Who’s Who at ABNE?
The ABNE initiative is being implemented by the team based at the first ABNE node established in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and supported by a group of biosafety experts based at Michigan State University (MSU). The Burkina Faso team is composed of a director, an associate director, three program officers, an administrative and finance manager, a website and documentation manager, a program assistant and a driver. The program officers are experts in specific aspects of biosafety as elaborated in the staff profile below. The ABNE team is hosted by the University of Ouagadougou.
Professor Diran Makinde is the Director of ABNE. Before joining ABNE he was the NEPAD West African Biosciences Network director based in Dakar, Senegal. He earned a doctoral degree in veterinary medicine in 1976, and a Ph.D. in veterinary physiology from the University of Ibadan, in 1986. Prior to his current appointment, he was professor of animal science at the University of Venda, South Africa. He also served a five-year term as dean of the School of Agriculture, Rural Development and Forestry at the same university. Professor Makinde also taught at the universities of Ibadan (Nigeria) and Zimbabwe. Professor Makinde’s research interests focused on gastrointestinal physiology of monogastrics, which includes such areas as digestibility and pathogenicity. He has been actively involved in biotechnology and biosafety issues all over Africa ever since he joined, from inception, AfricaBio, a non-for-profit biotechnology stakeholders’ association in 1999.
Mr. Samuel Timpo is the associate director of ABNE and the socio-economics specialist. Previously, he worked as a socio-economist with the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission for almost seven years. His areas of interest include biotechnology and biosafety, entrepreneurship, and transformational development. During his time with BNARI, Mr. Timpo served as the Ghana team leader for the USAID Program for Biosafety Systems and also as secretary to both the Country Advisory Group on Biosafety and the National Biosafety Committee. He was instrumental in the development of Ghana’s national biosafety frameworks and directly contributed to the development of a national biosafety communications strategy and biotechnology policy. Mr. Timpo earned a masters degree in agricultural economics from the University of Ghana, Legon. He also previously taught various courses including entrepreneurship, micro-enterprise development and management, agricultural economics, and agricultural finance and marketing at the University of Ghana, the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, and the School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences.
Dr. Allan Liavoga is the ABNE food safety specialist. He possesses a doctorate and master’s degrees in food chemistry from Kansas State University. He also has post-doctoral research experience from the same university with antioxidants in wheat and their anti-cancer properties. He has undergone additional training in safety aspects of genetically modified foods. Before joining NEPAD-ABNE, Dr. Liavoga worked for the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) as a scientist for five years. He provided regulatory support on food safety for biotechnology products being developed by KARI scientists. He also headed the wheat and oil seed quality department of the National Plant Breeding Research Centre, KARI, where he screened breeders’ materials for quality. He was a member of the CODEX committee responsible for developing food standards in Kenya. His academic interests are in food quality and safety.
Ms. Betty Kiplagat is the ABNE legal and policy aspects program officer. She received her LLM in intellectual property, commerce and technology from the Franklin Pierce Law Centre, USA and is duly admitted to the Roll of Advocates, Kenya. She was actively involved in the biosafety legislation and regulations drafting for Kenya and has represented Kenya as a legal expert on liability and redress in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity. She has attended workshops and conferences in many countries in Africa and abroad on intellectual property and biosafety. She is a member of the task force on drafting the Kenya biosafety regulations for contained use and deliberate release. Before joining NEPAD-ABNE, Ms. Kiplagat worked at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and was responsible for establishing the legal office.
Dr. Moussa Savadogo is the ABNE environmental biosafety program officer. He has degrees in agricultural engineering achieved in 1989 and a Ph.D. in plant biology and ecology earned in 1993 from the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Prior to joining NEPAD-ABNE, Dr. Savadogo worked both as a scientist at the National Center of Research and Technology (CNRST), and as a regulator at the National Agency of Biosafety(ANB) in Burkina Faso. He was a member of the ANB team and actively contributed to drafting the national biosafety bill, and played a key role within the scientific committee in evaluating field trials applications. His interests reside in the field of ecological relationships involving honeybees (Apis mellifera) and plants.
Mr. Vincent Tiendrebeogo is the ABNE administrative and finance manager. He possesses a master’s degree in economical science with a management option, and has undergone additional training in audit and management control. He comes to ABNE with a wealth of experience in administration and finance having worked in international organisations and non-governmental organizations including Belgian Technical Cooperation, Benin and Action Aid International, Senegal, among others from 1989 to 2009.
Ms. Oumy Barry is the ABNE program assistant. Ms. Barry holds a master’s degree in modern languages applied to business and tourism. Before joining ABNE, she worked with the West African Biosciences Network based in Dakar, Senegal, as personal assistant to the network director. She has additional training in office management and protocol.