The ATPS Board

Prof. Shaukat Ali Abdulrazak is the Chairperson of the ATPS Board. He is also the  Executive Secretary of the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), which is the focal point on Science, Technology and innovation in Kenya. As the Executive Secretary to the NCST, Prof. Abdulrazak is the technical and administrative head of the NCST and is responsible for its day to day management of financial and physical resources as well as the management of human resources and programmes. He also guides the Council in the development and advocacy of Science and Technology policy popularization and promotion of science and technology as a tool for national development.  Prior to joining the NCST, Prof. Abdulrazak was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Research and Extension unit of the Egerton University in Njoro, Kenya, a position he held from 2002 – 2007.  He also held worked as a Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor the university between 1997-2001 and since 2005 Professor of Animal Science at Egerton University.

Prof. Abdulrazak holds membership in many high level organizations including member of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC); Board member of Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) and Board Member of the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resource Education (ANAFE). He is an Editorial Board member of the African Journal for Agricultural Research and has written over 50 publications in referred journals. He is a fellow of Society (FIBiol), U.K and 2009 he was decorated with Moran of Order of Burning Spear (MBS) by His Excellency the President of Kenya. Professor Abdulrazak was included in 2009, 27th Edition of Marquis Who is Who in the world.

Prof. Abdulrazak holds an M Sc. in Animal Nutrition, Ph.D. in Animal Science both from the University of Aberdeen, UK and a Post Doctorate certificate from Shimane University, Japan under Japan Society for Promotion of Science.

Prof Turner T. Isoun was the Minister of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between October 2000 and May 2007. He initiated policies that promoted both high-tech and low-tech science for development and specifically guided the NigerSat I (a land observation satellite), and NIGCOMSAT 1 (an advanced communication satellite projects from development to launch).

During his tenure as the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Isoun directed the development of policies in a wide range of Science and Technology (S&T)sectors, such as the Information Communication Technology (ICT) policy that enabled the establishment of ICT infrastructure in Nigeria.

Prof Isoun also supervised the completion of a gamma radiation facility for food sterilization, medical products manufacturing and materials engineering. Other accomplishments included major advances in translation of research and development (R&D) results to products and services, such as the incorporation of 10% cassava flour into wheat bread, the production of Nicosan - a herbal drug for the management of sickle cell diseases; and the processing of neem seeds for fertilizers, organic pesticides and oils.

Prof Isoun holds a Bsc (hons), D.V.M (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), and PhD in Veterinary Medicine and Pathology from Michigan State University. His research findings have been recorded in over 50 scientific publications and scholarly journals. As a lecturer at the University of Nigeria and Professor of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Ibadan, he taught at undergraduate and post-graduate levels and served as Head of Department in Ibadan. During his academic career, he was awarded research and travel grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Foundation (DAAD), the Commonwealth Fellowship Foundation, and the International Development Research Foundation (IDRC).During his sabbatical leaves, Prof Isoun has been a visiting professor at the University of California, Davis, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and the Bernard Notch Institute for Tropical Medicine.

As the Special Advisor on Science and Technology to the Government of the Rivers State, Prof Isoun established Rivers State University of Science and Technology, the first university of science and technology in Nigeria, and served as its first Vice Chancellor in 1980. Prof Isoun was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.), in recognition of his contribution to the establishment of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology and outstanding service to humanity. He was also awarded an Honorary PhD from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

Prof Isoun is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences and the African Academy of Sciences. He has also served on the academy's Executive Board and was the first Executive Editor of the pan-African science journal, Discovery and Innovation, a publication that promotes science and technology, applied and theoretical, academic and commercialized in Africa.

Prof Isoun is widely travelled in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and is, therefore, conversant with the physical, political, science and technology challenges of these continents. Professor Isoun has additionally interacted with the Ford Foundation, International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO), and the Macarthur Foundation through his assignments and networked with many academics, policy makers and representatives of major international organizations during his travels.

In 1992, Prof Isoun teamed up with other academics that were concerned about the local problems of the Niger Delta in Nigeria and established the Niger Delta Wetlands Centre, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with a mission to improve the quality of life of the rural populations through applied scientific research, resource management and conflict management.

Contacts

Prof. Turner T. Isoun (Nigeria)
Former Honourable Minister
Federal Ministry of Science and Technology
New Federal Secretariat
Shehu Shagari Way
PMB 331 Abuja, Nigeria
Tel: 234-9-523 3397
Fax: 234-9-523 4390
E-mail: Ttisoun@aol.com

Professor Sir Brian Heap is the Executive Director of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Societies Series B and a Special Professor at the University of Nottingham. He is also the President of the International Society for Science and Religion and a Research Associate with the Capability and Sustainability Centre at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. Sir Brian is a Honorary Fellow at the Royal Agricultural Society in England, the Green College, University of Oxford and the Korean Academy of Sciences as well as a trustee of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust; Cambridge Overseas Trust; Cambridge European Trust and the Academia Europaea. He is also a member of the Biochemical Society; Society for Endocrinology; Institute of Biology; the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the International Institute of Biotechnology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the New York Academy of Science. Professor Heap has previously served as the Vice-President and Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society; Director of Research at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; President of the Institute of Biology; UK Representative on the European Science Foundation; UK Representative on the NATO Science Committee and Chair of the Cambridge Genetics Knowledge Park. He has also served on the Nuffield Council on Bioethics; the Department of Health's Expert Group on Cloning, has worked on many developing country issues particularly with the World Health Organization, and was scientific consultant for Merck, Sharp and Dohme, Johnson and Johnson, and Ligand Pharmaceuticals in the USA.

