical ecology, and applied statistics in research and consulting projects.
  • Professor Clark is an associate professor in the Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Statistics at the Australian National University (ANU). He has been a statistical consultant, researcher, and teacher for over 25 years, including leadership roles in the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Wollongong, and the ANU. He has also been an associate editor for four journals, including the Royal Statistical Society Series A.
  • Professor Clarke is an Accredited Statistician and an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute.
Professor David Everett
  • Professor David Everett is a food scientist with considerable experience in research, teaching and bringing together researchers and industry to generate ideas. 
  • He manages a research programme on the future of food and is an Adjunct Professor at Massey University. He recently served as the Director of the Dairy Innovation Institute and held the Leprino Foods Endowed Professorship in Dairy Food Science, both at California State University. 
  • Professor Everett is a Principal Investigator at the Riddet Institute National Centre of Research Excellence in NZ (New Zealand) and a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Food Science and Technology, where he served as President and Chair of the Board. 
     
 
  • Emeritus Professor David Fraser is a nutritionist with considerable experience in various areas , such as the physiology of Vitamin D status and the relationship between milk consumption and bone health.
  • He was Professor of Animal Husbandry at the University of Sydney until his retirement, with stints in the position of Dean of Veterinary science throughout
  • He has been awarded the Rank International Prize in Nutrition and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Nutrition Society of Australia. On his retirement from the University of Sydney in 2007, Professor Fraser became Emeritus Professor of Animal science. Since then, he has continued with full-time teaching and research.
 
  • Distinguished Professor Nigel French is an expert in molecular epidemiology, food safety, and infectious diseases. 
  • He is Professor of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health at Massey University, New Zealand, Chief Scientist for the New Zealand Food Safety science and Research Centre, and Executive Director of the Infectious Disease Research Centre in the Hopkirk Research Institute. In this position, he provides evidence on sources of foodborne infections to improve strategies for the control of pathogens.
  • Professor French is Co-Director of One Health Aotearoa, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
 
  • Professor Sharon Friel is an expert in health governance and regulation, the political economy of health, and food systems.
  • She is a professor of Health Equity and Director of the Menzies Centre for Health Governance at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University. Previously, Professor Friel was Director of RegNet and Head of the Scientific Secretariat (University College London) of the World Health Organisation Commission on the Social Determinants of Health.
  • Professor Friel is an ARC Laureate Fellow, Fellow of the Academy of Social sciences Australia and co-Director of the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity.
 
  • Dr Olivier Gasser is an expert in the mechanistic links between nutrition and health outcomes, immune-metabolic effects of food macronutrients, the direct impact of B vitamins on immune function and the benefits of dietary fibre, prebiotics and probiotics.
  • He has been the Nutrition & Microbiome research program leader at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research (New Zealand) since 2017, focusing on the microbiome and its impact on immune development and homeostasis in humans.
  • Dr Gasser is a member of the science Leadership Team of the High-Value Nutrition National science Challenge (New Zealand). 
 
  • Associate Professor Andrew Holmes is a microbial ecologist with a particular interest in the role of gut microbial diversity in human health. He has a research focus on how diet and microbial exposure can drive changes in the microbiome and influence animal performance. Applications include development of food-based interventions in health and microbiome-based diagnostics.
  • He is located in the Charles Perkins Centre where he leads the gut microbiome node and he is also the co-leader of the Food for Health Theme in the Centre for Advanced Food Enginomics. His academic home is in the School of Life and Environmental sciences at the University of Sydney.
  • Associate Professor Holmes is the Reviews Editor-in-Chief for the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal.
 
  • Professor Martyn Kirk is an expert in tracking foodborne and environmentally-mediated diseases, including the health effects of per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances.  
  • Professor Kirk is internationally recognised in disease outbreak investigation, coordinating the OzFoodNet national surveillance system, and researching the burden and causes of diseases from contaminated foods, waters, and environments. The World Health Organization and numerous governments regularly consult him on the epidemiology of disease clusters and outbreaks.
  • Professor Kirk is an National Health and Medical Research Council Fellow at the Australian National University. Previously, he ran the Australian Field Epidemiology Training Program, teaching people to investigate outbreaks and establish public health surveillance.
 
