Singapore, Singapore
26/04/2022
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Virtual
Health Innovation and Food Systems Transformation: Re-thinking the Way Forward
The United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 highlighted the challenges of achieving food systems transformations to provide sustainable diets for health impact. Southeast Asia and Australasia are key regions for agriculture and food production, and are home to large populations with diverse cultures and diets. Science and innovation will help to improve agricultural productivity, increase value-added food production, improve health and livelihoods while enhancing food security and reducing environmental impact. This Science Session with plenary speakers and a panel discussion will look at new technologies and innovations, and discuss actions necessary for progress, including investment and research.
Program (Time shown in GMT+8)
11:00- 11:25 AM
Microbiome and Disruptive Innovation - Changing the world in Agri-Food, Nutrition and Health Outcome
Mr. Ross Youngs, Founder & CEO, Biosortia Microbiomics, USA
Mr. Ross Youngs, Founder and CEO of Biosortia Microbiotics, has spent over 30 years inventing products, technologies, and processes for a variety of industries, and holds over 75 patents worldwide. His recent major innovations include an R&D 100 Award for collaboration on biopolymer technologies. In 2009, Biosortia was awarded a $6 million ARPA-E (U.S. Dept. of Energy R&D) grant for its algal harvesting technology, which helped lead to the development of Biosortia’s drug discovery platform. In 1998, Mr. Youngs was awarded the Ernst & Young Ohio Entrepreneur of the Year award.
11:25- 11:50 AM
N-of-1 Healthcare to Food Technology: Harnessing Digital Medicine Approaches to Food and Nutrition Challenges
Prof. Dean Ho, Director, The N.1 Institute for Health (N.1), National University of Singapore, Singapore
Prof. Dean Ho is the Provost’s Chair Professor, Director of The N.1 Institute for Health (N.1), Director of The Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM) and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. Prof. Ho and collaborators successfully developed and validated CURATE.AI, a powerful digital medicine platform that has optimized human treatment for broad indications ranging from oncology to infectious diseases. He is a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He was also recently named to the HIMSS Future50 Class of 2021 for his internationally recognized leadership in digital health.
11:50- 12:00 PM
Short Break
12:00 - 12:30 PM
Science, Innovation and Food Systems Transformation: Way Forward in SE Asia
Moderated by Mr. Geoffry Smith, President, ILSI SEA Region, Singapore.
Mr. Geoffry Smith is President of ILSI Southeast Asia Region based in Singapore, and a Representative of the branch to the ILSI Global Assembly. He is also the Chairman of the Essential Micronutrients Foundation, a non-profit organization which addresses micronutrient deficiencies globally as a public health issue. In addition, he is Director of Nutrition Strategies International which deals with food and nutrition issues in developing countries. Mr. Smith serves as a member of the editorial board of the journal Food and Nutrition Bulletin. Prior to his current positions, Mr. Smith was the Global Director, Health Chelates for Akzo Nobel Functional Chemicals, and directed the global business for these compounds in food and nutrition as well as pharmaceutical applications. He was responsible for the global project within Akzo Nobel addressing iron deficiency anemia.
Panelists
Mr. Anang Nugroho, Director for Food and Agriculture, Ministry of National Development Planning, Indonesia
Mr. Anang Nugroho has over 30 years of experience in public service in Indonesia, and served as Director for Food and Agriculture, Ministry of National Development Planning since 2018. Besides the ministry, he has worked for several government agencies, the Cabinet Secretariat, State Secretariat, and Investment Coordinating Board. From 2013 - 2014, Mr. Nugroho served as Deputy Lead Shepherd for Ocean and Fisheries Working Group in APEC, facilitating the coordination of ocean-related issues in APEC; he also served as Coordinator for ASEAN Fisheries for Public Private Partnership in 2014. In 2014 - 2016, he served as Chairman of Financial Resources Working Group and Coordinating Mechanism Working Group for the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI). Since 2018, Mr. Nugroho has served as the National Chair for SDG2 End Hunger.
Mr. John Eng, Head of Agri-Food Division, Economic Development Board, Singapore
Mr. John Eng is Acting Vice President and Head of the Agri-Food Division at the Singapore Economic Development Board. In his current role, Mr. Eng leads a team to engage with global companies and develop strategies to position Singapore as an ecosystem for Agri-Food innovation. Prior to this, he was based in EDB’s Chicago Office from 2015 - 2018 as Regional Director, Americas, facilitating investments in industries such as biomedical sciences, food and nutrition, infocomms and media, natural resources, and professional services. Mr. Eng completed the Joint Masters of Translational Medicine program at the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco, and holds a BSc with Honours in Biological Sciences from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
Dr. Cecilia Acuin, Associate Professor, The Institute of Human Nutrition and Food, University of the Philippines Los Banos, Philippines
Dr. Cecilia Acuin is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food, University of the Philippines at Los Banos. Previously, she served as Senior Scientist, lead for Human Nutrition, at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines. She was also the Chief Science Research Specialist, Nutritional Assessment & Monitoring Division and Chair, Institutional Ethics Committee at the Food & Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) where she was responsible for the conduct of the Philippine National Nutrition Surveys, and oversaw nutrition research projects. Dr. Acuin’s involvement in multi-country research initiatives includes, among many others, Member of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences Committee on Nutrition and Anthropology; and Consultant and Vice-Chair of the WHO Western Pacific (WPRO) Regional Advisory Committee on Health Research. Dr. Acuin has also been the Co-Chair of the Philippine National Health Research System, Research Utilization Committee; and consultant in various capacities for USAID, UNICEF, World Bank etc.
Mr. Ross Youngs, Founder & CEO, Biosortia Microbiomics, USA
Mr. Ross Youngs, Founder and CEO of Biosortia Microbiotics, has spent over 30 years inventing products, technologies, and processes for a variety of industries, and holds over 75 patents worldwide. His recent major innovations include an R&D 100 Award for collaboration on biopolymer technologies. In 2009, Biosortia was awarded a $6 million ARPA-E (U.S. Dept. of Energy R&D) grant for its algal harvesting technology, which helped lead to the development of Biosortia’s drug discovery platform. In 1998, Mr. Youngs was awarded the Ernst & Young Ohio Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Prof. Dean Ho, Director, The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Prof. Dean Ho is the Provost’s Chair Professor, Director of The N.1 Institute for Health (N.1), Director of The Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM) and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore. Prof. Ho and collaborators successfully developed and validated CURATE.AI, a powerful digital medicine platform that has optimized human treatment for broad indications ranging from oncology to infectious diseases. He is a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He was also recently named to the HIMSS Future50 Class of 2021 for his internationally recognized leadership in digital health.