Professor Simon More Elected Chair of EFSA's Scientific Committee
Professor Simon More has been elected Chair of the Scientific Committee (SC) of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for 2018-21. The SC is EFSA’s overarching scientific panel, conducting scientific assessments and developing related assessment methodologies relevant to the broad remit of EFSA’s work. Previously, Simon was member (2009-12) then Chair (2012-18) of EFSA’s Animal Health and Welfare Panel. 
Pictured (L to R): Susanne Hougaard Bennekou (Vice Chair ), Simon More (Chair ), Bernhard Url (EFSA Executive Director) and Diane Benford (Vice Chair)
EFSA works to protect European consumers from farm to fork. It is an agency of the European Union, providing independent scientific advice on current and emerging risks associated with the food chain. The agency considers a wide range of on-farm (including animal health and welfare, plant health, plant protection products etc) and post-farm (including food ingredients and packaging, contaminants etc) issues. It produces scientific opinions and advice that form the basis for European policies and legislation.
In the field of animal health and welfare, recent opinions have considered African Swine Fever (an assessment of measures to prevent spread), lumpy skin disease (the role of vaccination, post-vaccination strategies), the threat posed by vector-borne diseases, welfare insights on the slaughter of pregnant animals, control measures for bluetongue, and the emergence of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (a new fungus in salamanders within the EU).
Professor Simon More is Associate Dean for Research, Innovation and Impact in the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis and is also Director of the UCD Centre for Veterinary Epidemiology and Risk Analysis (CVERA), Ireland's national resource centre for animal disease control. He works at the science-policy interface, providing scientific advice in support of national policy-makers, both within government and industry, the latter primarily through Animal Health Ireland.
For more on the impact of Simon's work, see: http://www.ucd.ie/research/portal/impact/casestudycompetition/pdf/CASE_STUDY_SimonMore.pdf