Our Members

The Advisory Committee of Novel Foods & Processes comprises an independent Chair, and twenty four independent members.

The members of the ACNFP are:

Dr Camilla Alexander-White (Chair)

Dr Alexander-White is a chemical safety assessor of 25 years’ plus experience and strategic advisor to the cosmetics and foods sectors on assuring the safety of product-critical ingredients or contaminants coming under regulatory scrutiny in Europe.

Dr Anton Alldrick

Dr Alldrick is Special Projects Manager within the Science Division at Campden BRI with over 30 years’ experience in food safety.

Alison Austin

Mrs Alison is an independent consultant working to support businesses on sustainability issues. Following a 25-year career at Sainsbury’s she has focused on championing sustainability and consumer issues in both the private and public sector.

Dr Mark Berry

Dr Berry is the Founder and Director of Food and Life Sciences Consulting Ltd. He had over 30 years of industrial experience leading a variety of projects in plant science, food biochemistry, clinical nutrition and biotechnology.

Professor Susan Fairweather-Tait

Professor Fairweather-Tait is currently Professor of Human Nutrition at Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia and has substantial experience as a research scientist gained from industry and the Institute of Food Research.

Professor Paul Fraser

Professor Fraser is Head of Plant Molecular Sciences, at Royal Holloway University of London. His works cover the disciplines of biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics, and integrative biology.

Professor Wendy Harwood

Professor Harwood is an Emeritus Fellow at the John Innes Centre (JIC), Norwich. Until December 2023, she was Head of the Crop Transformation Group at JIC where she also managed the BRACT Crop Transformation / Genome Editing Platform. 

Professor Huw Jones

Professor Jones is Professor of Translational Genomics for Plant Breeding at IBERS Aberystwyth University. His research applies biotechnology approaches to study functional genomics in cereals with a current focus on gene editing.

Dr Elizabeth Lund

Dr Lund is a freelance consultant in the area of research ethics and nutritional study design. She is currently alternate vice-chair of West London Gene Therapy Advisory Committee and Research Ethics Committee as well as having over 20 years of research experience.

Professor Clare Mills

Professor Mills is the Professor of Food and Molecular Immunology at the University of Surrey and holds an honorary appointments at the University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Hans Verhagen

Professor Verhagen is a Food Safety and Nutrition consultant following his retirement from EFSA in 2020 where he was the Head of the Risk Assessment and Scientific Assistance Department as well as a Senior Scientific Officer.

Dr Maureen Wakefield

Dr Wakefield is the lead scientist for applied Entomology at Fera Science Ltd with other 35 years’ experience. 

Dr Ray Kemp

Dr Kemp is an independent consultant and social scientist specialising in risk perception and communication. He is currently a member of various advisory committees including the UK Department of Health and Social Care’s Committee On the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE).

Dr Andy Greenfield

Dr Greenfield was a Programme Leader in Developmental Genetics at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Harwell Institute for over 25 years where his research made use of cutting-edge genetic technologies to shed light on gene function and disease. He is currently a member of the Regulatory Horizons Council (RHC), the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) and an honorary research fellow at the Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford.

Professor Bruce Whitelaw

Professor Whitelaw is an academic who provides leadership within academia and the animal biotechnology sectors. He currently focusses on genome editing technology and animal stem cells, aiming to advance novel applications for the agricultural and biomedical communities recently leading the project to genetically engineer pigs to be resistant to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Virus which has been taken forward into the commercial sector by Genus PIC Ltd.

Professor Dimitris Charalampopoulos

Professor Charalampopoulos is a Professor of Food Biotechnology at the University of Reading with research interests in microbial fermentation to produce platform and speciality chemicals, the development of functional food ingredients, as well as the valorisation of food waste and by-products. He is currently Co-Director of the BBSRC Biomass Biorefinery Network (BBNet) and Senior Editor of the journal Food Chemistry

Dr Cathrina Edwards

Dr Edwards is a Group Leader at the Quadram Institute Biosciences (QIB) leading a research group within the Food, Microbiome and Health programme in Norwich, UK. She also has a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from King’s College London.

Professor George Bassel

Professor Bassel is a Professor of Plant Science at The University of Warwick. His research makes use of molecular and computational approaches towards the targeted improvement of crop plants using gene editing.

Dr Meera Cush

Dr Cush is a qualified and experienced toxicologist who holds EUROTOX and UK Registered Toxicologist accreditation together with a Chartered Biologist status. She has a BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry (Imperial College, London), MSc in Toxicology and a PhD in Molecular Toxicology focusing on the initiation of carcinogenesis in the lung for chemical mixtures (both from University of Surrey). 

Dr Isabel Skypala

Dr Skypala has worked in the field of food allergy for more than 30 years. She is currently a consultant dietitian at the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Hospitals, part of Guys & St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, and runs the food allergy service. She is also an honorary senior clinical lecturer at Imperial College London.

Dr Sophie Foley

Dr Foley is currently Associate Professor in Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University with research interests in food/drink fermentations, in particular lactic acid bacteria, and the diversity and potential applications for bacteriophages.

Dr Lynn McIntyre

Dr McIntyre is a Principal Lecturer in Food Safety at Harper Adams University. She has 30+ years of applied farm-to-fork research experience in Food Microbiology specialising in food production, preservation, and rapid detection methods.

Professor Alastair Macrae

Professor Macrae is a Senior Lecturer in Farm Animal Health and Production, and Head of the Dairy Herd Health and Productivity Service (DHHPS) at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Professor Gunter Kuhnle

Professor Kuhnle is a Professor of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Reading with over 20 years' experience in nutritional research. His expertise focuses on the development of objective measures of dietary exposure and intake using a range of analytical techniques. He is in particular interested in the health impact of phenolic compounds . He currently serves as Director of the Chemical Analysis Facility (University of Reading).

Professor Paul Haggarty

Professor Haggarty is a Professor of Nutrition at the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen. His research is concerned with epigenetics and nutritional metabolism and the development of novel methods to determine provenance in the human food chain. He is Deputy Lead on a multi-disciplinary, multi-centre UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Action Against Child Stunting hub designed to reduce global undernutrition and stunting in low-income countries. He has served on the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and the UK The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. His research is funded by Scottish Government and UKRI.