The Boards of Directors of the four research organisations that founded the Ethics in Common Committee have voted to appoint the new president and vice-president. From 4 April 2024, the Ethics in Common Committee will be chaired by Patrick du Jardin and Valérie Masson-Delmotte, respectively as president and vice-president.

This appointment follows the end of the terms of office of Michel Badré and Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, respectively president and vice-president until 3 April 2024.

Patrick du Jardin is an agricultural engineer and currently Professor and Head of Department at the University of Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech Faculty. He is a researcher and lecturer specialising in the field of agronomic sciences and biological engineering, biosafety and bioethics. He was a member of the INRA-Cirad-(Ifremer) ethics advisory committee from 2009 to 2016, and vice-chairman of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) GMO expert panel from 2012 to 2015. As a specialist in plant physiology and nutrition, he is currently working on the development of European regulations on recently developed fertiliser products, on behalf of the Belgian Ministry.

Valérie Masson-Delmotte is a research Director at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement / Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (Université Paris Saclay). She is involved in fundamental research in climate science and in diffusing knowledge and expertise on climate change. She co-chaired the Physical Basis Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2015 to 2023, and is a member of the High Council for the Climate (2018-2024). She has also been a member of the French National Consultative Ethics Committee (CCNE) since 2022.

Photos credit: Patrick du Jardin, @M. Houet - ULiège; Valérie Masson-Delmotte: @F. Rhodes - CEA