as at 1 December 2011

Chairperson: Dr Philip COLEMAN

Vice-chairperson: Professor Mahdi BALALI-MOOD

Members

1. Dr Abdullah Saeed Al-AMRI (Saudi Arabia)
   Senior Researcher at Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  Manages the research and technology team responsible for the development of new products and processes as well as customer support and development.  Areas of expertise: polymer synthesis and characterisation, polymerisation processes, product development, and colloid and surface science.

2. Professor Mahdi BALALI-MOOD (Islamic Republic of Iran)
   Director of the Medical Toxicology Centre, Imam Reza Hospital, University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.  Chief Editor of the Journal of Birjand University of Medical Sciences, founder of the Iranian Society of Toxicology (and three-time president), former president of the Asia-Pacific Association of Medical Toxicology, and regional secretary of the World Federation of Clinical Toxicology and Poison Control Centres.  Areas of expertise: toxicology of chemical warfare agents, chemical safety, ecotoxicology.

3. Dr Augustin BAULIG (France)
   Head of chemical bureau - counter proliferation unit at the Secrétariat général de la défense et de la sécurité nationale.  Areas of expertise: chemical weapons, industrial chemicals, toxicology, risk analysis, counter-proliferation, and databases.

4. Professor Djafer BENACHOUR (Algeria)
   Full-time professor at Ferhat ABBAS University of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Setif, Algeria.  Director of the research laboratory on “Multiphase Polymeric Materials” since July 2000; Vice-president of the Algerian Chemical Society (1991-2009).  Currently President of the Scientific Committee of the Department of Chemical Engineering.  Area of expertise: industrial and engineering chemistry.

5. Dr Robin BLACK (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
   Detection Department, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), Porton Down, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Areas of expertise: analysis of chemical warfare agents in environment and biological media, risk assessment, synthesis of chemical warfare agents.

6. Professor Flerida CARIÑO (the Philippines)
   Professor of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.  Physical Scientist Member, Department of Science and Technology Biosafety Committee, Department of Science and Technology, Bicutan, Metro Manila (since January 2009).  Areas of expertise: insecticide toxicology, biosafety, biochemistry and molecular biology.

7. Dr José González CHAVEZ (Mexico)
   Member of the chemistry department, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico. Specialisation in analytical chemistry and verification-related areas, including inspector training (OPCW, UNMOVIC).  Area of expertise: analytical chemistry.

8. Dr Philip COLEMAN (South Africa)
   Managing Director of Protechnik Laboratories, Lynnwood Glen, South Africa. Work in chemical defence and synthesis/analysis.  Advisor to the National Authority, including on chemical-industry issues, member of the OPCW Protection Network.  Areas of expertise: synthesis and structural analysis of organic compounds, and Carbon13 nuclear magnetic resonance.

9. Dr Devendra Kumar DUBEY (India)
   Scientist “F”, Joint Director, Head of Vertox Laboratory, Gwalior, India. Developed various miniaturised retrospective detection and identification techniques of chemical warfare agents and their markers from environmental samples; new formulations for the rapid detoxification of chemical warfare agents; and the detection tube device for on-site detection of nerve agents.  Member of the OPCW Validation Group for spectral data.  Area of expertise: synthesis and analysis of chemical warfare agents and their markers.

10. Dr Neivy FERNÁNDEZ MANRESA (Cuba)
    Head of Inspection and Licence Department, Executive Centre of the National Authority for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, La Havana, Cuba.  Involved in the control of chemicals, planning of inspections to the chemical industry and risk analysis.  In charge of the coordination of submission of information about national programmes related to protective purposes, and of the implementation of national programmes for safe management of chemicals in industry.  Areas of expertise: Control of chemicals, inspection of chemical industry, risk analysis, implementation of national programme for safe management of chemicals in industry.

11. Dr Shuzo FUJIWARA (Japan)
    Technical Adviser, Research Core for Explosion Safety, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo, Japan.  Technical Adviser of the Research Core for Explosion Safety in AIST and also Technical Adviser of the Technical Research & Development Institute (TRDI).  Board member (director) of Japan Explosives Society and Japan Society for Safety Engineering.  Member of OECD-IGUS (International Group of Experts on Explosion Risks of Unstable Substances).  Author of over 300 scientific publications and inventor of over 90 patents.  Areas of expertise: safe handling and utilisation of energetic materials, including destruction of chemical weapons by detonation and shock synthesis of various nanoparticles.

12. Dr Michael GEIST (Germany)
    Head of Trade Controls at BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany.  Responsible for trade-control measures of dual-use goods, Chemical Weapons Convention-related chemicals, drugs and drug precursors, and explosive precursors.  In charge of corporate coordination for trade controls within the BASF Group. Areas of expertise: chemistry, international trade controls, especially chemical weapons precursors.

