Ana Afonso, is the Head of the Nutrition and Innovation in Food Unit at the European Food Safety Authority. The unit supports the work of the Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) and the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), as well as their Working Groups and Scientific Networks. The GMO panel carries out the risk assessment of GMO applications and provides scientific advice in the biotechnology domain. The NDA panel deals with questions related to human nutrition, novel foods, nutrient sources, foods for special groups such as infant formulae, health claims on food products, dietary reference values, and food allergies.
Ana is a veterinarian and joined EFSA in 2006 as a scientific officer in the Animal Health and Welfare Unit. She was also the Emerging Risks team leader and coordinated EFSA’s foresight and emerging risks activities.