Board of Governors

The Board of Governors consists of a representative of each Member State and constitutes the Governing body of the Centre. Its main functions include: 

• Determining the general policies and principles governing the activities of the Centre;
• Admitting new Members to the Centre;
• Approving the work programme and budget, taking into account the recommendations of the Council of Scientific Advisers, adopting the financial regulations of the Centre and deciding on any other financial matter

Since 1999 all Member States participate in the financing of ICGEB through a scale of assessment adopted by the Board of Governors at its third session. The Financial Regulations (in PDF) of the Centre are available for consultation.

The Board holds most of its regular sessions in Trieste, as the seat of the Organisation’s Headquarters. The Conclusions and Decisions are available upon request.

The Director General of UNIDO is an ex-officio member of the Board, without voting rights.

Representatives of the United Nations, specialised agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency and intergovernmental organisations and non-governmental organisations, upon invitation of the Board, participate as observers in its deliberations. For this purpose, the Board has established a list of organisations that have a relationship with, and that have expressed interest in, the work of the Centre.

The Twenty-ninth Session of the ICGEB Board of Governors will be held on 10 and 11 May, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Board Members

• AFGHANISTAN
  Dr. Najibeh Ataei, Director General for Agriculture Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA), Kabul, Afghanistan
• ALGERIA
  Dr. Ammar Azioune, Directeur, Centre de Recherche en Biotechnologie de Constantine (CRBT), Constantine ; Dr. Mohamed Mahlous (Delegate) Deputy Director, Nuclear Sciences, Techniques and Applications, Algerian Commission of Atomic Energy (COMENA), Algiers
• ANGOLA
  Dr. Madalena Chimpolo, Deputy Director, National Institute for the Evaluation, Accreditation and Recognition of Higher Education Studies (INAAREES), Luanda
• ARGENTINA
  Lic. Karina Pombo, Directora Nacional de Promoción de la Política Cientifíca, Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, Buenos Aires
• BANGLADESH
  Dr. Md. Salimullah, Director General, National Institute of Biotechnology (NIB), Dhaka
• BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
  Prof. Dr. Kasim Bajrovic, Scientific Advisor, Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Sarajevo
• BRAZIL
  Prof. Dr. Márcia Cristina Bernandes Barbosa, Secretary of Strategic Policies and Programmes, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil, Brasilia D.F.
• BULGARIA
  Dr. Dimitar Djilianov, AgroBio Institute, Sofia
• BURKINA FASO
  Dr. Oumar Traoré, Agence Nationale de Biosécurité, Ministère de la Recherche Scientifique et de l’Innovation, Ouagadougou
• BURUNDI
  Min. Prof. François Havyarimana, Ministre de l’Education et de la Recherche Scientifique, Bujumbura
• CAMEROON
  Dr. Eddy Léonard Ngonkeu Mangaptche, Conseiller Technique, Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, Yaoundé
• CHILE
  to be appointed
• CHINA
  Prof. Zhang Xinmin, Director-General, China National Centre for Biotechnology Development (CNCBD), Beijing
• COLOMBIA
  Dr. Luisa Fernanda Echeverría-King, Internationalization Leader, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, MINCIENCIAS, Bogotá
• COSTA RICA
  Dr. José A. Bonilla, Centro de Investigación en Biología Celular y Molecular (CIBCM), Universidad de Costa Rica, San José
• COTE D’IVOIRE
  Dr. Koffi II Nazaire Kouassi, Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA), Abidjan
• CROATIA
  Prof. Kristian Vlahovicek, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science, Department of Molecular Biology, Zagreb
• CUBA
  Dr. Jorge Valdés Hernández, Vice Director, Centro de Ingenieria Genetica y Biotecnologia, Havana
• DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
  to be appointed
• ECUADOR
  Ms. Andrea Montalvo Chedraui, Secretaria de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, SENESCYT, Quito
• EGYPT
  Prof. Dr. Mahmoud M. Sakr, President, Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Cairo
• ERITREA
  Prof. Tadesse Mehari, Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Asmara
• ETHIOPIA
  Prof. Kassahun Tesfaye, Director-General, Bio and Emerging Technology Institute, Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Addis Ababa
• HUNGARY
  Dr. Gábor Toth, Head of Unit, National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Budapest
• INDIA
  Dr. Alka Sharma, Senior Advisor/Scientist ‘H’, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi
• IRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF) 
  Dr. Javad Mohammadi, Director General, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran
• IRAQ 
  Dr. Sumaya Talib Yousif, Department of Animal Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Baghdad
• ITALY
  Min. Plen. Giuseppe Pastorelli, Directorate General for Country Promotion, Deputy Director General/Principal Director for integrated promotion and innovation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rome
• JORDAN
  Dr. Bilal Azab, University of Jordan, Faculty of Science, Department of Biological Sciences, Amman
• KENYA
  Prof. Walter O. Oyawa, Director General, National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation, Nairobi
