Peter Kearns is a Principal Administrator at the
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) where he has worked since early 1991. He is responsible for the OECD’s Working Group for the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology and the Task Force for the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds. The Working Group deals with issues related to the environmental safety of transgenic organisms; while the Task Force covers issues relevant to food and feed safety. Both these groups comprise individuals nominated by the governments of the OECD member countries. Peter is also responsible for OECD’s Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN). This committee addresses safety issues related to nanotechnology.
Peter has a PhD in Population Genetics from the University of Cambridge, where he is a member of Darwin College. After a period of postdoctoral work at the Department of Genetics, Cambridge, he went to work at the UK Government Department of the Environment, where he was responsible for activities to regulate GMOs.