Professor Heap has over 390 publications in various media. He is an editorial board member of several scientific journals including the Journal of Endocrinology; Journal of Reproduction and Fertility Placenta; and the Oxford Reviews of Reproduction. Moreover, Professor Heap has won several scientific awards including the Fison's Prize and the Belper Prize from the University of Nottingham; the Inventor's Award from the UK Ministry of Defense; the Research Medal from the Royal Agricultural Society of England and the Marshall Medal from the Society for the Study of Fertility.

Contacts

Prof. Sir Brian Heap (UK)
(Special Professor, University of Nottingham)
Honorary Fellow
St Edmund's College
Cambridge CB3 0BN
Tel. No.: 44 - 1223-248 509
E-mail: rbh22@cam.ac.uk

Prof. Agnes Mwang’ombe is a Professor in Plant Pathology, and Principa of the College of Agriculture and  eterinary studies. University of Nairobi. She is the current chair of the African Women’s Forum for Science and Technology (AWFST) Interim Steering Committee.

Prof Mwang’ombe’s area of specialization is plant pathology and she obtained her PhD in plant pathology from the University of London in 1987. A year later, she joined the teaching staff at the University of Nairobi as a lecturer in the Department of Crop Science. She rose through the academic ranks to become a senior lecturer in 1991 and associate professor in 1997. In 1997, she was appointed a member of the board of the African Crop Science Society and served as the president of the society between 2003 and 2005.

Aside from the area of crop science, Prof Mwang’ombe has been actively engaged in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policy in Kenya. In recognition of her work in this regard, she was appointed the chair of the board of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis in 2007, a position she currently holds.

She is also involved in charity education programs for girls and mentorship programs for young women scientists in East Africa. In 1996, she was elected the first chair of KEPAWAE - the Kenya Professional Association of Women in Agriculture and Environment. Through this organization, professional women in the fields of agriculture and environmental sciences offer technical expertise and material support to Kenyan rural women farmers through transfer of appropriate farming technologies and development of project proposals.

In 2000, Prof Mwang’ombe founded an NGO - Arid and Semi-arid Lands Foundation - to identify and promote projects aimed at sustainable food production and natural resource management in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands that comprise over 70 per cent of the country’s area. She presently serves as the NGO’s director.

Prof Indira Nath holds a Doctor of Medicine degree with a major in Pathology from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Prof. Nath was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons and National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London. She has been awarded membership (MRCPath) on basis of publications by the Royal college of Pathologists in the UK. Dr. Nath is an Elected Fellow in various Science Academies including Indian National Science Academy and the Third World Academy in Trieste, Italy. She has been engaged as an expert for research grant proposals and awards by various key institutions and holds membership in organizations such as the International Forum on Biosecurity, US NAS. Prof. Nath has also been engaged in Science Policy Management activities in various capacities including holding Membership at the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) between 2003 – 2007. She has also worked with various departments within the Ministry of Science and Technology in India which include the Department of Science and Technology; Department of Biotechnology; Department of Ocean Development; Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Indian Council of Medical Research. She has authored many research papers and invited articles, reviews, editorials and reports.

Ex Officio Member

Kevin Chika Urama, holds a PhD in Land Economy (Environmental and Ecological Economics Option), with the 2002-3 James Claydon Prize for the most outstanding PhD thesis in Economics or related subjects, St. Edmund's College, University of Cambridge. He has an MPhil in Environmental and Ecological Economics from the University of Cambridge (Distinction) and an MSc in Agricultural Finance, University of Nigeria (Prize for the best MSc in Faculty). He has a first class honours degree in Agricultural Economics, University of Nigeria.

He is experienced in developing and managing collaborative trans-disciplinary projects and research network for effective technology / knowledge sharing amongst relevant institutions and networks in Europe and Africa. Dr. Urama sits on various Boards, Advisory Boards and Advisory Councils for many science, technology, and innovation-based initiatives, including the international Science, Technology and Innovation Centre for South-South Cooperation (ISTIC) and the responsible Innovation (MVI) of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, (NWO). He sits on various editorial Boards for international journals including Ecological Economics, Science and Public Policy, etc. Dr. Urama is also the Inaugural Acting President of the African Society for Ecological Economics (ASEE), the African chapter of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE). He holds many distinctive prizes and awards for academic excellence and leadership.

Before joining ATPS as Director on 01 September 2007 and subsequent confirmation as Executive Director in November 2007, he was leading large international and trans-disciplinary research programs at the Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen UK, where he retains his position as a Senior Research Fellow.

Contacts

Dr. Kevin Urama - (Kenya)
Executive Director Africa
Technology Policy Studies Network
PO Box 10080-00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 254-20-2714092
Direct Line: 254-20-2723875
Fax: 254-20-2714028
E-mail: kurama@atpsnet.org
Website: www.atpsnet.org