• KUWAIT
  Dr. Sabah Al Momin, Biotechnology Program, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Safat
• KYRGYZSTAN
  Dr. Zhainagul Isakova, Director, Research Institute of Molecular Biology and Medicine, National Centre for Cardiology, Bishkek
• LIBERIA
  H.E. Amb. Andrew W. Kronyanh, Ambassador Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Republic of Liberia, Rome
• LIBYA
  Dr. Adam Elzagheid, General Director, Libyan Center for Biotechnology Research (LBTRC), Tripoli
• MALAYSIA
  Mdm Aidawati Misdar, Undersecretary, Strategic Technology and S&T Application Division, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Putrajaya
• MAURITIUS
  Mrs. Padmini Seebun, Senior Scientific Officer, National Plant Production Office, Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Port Louis
• MEXICO
  to be appointed
• MONTENEGRO
  Dr. Bojan Adžić, DVM, PI Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory of Montenegro, Podgorica
• MOROCCO
  Dr. Mustapha Labhilili, Research coordinator of Biotechnology Unit, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Rabat
• NAMIBIA
  Dr. Natascha Cheikh Youssef, Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, Windhoek
• NIGERIA
  Prof. Mustapha Abdullahi, Director-General / CEO, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Abuja
• NORTH MACEDONIA (REPUBLIC OF )
  Prof. Zivko Popov, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje
• PAKISTAN
  Dr. Zahid Mukhtar, Director, National Insitute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad
• PANAMA
  Dr. Carmenza Spadafora, Instituto de Investigaciones Cientificas y Servicios de Alta Tecnologia (INDICASAT), Panama
• PERU
  Dr. Cristina Guerra-Giraldez, Vice-President of the Board, Full Professor, Director for Institutional Relations and Internationalisation, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima
• QATAR
  Mr. Masoud Jarallah Al-Marri,  Director, Agricultural Research Department, Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Doha
• REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
  Dr. Ghenadie Curocichin, Head, Family Medicine Desk, Head, Genetics Laboratory, State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “N. Testemitanu”, Chisinau
• ROMANIA 
  Dr. Manuela Elisabeta Sidoroff, Director General, National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences, Bucharest
• RUSSIAN FEDERATION
  Mr. Victor M. Smirnov, President of the ICGEB Board of Governors, Leading Expert, Department of Science, National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, Moscow
• RWANDA
  Eng. Michael Hughes, Science and Technology Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Education, Kigali
• SAUDI ARABIA
  Dr. Bader Obaid Almutairi, Professor, Faculty of Sciences, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh
• SENEGAL
  Prof. Salif Gaye, Directeur, Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT), Université de Thiès, Thiès
• SERBIA
  Dr. Jelena Begovic, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technological Development, Government of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade
• SLOVAKIA
  Prof. Mangesh Bhide, Assoc. Prof. DVM., Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava
• SLOVENIA
  Prof. Radovan Komel, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, Ljubljana
• SOUTH AFRICA
  Dr. Nhlanhla Msomi, South African Governor to the ICGEB, Westville
• SRI LANKA
  Dr. Ranjith Senaratne, Chairperson, National Science Foundation, Colombo
• SUDAN
  Prof. Zeinab Osman, Director General, The National Centre for Research, Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Khartoum
• SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
  Prof. Ibrahim Othman, Director General, Atomic Energy Commission of Syria (AECS), Damascus
• TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
  Prof. Christine Carrington, Professor of Moelcular Genetics and Virology, Department of Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
• TUNISIA
  Prof. Slim Tounsi, General Director, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax
• TÜRKIYE
  Prof. Dr. Hilal Yazıcı Malkoçoğlu, Medical Biotechnology Research Group Leader, TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Research Team, Gebze/Kocaeli
• UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
  Focal Point: Mr. Ahmad Adbulhamid Abdulfattah K., First Secretary, Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Rome, Rome
• UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
  Dr. Bugwesa Zablon Katale, Director of Research Coordination and Promotion, Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, COSTECH, Dar es Salaam
• URUGUAY
  Dr. Sonia Rodrguez, Cátedra de Microbiología, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Montevideo
• VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF) 
  Focal Point: Ministro Consigliere, Signora Maria Elena Uzzo Giannattasio, Incaricato d’Affari a.i., Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Rome, Italy
• VIET NAM
  Prof. Dr. Vinh Nang Do, Chairman of Scientific Council, Institute of Agricultural Genetics (AGI), Co-Director of the International Joint Laboratory Rice Functional Genomics and Plant Biotechnology, Institute of Agricultural Genetics, Hanoi, Viet nam
• ZIMBABWE 
  Dr. Deckster T. Savadye, Acting Chief Executive Officer, National Biotechnology Authority (NBA), Harare, Zimbabwe

For further information