Reinhilde Schoonjans

Dr. Reinhilde Schoonjans is Team Leader GMO Food Feed Safety, Comparative and Environmental Risk Assessment. Her Team is part of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Unit for Nutrition and Food Innovation (NIF), Parma, Italy. Protein Safety (incl. Allergenicity, Toxicity), Nutrition, Human and Animal Dietary Exposure, ERA and Post Market Environmental Monitoring are among the disciplines covered in the evaluations of GM Plants. Reinhilde and her Team also work on future approaches to protein safety and on guidance evaluations for GM-NGT animals and GM-NGT microorganisms. Previously, she coordinated a mandate on Synthetic Biology (in microorganisms, plants and animals). Other topics of expertise include biodiversity-related protection goals for environmental risk assessment, epigenetics and the cloning of farmed animals, as well as risk assessment of nanomaterial/small particles used in the food and feed chain. Reinhilde Schoonjans is a Biotechnologist holding a PhD from Ghent University, where she performed research on bispecific antibodies for cancer immunotherapy. In 2005 she qualified as European Patent Attorney for the European Patent Office (Munich), before joining EFSA.