Andras Szekacs

András Székács (born in 1960) is a specialist in aspects of chemical, genetic and biological environmental and food safety, including organic micropollutants in the food chain (pesticides, mycotoxins, anthropogenic and technological pollutants); instrumental and bioanalytical methods in food analysis for the measurement of nutriments, composites; analytical methods for proof of origin and composition studies; agricultural ecotoxicology; method and technology development for food processing; assessment of biological and health related utility of agricultural produce and food products. He holds a PhD and CSc degree in chemistry (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1991) and DSc of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences degree in chemistry (2002). He is a honorary professor at Szent István University (2012), a habilitated lecturer at the Budapest University of Technology (1999) and a recipient of several domestic and international scholarships: Fulbright Fellow (1986-1987), Bolyai János Research Fellow (1998-2001). He held a postdoctoral position at the Department of Entomology, University of California at Davis, USA (1988-1990), and 3-6-month visiting scientist/professor positions at the Department of Agri-Food Molecular Sciences, University of Milan (1993), the Institute of Hydrochemistry, Munich University of Technology (1997),the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan (several occasions, 1999-2003), as well as the Department of Agrobiotechnology, IFA-Tulln, Austria (several occasions, 1997-2002) and the Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Vienna University of Technology (2003 and 2004). He authored over 150 scientific articles/books and book chapters. He is a regular lecturer at the Faculty of Chemical and Bioengineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (pesticide residue analysis and ecotoxicology) and the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Szent István University (environmental analysis). He is a senior member of PhD school in environmental sciences of Szent István University (Gödöllő, Hungary). He is Director and Scientific Advisor at the Agro-Environmental Research Institute (AERI) of the National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre (NARIC) since 2012. Previously, he was Head of the Department of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Analysis at the Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences with main fields of synthesis and optimization of environmentally friendly pesticides, studies on kinetics and mechanism of inhibition, structure-activity relationship studies, optimization of inhibitors and application to bioanalysis. In addition to providing a means to apply innovative immunoanalysis technology in environmental research related to agrochemicals, this area allowed a possibility to obtain experience with genetically modified organisms. He is member of the Management Board of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (2015-present) and member of the Scientific Advisory Body of OECD CRP (2016-present). He is Editor-in-Chief of Biokontroll, Quarterly journal in agro-environmental research (2010-present), member of the Editorial Board of Biokémia, the Quarterly Bulletin of the Hungarian Biochemical Society (1995-present, Editor-in-Chief, 1998-2009). He is a founding in member (2005-present) and Chairman (2009-present) of the Hungarian GMO-Roundtable, he has been appointed as Non-Executive Director of the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER). He is national expert in the International Biosafety Clearing-House (Convention on Biological Diversity), member of the Hungarian Gene Technology Committee, member of Hungarian Pesticide Registration and Harmonisation Committee (NEET, Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), member of the Scientific Committee on Pesticides and the Scientific Committee on GMOs (Hungarian Food Safety Office).