Conserving the use of Critically Important Antimicrobials in Food-Producing Animals

Peter Beyer, a trained lawyer, is a senior advisor with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva where he leads a team working on global initiatives on antimicrobial resistance. He focuses on developing global instruments to combat antimicrobial resistance and to foster the development of new antimicrobial treatments. Peter was instrumental in setting up the Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership (GARDP), a foundation that is developing new antibacterial treatments as well as the trilateral collaboration among the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and WHO. Previously, Peter Beyer was a Legal Advisor to the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property in Berne. He negotiated bilateral free trade agreements for the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and was responsible for the bilateral dialogue between Switzerland and China on intellectual property. Prior to joining the Swiss civil service, Peter Beyer worked with the Ecologic Institute in Berlin on environmental law and policy.

Junxia Song has a doctorate degree in veterinary medicine from China Agricultural University. She is working in the joint center for zoonotic disease and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters. She is the FAO AMR coordinator and focal point, leading the development and implementation of FAO action plan on AMR, coordinating AMR activities with internal and external partners, significantly contributing AMR tripartite collaboration. She used to work in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, P.R.China (MARA), for 20 years. In 2018, she joined FAO China Office as the team leader of the transboundary animal disease program. In September 2018, she moved to FAO RAP as the Great Mekong Sub region (GMS) partnership coordinator. She has extensive experience in the prevention and control of zoonotic diseases, transboundary animal diseases (TADs), and antimicrobial resistance.

Ólafur Valsson is an AMR Liaison Officer at the Antimicrobial Resistance and Veterinary Products Department at the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Previously he was a Programme Officer-AMR at OIE’s Sub-Regional Representation for Southern Africa with office in Gaborone, Botswana. Dr Valsson has wide experience in the veterinary field as private practitioner, District Veterinary Officer and Deputy Director for an intergovernmental organisation in Brussels, the EFTA Surveillance Authority, ESA where he was responsible for food & feed safety, animal health & welfare in terrestrial and aquatic animals. He graduated in veterinary science from the Royal Veterinary University of Copenhagen, Denmark and holds a post-graduate Masters of Science (MSc) in Tropical Animal Health from the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.

J Scott Weese is a Professor in the Department of Pathobiology, Director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, and Chief of Infection Control in the Health Sciences Centre at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He has developed extensive experience and passion for the field of antimicrobial resistance, with research and outreach directed at veterinarians, microbiologists, public health personnel, farmers, pet owners, policy makers and lay groups that provide multidisciplinary perspective to the complex ecological problem of antimicrobial resistance. He is a member of the World Veterinary Association and has authored over 400 papers in peer-reviewed journals, edited three books and speaks extensively on infectious diseases topics. Dr Weese earned his D.V.M. and D.V.Sc. from the University of Guelph.

Amit Khurana is the director of CSE's programme on food safety and toxins. Along with his team, he pushes for necessary change in policies that help contain antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from animal and environmental routes.