  • Dr Rod Lamberts is a science communication practitioner and researcher. Dr Lamberts is Deputy Director of the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Scienc) at the Australian National University and a former National President of the Australian science Communicators.
  • Dr Lamberts designed and delivered some of the first university science communication courses globally and since then, has conducted and reported on several nationwide surveys of Australian beliefs and attitudes towards science and scientists. He has provided science communication advice to various science-related agencies in Australia and overseas (including the CSIRO and UNESCO) and is a regular public commentator on science, science communication, and science and public policy.
 
  • Emeritus Professor Peter Langridge is an expert in plant genomics, cereal genetics and genetic engineering.
  • He is an Emeritus Professor at the School of Agriculture at the University of Adelaide. Professor Langridge is currently the International science Coordinator for the Wheat Initiative, established to coordinate wheat research globally.
  • Professor Langridge chaired the Expert Working Group for the Prime Minister's science, Engineering and Innovation Council on 'Food security in a changing world' and serves on various international science advisory committees targeting food security and technology delivery to resource-poor farmers. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.
Johannes le Coutre
  • Professor Johannes le Coutre is developing a broad research agenda on cellular agriculture. He is Professor in Food & Health at the University of NSW, Sydney (UNSW), where he carries out research to strengthen food security and to alleviate the agricultural burden on the environment.
  • Professor Le Coutre discovered the critical role of protein-based proton conduction of highly ordered and dynamic hydrogen-bonded networks during his PhD. Subsequently, at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) he studied the molecular details underlying sugar uptake into cells. Before joining UNSW, he worked at Nestléas a research group leader and also as the Secretary-General for the group Scientific Advisory board.
  • Professor Le Coutre is the founding Field Chief Editor for Frontiers in Nutrition.
 
  • Sir Joel Ivor Mann KNZM, well known as Jim Mann, is a nutritionist and endocrinologist based in New Zealand.
  • He is a human nutrition and medicine professor at the University of Otago and a consultant physician in endocrinology at Dunedin Hospital. Professor Mann has researched the role of lipids and carbohydrates in coronary heart disease, diabetes, and obesity and the relationship between obesity and cancer. In addition, he chairs a range of professional organisations and advisory groups to the Ministry of Health and non-government organisations in New Zealand.
  • Sir Mann was knighted in the 2022 New Year Honours.
 
  • Professor Robyn McConchie researches solutions to address food safety risks across the value chain.
  • Professor McConchie is the Director of the Australian Research Council Centre for Food Safety in the Fresh Produce industry at the University of Sydney and the Theme Leader for Quality Food at the Sydney Institute of Agriculture. She has been involved in post-harvest research and education, minimising pesticide use, food safety, grain storage, and developing functional foods from waste.
  • Professor McConchie currently serves on the Fresh Produce Safety Centre (University of Sydney) Board. She has led many international food security projects, diversifying diet through crop interventions and increasing the impact of agricultural research.
 
  • Professor Cliona Ni Mhurchu is an expert in nutrition labelling, nutrient profiling, and interventions to support dietary behaviour change.

    She is a professor at the University of Auckland, where she directs a research program on population nutrition and scalable dietary interventions. Professor Ni Mhurchu is the lead investigator of a team developing the tools and methods for the upcoming NZ National Nutrition Survey. She has authored many high-impact scientific publications and receives regular invitations to present her work at conferences and to government agencies.

