Education:
Ph.D., Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa (Post harvest physiology of cut flowers - Protea), 1986.
M.Sc, Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa (Post harvest physiology of cut flowers - Chrysanthemum), 1982
B.Sc HONOURS, Botany (cum laude), Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1981.
B.Sc. Botany and Zoology, Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1978.
Area of Expertise:
Plant Biotechnology; Plant Tissue Culture; Managing International Collaborative Research Projects and Programs: International Training and Capacity Building in Plant Biotechnology; Post Harvest Physiology of Cut flowers.
International and Professional Experience:
Started his career as a plant physiologist/biotechnologist at the Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute (VOPI) of the South African Dept. of Agriculture in 1983. He was responsible for Post harvest physiology research on cut flowers and for the development of anther culture techniques for potatoes, asparagus, tobacco, tomatoes and barley (1984 – 1994).
- Held the position of Assistant Director: Biotechnology at the Agricultural Research Council’s Roodeplaat Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute (VOPI) (1994 to 2001). In this role, he provided leadership in biotechnology R&D for a wide range of projects in biotechnology, from tissue culture to the development of transgenic potatoes. He also Supervised Ph.D (1) and M.Sc (3) graduate student research programs.
- Appointed as Director of the UNESCO/BAC Biotechnology and Education Centre (BETCEN) for Africa (1995 – 2001). In this role, he directed a plant biotechnology training center responsible for training more than 200 scientists from 23 countries in Africa.
- Appointed in 2000 as the PI for the Southern Africa Regional Biosafety program, a major biosafety capacity building program working with 7 countries in the region. This project was funded by USAID through the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project (ABSP).
- Appointed as the Director of the USAID funded Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project (ABSP) in the Institute of International Agriculture at Michigan State University. In this role he provided overall leadership for ABSP during the final 2 years of the project
(2001 – 2003) and was responsible for managing projects in :
- Research and Development - Development of potatoes with resistance to Potato Tuber Moth and field-tests in Egypt and in South Africa;
- Policy development - Provided educational opportunities to developing country scientists and policy makers in biotechnology, biosafety and intellectual property rights;
- Biosafety capacity building - Southern Africa Regional Biosafety (SARB) project.
- Associate Director for Africa for the ABSPII-project managed by Cornell University. Responsible for directing the ABSPII programs in East and West Africa respectively (2003 – 2004).
- Currently, he is the Director of the Agricultural Biotechnology Programs of the Institute of International Agriculture at MSU. The main focus of this position is to direct:
- The Commercialization process for an Insect Resistant GM Potato in South Africa.
- The Southern African Biotechnology Program (SABP) – as Co-Director responsible for collaboration with CIAT , The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, as well as the institutions in Southern Africa, focusing on cassava biotechnology applications and capacity building.
- Additional responsibilities include directing and managing USAID conferences such as:
- The USAID-Africa Partnership in Biotechnology Conference, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria, October 2003.
- The USAID-Africa Partnership in Biotechnology Conference Tshwane, South Africa, November 2005.
- The APEC Conference on Biosafety Policy Options, Manila, Philippines, January 16 – 18, 2006 .
- Acquired nearly 25 years of experience in the science and management of biotechnology projects and programs in the developing world. Countries in which he has been active in research and capacity building include: Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Egypt, India, Taiwan, Germany, and South Africa (his native country, where he lived for 45 years).
Selected Publications:
Editors : Brink, J.A. and Prior, B., 1998. Proceedings of the UNESCO BETCEN-MIRCEN Scientific Symposium. (ISBN : 1-86849-086-6).
Brink, J.A., Woodward, B.R. and DaSilva, E.J., 1998. Plant Biotechnology : A tool for development in Africa. Invited Review Article. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology. Vol 1(3) 1-12
http://www/ejb.org
Brink, J.A., Prior, B. and DaSilva, E.J.,1999. Developing biotechnology around the world. Nature/Biotechnology Vol. 17(5) 434-436.
Atanassov,A., Bahieldin,A., Brink,J.A., Burachik, M., Cohen,J.I., Dhawan,V., Ebora,R.V., Falck-Zepeda,J., Herrera-Estrella, L., Komen, J., Low, Fee Chon, Omaliko,E., Odiambo, B., Quemada, H., Peng, Y., Sampaio,M.J., Sithole-Niang, I., Sittenfeld, A., Smale, M., Sutrisno, Valyasevi, R., Zafar, Y., and Zambrano, P., 2004. To Reach the Poor—Results from the ISNAR-IFPRI Next Harvest Study on Genetically Modified Crops, Public Research, and Policy Implications. IFPRI Discussion Paper – EPTD Discussion Paper 116. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute hen. CAB International Publishing, Wallingford Oxon, U.K.
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