Chr. Hansen Establishes Scientific Advisory Board

12 Mar 2014 --- Chr. Hansen has established a Scientific Advisory Board to further strengthen its human health business and microbiome efforts. The board members are internationally recognized thought leaders.

“We are the leading developer and provider of probiotic cultures for the dietary supplements and infant formula industries and in line with our Nature’s no. 1™ strategy we aim to continue to shape the probiotics market and explore next generation opportunities for using bacteria to improve human health,” explains Christian Barker, Executive VP, Health & Nutrition Division.

“In order to secure continuous and top qualified input and guidance as we explore the exciting opportunities in relation to the human microbiome and “second generation probiotics”, we are now establishing a worldclass Scientific Advisory Board composed of a set of internationally recognized thought leaders in the field,” Barker continues.

The Scientific Advisory Board consists of:
•    Mr Eric Claassen (Chairman), Professor at Erasmus Medical Centre Rotterdam and at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
•    Mr Gary D Wu, Professor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA
•    Mr Willem M de Vos, Professor of Microbiology, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and Helsinki University, Finland
•    Mr Robert JM Brummer, Professor of Gastroenterology and Clinical Nutrition, Nutrition-Gut-Brain Interactions Research Centre, Örebro University, Sweden
•    Ms Ruth Thieroff-Ekerdt, Founder and Member, Panda Consulting, Mendham, USA

The role of the Scientific Advisory Board is to provide state-of-the-art advice, support and challenge to Chr. Hansen’s management team with respect to developing new probiotic products, guiding the portfolio expansion into the microbiome, clinical trials, and accessing relevant networks and partners across the world. Says Chairman of the Advisory Board Eric Claassen: “The scientific breakthroughs that are occurring with respect to the role of bacteria in human health hold great promise. As the global leader within probiotics, Chr. Hansen is very well positioned to capitalize on these opportunities, and I look forward to working with the other members of the Advisory Board to help guide Chr. Hansen in capturing these opportunities.”