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

molecular biologist Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

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 Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

, B.Sc. Biology/Biochemistry 1976 *

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, D.Phil., Developmental Botany, 1979 *

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, Postdoctoral Fellow 1979-1982

Career and research

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

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

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 land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

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 (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 EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...

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. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

. McHughen is a past-President of the International Society for Biosafety Research, a fellow with the

American College of Nutrition The American Nutrition Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization established to encourage the scientific investigation of nutrition and metabolism. The ANA publishes the ''Journal of the American Nutrition Association'' ...

(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 an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

(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 the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

in 2006, and the Distinguished Lecturer Award from the

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

in 2001.

Publications

McHugen is the author of numerous peer reviewed research articles, academic papers, and contributor to text books on the issue of genetically modified crops.Publications from the McHughen lab
UC Riverside, accessed 20 April 2022. Significant authored books include: * * * *

External links

McHugen Research Group

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McHugen, Alan American botanists 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