Irie Vroh-Bi, PhD

Dr. Irie Vroh-Bi is Senior Expert, Science and Technology Policy at the African Observatory for STI (AOSTI). Prior to joining AOSTI, Dr Vroh was Breeder and head of a research for development program for West and Central Africa at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Holder of a PhD (1999) in Agronomic Sciences and Bio-engineering from the University of Liege, Belgium (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech), he worked as a Molecular Geneticist and Project Lead in the USA at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Missouri Columbia and Cornell University in the area of biotechnology, genomics, genetic diversity and genetic improvement of crop species.

He has led and coordinated several international projects including the Generation Challenge Programme (GCP) for IITA and the HarvestPlus Challenge Programme (biofortification of food crops) engaging several African countries, Latin America and the international research centers of the CGIAR group in food insecurity and food quality areas. Vroh is presently an expert advisor of the International Foundation for Science (IFS, Sweden). In his current position of Senior Expert, Science and Technology Policy at the African Observatory for STI (AOSTI) of the African Union, Vroh is in charge of the Science and Technology Policy program and conducts several capacity building activities throughout Africa in relation to STI indicators and policy instruments.