  • Professor Mhurchu was a member of the NZ Health Star Rating (HSR) Advisory Group and led independent research on the effects of the HSR labelling system. She is a member of the Trans-Tasman HSR Advisory Committee.
Professor Indrawati Oey
  • Professor Indrawati Oey is a professor of food science and heads this department at the University of Otago. She has expertise in food enzymes and plant proteins. 
  • Her expertise includes thermal and non-thermal food processing technologies, sustainable plant proteins and creating foods with unique sensory characteristics.
  • Professor Oey advised the Royal Society Te Apārangi on plastics in the environment and is involved in developing international standard methodologies for refrigeration of plant-based foods. She is a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology and the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology. 
     
 
  • Professor Conrad Perera is an expert in novel foods and processes, bioactive substances, functional foods, and minimal fruit and vegetable products processing.
  • He was a professor at the School of Chemical sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand and now holds an Honorary Academic position in the School of Chemical sciences . Professor Perera has consulted extensively with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, World Bank, Secretariat of the Pacific Community and other national and international organisations on food processing projects. Professor Perera is well known to the many stakeholders in the food industry. Over the years, he has tutored many students who now hold senior positions within the industry and in regulatory roles.
Brian Priestly
  • Adjunct Professor Brian Priestly is an expert in toxicology and health risk assessment.
  • He is an adjunct professor in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, where he previously led the Australian Centre for Human Health Risk Assessment. Professor Priestly was Director of the Laboratories Branch of the Therapeutic Goods Administration from 2001-03, following nine years of service as the Scientific Director of the Commonwealth health portfolio's chemicals toxicology and risk management programs.
  • Professor Priestly is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Toxicology and Risk Assessment (ACTRA).
Anna Rangan
  • Associate Professor Anna Rangan is an expert in examining food consumption and nutrient intake data and has an excellent understanding of the dietary intake of Australians, with a focus on population nutrition surveys, dietary interventions, and dietary methodology.
  • As an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, she is the Course Coordinator of the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics program. She is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian, and her recent research includes assessing and monitoring food consumption patterns, the role of energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods in the development of obesity, and substitution modelling. She is also interested in the development of novel dietary assessment methods, such as mobile phone apps
 
  • Professor Nicole Roy is an expert in nutrition and health, host-microbiome interactions, gastrointestinal physiology, and gut-brain communication.
  • Professor Roy teaches in the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago. She has also been a professor at the Liggins Institute of the University of Auckland and an adjunct professor at the Riddet Institute at Massey University. Before her academic appointments, Professor Roy joined AgResearch as a Research Scientist and Principal Scientist. She is a part of the High-Value Nutrition National science Challenge Leadership Group and the Riddet Institute Research Leadership Group. She has served on several national and international research funding panels.
 
  • Professor Seppo Salminen is an expert in food toxicology, probiotics, novel food risk assessment and health claim.
  • Professor Salminen is the director of the Functional Foods Forum, holds a chair in Health Biosciences and University of Turku (Finland) and is a visiting professor, Food and Health, University of Life sciences (BOKU), Vienna (Austria).
  • He has a long career in the food science and food industry areas and has also served on the European Food Safety Authority advisory panel (Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies NDA) for several terms and continues as a member of the novel foods working group.
 
  • Professor Wendy Umberger is an expert in understanding consumer and producer behaviour drivers and the implications of changing behaviour for food systems.
  • Professor Umberger is the Foundation Executive Director of the Centre for Global Food and Resources at the University of Adelaide. The Centre focuses on economic and policy issues affecting global food and agricultural value chains.
  • She is the current President of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society and serves on the Governance Board of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics and the editorial Board of Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.
 
  • Associate Professor Claudia Vickers is an expert in plant and microbial biotechnology, isoprenoid natural products, synthetic biology, and bioengineered food ingredients.
  • Professor Vickers is Chief Scientific Officer at Provectus Algae. She holds adjunct Professorships at Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University.
  • She has over 20 years' experience in basic and applied R&D in academia, government, and industry. She was the founding President of Synthetic Biology Australasia and has served on the expert working group for Australia's national synthetic biology roadmap and the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy synthetic biology investment plan. She currently serves as Co-Chair on the Word Economic Forum Synthetic Biology Global Future Council.
Page last updated 25 March 2024