ABLE – SIGAB appoints Dr. Shanthu Shantharam as Executive Director

New Delhi, 1st June, 2010: The Association of Biotech Led Enterprises – Special Interest Group on Agriculture Biotechnology (ABLE – SIGAB) announces the appointment of Dr. Shanthu Shantharam as its Executive Director. He would be responsible for coordination, communication and networking with all stakeholders of the agriculture biotechnology industry in India.

Announcing the appointment Mr. V Ram Kaundinya, Chairman ABLE – SIGAB and CEO of ADVANTA Seeds said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Shantharam on board ABLE – SIGAB as the Executive Director. He is a seasoned professional with more than 35 years of experience in the field of agriculture biotechnology primarily related to policy and regulatory affairs, and technology assessment. India’s agriculture biotechnology is just about a decade old and his vast experience will be valuable in shaping the goals and objective for the industry association to promote biotechnology development in the country. We look forward to working with him as we continue to execute our strategic initiatives for sustainable growth of the agriculture biotechnology industry in India.”

An eminent agriculture biotechnology expert and an advocate of genetically modified (GM), Dr Shantharam has been working as an independent consultant on biotechnology and biosafety and environmental risk assessment of GM crops with his own consulting firm, Biologistics International in the USA.

Earlier he was a 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, was a senior research scholar of science, technology and environmental policy at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and also with Syngenta International, AG, Basel, Switerland as a head of Stakeholder Relations and Technology Communications, and then as a Global Head for Regulatory compliance. Dr. Shantharam was 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 is a former Fulbright Scholar in India.

"I am privileged to be appointed as the Executive Director of ABLE – SIGAB” said Dr. Shanthu Shantharam. He further adds “As this new responsibility culminates in my professional career ambition to work for promoting the development of modern biotechnology for sustainable agricultural development in India”.

Dr. Shantharam has an Honors degree in Botany from Bangalore University, and a master’s degree in plant science from the MS University of Baroda. He completed his Ph. D. in the year 1980 from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. Dr. Shantharam has taught undergraduate and post-graduate courses in plant sciences, microbiology, molecular genetics, biotechnology and agricultural biotechnology policy around the world.

About ABLE – SIGAB:
The Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE) has formed a Special Interest Group on Agriculture Biotechnology (SIGAB), where twelve companies who are engaged in bringing new and modern agricultural biotechnology to India have come together. These 12 companies are Advanta India, BASF India, Bayer Crop Sciences, Devgen Seeds, Dow AgroSciences, JK Agri Genetics, Mahyco, Metahelix, Monsanto, Nath Biogene, PHI Seeds and Syngenta India. The group has come together with the intention of creating a facilitating environment to the development and introduction of superior biotech traits in Indian agriculture.