Michael is responsible for driving engagement with key scientific stakeholders to advance science-based regulation of agricultural innovations in the Asia region and to make Bayer CropScience a credible scientific partner of choice.   He is currently Chair of the Asia Pacific Seed Association’s Plant Breeding Innovation Standing Committee and a member of CropLife Asia’s gene editing taskforce.   In his previous roles with Monsanto and Bayer, he has been responsible for obtaining regulatory approvals for genetically modified crops and crop protection products in Australia and has also chaired CropLife Asia’s seeds committee and APSA’s International Trade and Quarantine Standing Committee and the International Seed Federation’s phytosanitary committee.  He has also served as a Board Member and President of the Australian Seed Federation, while also having experience working in government biotechnology and quarantine regulatory agencies in Australia and in international biotechnology industry associations. Michael has a Law Degree and a Science (First Class Honors) Degree in molecular biology from the Australian National University. where she collaborated with Ionis Pharmaceuticals on pioneering RNA therapeutics for oncology. Sarah has held senior R&D leadership roles, including as Academic Lab Head at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and as the founding Chief Scientific Officer for two startup companies in the RNA therapeutics space. She recently joined BioNTech Australia as Director of Research and Scientific Affairs.