13. Mr William KANE, (United States of America)
    Areas of expertise: implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, chemical production practices, scale-up/start-up of new chemical processes, extensive plant experience (technical and managerial).

14. Professor Roberto MARTÍNEZ-ÁLVAREZ (Spain)
    Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Complutense University in Madrid and Head of the department of Organic Chemistry.  Areas of expertise: organic synthesis of heterocyclic systems, mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance.

15. Mr Stefan MOGL (Switzerland)
    Head of Chemistry, Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports, Federal Office for Civil Protection, Spiez Laboratory, Spiez, Switzerland.  Areas of expertise: analytical chemistry, chemical disarmament, industrial hygiene.

16. Professor Slawomir NEFFE (Poland)
    Professor at the Military University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland.  Head of the Department of Radiometry and Monitoring of Air Pollution.  Former director of the Institute of Chemistry and Protection against Chemical Warfare Agents in Warsaw.  Member of the Polish Chemical Society, and member of the OPCW group of experts on investigations of alleged use of chemical weapons.  Areas of expertise: Physical and analytical chemistry, development of new technologies for neutralisation of toxic chemicals and hazardous materials, air pollution monitoring and international verification of dual use chemicals, chemical defence, safety and security

17. Professor Igor Vladimirovich RYBALCHENKO (Russian Federation)
    Scientific director of the chemical analytical OPCW designated laboratory at the Military Science Centre of the Ministry of Defence, Moscow, Russian Federation.  Member of the Research Council on Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and chairman of the Russian Academy of Sciences Research Council Commission for the detection and identification of explosive, narcotic and toxic chemicals, and member of the editorial staff for the Russian Academy of Sciences Analytical Chemistry Journal.  Areas of expertise: analytical chemistry, chemical defence, research into the analytical methodology of verification.

18. Professor Mongia SAID ZINA (Tunisia)
    Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of Tunis.  Director-General of the National Institute of Research and Chemical Analysis (INRAP), Ministry of Higher Education.  Areas of expertise: research and physical-chemical analysis. 

19. Professor Alejandra Graciela SUÁREZ (Argentina)
    Professor at the Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina.  Member of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET).  Areas of expertise: organic and organo-metallic chemistry, green chemistry.

20. Professor Ferruccio TRIFIRÓ (Italy)
    Professor of industrial chemistry and professor emeritua at the Faculty of industrial chemistry of the University of Bologna.  Director La Chimica e l'Industria journal of the Italian chemical society and member of various scientific committees. Areas of expertise: catalytic industrial processes, safety considerations in chemical industry, development of green chemistry, characterization of solids, and catalytic cleaning of polluted air.

21. Professor Paula VANNINEN (Finland)
    Director of VERIFIN at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, Finland.  In charge of the management of various training courses for approximately 500 experts from 100 countries and for the management of the Finnish National Authority.  Manages the Finnish OPCW designated laboratory.  Member of the sampling and analysis temporary working group since 2006 and leading a correspondence group on trace analysis.  Areas of expertise: research on chemical warfare agents, and industrial applications for pharmaceuticals in modern drug research.

22. Professor Slavica VUČINIČ (Serbia)
    Head of the Clinic of Emergency and Clinical Toxicology at the National Poison Control Center, Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, Serbia. Professor of clinical toxicology.  Member of the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture’s Commission for Genetically Modified Organisms.  Secretary General of the Serbian Society of Toxicologists.  Areas of expertise: clinical toxicology; acute poisoning by organophosphorus substances, including chemical warfare agents.

23. Dr. Muhammad Zafar-Uz-Zaman (Pakistan)
    Director of the Special Materials, National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM), Islamabad, Pakistan.  Member of the Technical Committee, Advanced Materials Chapter; International Bhurban Conference on Sciences and Technology (IBCAST).  Member of the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Committee of NESCOM.  Areas of expertise: synthetic polymer chemistry, polymer degradation, bio-compatible polymers, analytical chemistry, plastic matrix composites and advanced materials.

24. Professor Volodomyr ZAITSEV (Ukraine)
    Chair of the analytical chemistry department of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.  Head of the analytical chemistry council at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.  Editor of the scientific journal Methods and Objects of Chemical Analysis.  Areas of expertise: analytical chemistry, materials for chromatography, solid-phase pre-concentration and fast screening of security-related compounds. 

25. Mr Nan ZHANG (China)
    Expert, Ministry of National Defence, Beijing, China.  Research on the subject of the Chemical Weapons Convention with the Research Institute of Chemical Defence of the People’s Liberation Army.  Member of the OPCW Protection Network.  Area of expertise: chemical defence.