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Peter Thygesen Portrait

Dr Peter Thygesen works in Australia’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) in the role of Principal Regulatory Scientist. OGTR regulates work with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) including for environmental releases. In his current role, he provides support to the office especially in relation to risk analysis, and he is interested in the implications of new technologies and other biological assessment frameworks for GMO risk analysis. His early work at OGTR included evaluating applications for environmental release of GM plants and he also has experience with legal and regulatory policy issues for GMOs. He has been active in OGTR’s international engagement, in particular in the OECD Working Party on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology (WPHROB) and took on the role of Chair of WPHROB in 2021. His academic background is in microbial and plant molecular biology at the Australian National University (ANU, BSc Hons, PhD) and postdoctoral work at CSIRO and ANU.