GCP's two Subprogramme (SP) Advisors, assigned to Subprogramme 2 and Subprogramme 5, serve as external reviewers of the projects under their tutelage. They provide an objective perspective on GCP activities, and they are able to focus on major issues they believe their respective Subprogramme Leaders must deal with, both skills which are highly appreciated by the Management Team. The SP Advisors participate in the Annual Research Meeting each year, provide extensive feedback to their SP Leaders on the research conducted within the relevant Subprogramme, and review the commissioned research proposals. In addition, the SP Advisors sometimes accompany their respective MT member to on-site visits to GCP partner institutes. It is a goal of the MT for each MT member to conduct two site visits per year to review GCP products and get feedback from our partner institutes about how to strengthen our collaborations. 

The two Subprogramme Advisors were previously members of GCP's Review & Advisory Panel (RAP), which, until the last quarter of 2009, consisted of five scientists in total, with each of the five members performing the activities described above for the five GCP Subprogramme Leaders. However, in keeping with GCP's evolution and changes in our project monitoring framework, RAP was dissolved in September 2009, with Subprogramme Advisors being maintained for Subprogramme 2 and Subprogramme 5 only. This change was due to two factors. Firstly, Project Delivery Coordinators have been identified for each of the seven Challenge Initiatives, and one of their main tasks is to assist GCP management in project monitoring from a product delivery perspective. Secondly, the two GCP platforms launched in 2009 − the Molecular Breeding Platform (MBP) and the the Genetic Resource Support Service (GRSS) − will each have their own advisory committee, to be established in the course of 2010. 

Subprogramme Advisors:

Jackson_Scott 

Scott Jackson (Purdue University) - SP2 Advisor from June 2008 onwards

Scott Jackson is a professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, where he has been since 2001. He is the Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agriculture Research and a University Faculty Scholar. His graduate and postgraduate training were carried out at the Universities of Wisconsin–Madison and Minnesota.

Prof. Jackson's research speciality is in plant genomics and genetics, specifically on rice and legumes (including soya bean and common bean). He focuses on the sequencing of crop genomes and translating genomic information into useful tools for crop improvement, and collaborates extensively with colleagues at various CGIAR Centres including IRRI and CIAT.

Prof. Jackson serves on the editorial boards of The Plant Genome, RICE and Tropical Plant Biology.  He was the Chair of the International Soybean Genome Consortium (2006–2008) and serves on the organisational boards of several internal conferences.

His areas of expertise include genetics and genomics of cereals and legumes; structural, functional and comparative genomics of crop genomes; molecular cytogenetics and genomics-enabled utilisation of crop genetic resources.

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 Ana_Espinoza

Ana M Espinoza, University of Costa Rica - SP5 RAP member from June 2008 onwards

Ana Espinoza heads the Programme on Genetic Improvement of Crops at the Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Centre, University of Costa Rica. She holds a PhD in Plant Virology (University of East Anglia, UK), and an MSc in Biology (University of Costa Rica). She has been the Principal Investigator of more than 20 research projects financed by the Rockefeller Foundation, The European Community, IRRI, BMZ, The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), CIAT and CRUSA, among others. She has published several book chapters and about 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has also supervised more than 25 theses.

Her lab is in the process of commercialising improved rice varieties, following a multi-step approach involving public perception, food and environmental safety and IPR. Characterisation of the genetic diversity of wild Oryza species and weedy rice directed her research towards gene-flow studies.

She has established collaborative agreements with industry, and innovations from her investigations are to be patented. She is currently on a sabbatical studying Singapore’s science, technology and innovation systems and will be attached to the National University of Singapore Entrepreneurship Centre.

Dr. Espinoza’s professional experience spans a transversal approach to scientific research and innovation in a developing country, exploring all the potentialities and limitations, which is valuable for SP5.

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Previous Review and Advisory Panel members (dissolved in September 2009)

  • Chair: David Marshall (Scottish Crop Research Institute)
  • Subprogramme 1: Dario Grattapaglia (Genetic resources and Biotechnology, EMBRAPA)
  • Subprogramme 2: Peter Langridge (Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics University of Adelaide)
  • Subprogramme 3: Michel Ragot (Syngenta)
  • Subprogramme 4: David Marshall (Scottish Crop Research Institute)
  • Subprogramme 5: Rose Rita Kingamkono (Tanzania Commission of Science & Technology)

 

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