Alan G. McHughen (born 13 April 1954) is a Canadian-American

molecular biologist Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

known for his scholarship in DNA technologies and work developing United States and Canadian regulations governing the safety of genetically engineered crops and foods.

Early life and education

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

, B.Sc. Biology/Biochemistry 1976 *

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, D.Phil., Developmental Botany, 1979 *

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, Postdoctoral Fellow 1979–1982

Career and research

McHughen served as an Assistant then full Professor and Research Scientist with the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

from 1982 to 2002. He currently leads the McHughen Research Group at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

, in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences. From 2011 to 2012 McHughen served as a Jefferson Science Fellow and Senior Policy Analyst in the

Executive Office of the President The Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The office consists o ...

in the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

. McHughen is a past-President of the International Society for Biosafety Research, a fellow with the American College of Nutrition (2002), a

AAAS Fellow Fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS) is an honor accorded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to distinguished persons who are members of the Association. Fellows are elected ...

with the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

(2010), and member of the American Society of Plant Biology.

Awards and honors

McHughen received the Robert Anderson Fellowship in Biochemistry from Yale University and a research fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. He also received the Science in Society Book of the Year Award in 2000 from the Science Writers & Communicators of Canada, the Certificate of Merit from the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...

in 2006, and the Distinguished Lecturer Award from the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

in 2001.

Publications

McHughen is the author of numerous peer-reviewed research articles, academic papers, and contributor to text books on the issue of

genetically modified crop Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. Plant genomes can be engineered by physical methods or by use of ''Agrobacterium'' for the delivery of se ...

s.Publications from the McHughen lab
UC Riverside, accessed 20 April 2022. Significant authored books include: * * * *

References

External links

McHugen Research Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:McHugen, Alan 20th-century American biologists 21st-century American biologists 20th-century American botanists 21st-century American botanists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Alumni of the University of Oxford 1954 births Living people