Chair
Peter Karlskov-Mortensen
University of Copenhagen
Frederiksberg, Denmark

Term of Service (2nd, 2027-2031)

Co-Chair
Shuhong Zhao
Huazhong Agricultural University
Wuhan, China

Term of Service (2nd, 2023-2027)

Shuhong Zhao is a professor in functional genomics and pig breeding at Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU). She earned her PhD in animal genetics and breeding in China and did her postdoc at Iowa State University. At present, she is serving as Dean of the College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine in HZAU. She is also an adjunct professor at Murdoch University (Australia). She has conducted pioneering work in porcine functional genomics, such as genomics and transcriptomics of porcine muscle growth, and identification of regulatory elements at the whole-genome level. Her work has led to the identification of a number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in genes that have been found to be associated with meat production traits. Her group also developed the first CRISPR/Cas9 library to screen genes related to viral infection. Through collaboration with breeding companies, her group has developed genome selection methods and software. The HiBLUP method has been selected as a breakthrough article (https://www.hiblup.com/; https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkad074). Zhao is recognized as an international expert in her field, as exemplified by her invitation to co-chair the world’s largest plant and animal genome (PAG) conference organizing committee (2009–2011) and PAG Asia. Zhao has earned numerous awards, including being selected as a National Outstanding Young Women Scientist. She has published more than 200 papers in Nature Communications, Nature Biotechnology, and others. In 2025, she was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Member
Alex Clop
CRAG
Cerdanyola del Valles, Spain

Term of Service (1st, 2027-2031)

Alex Clop conducts research in structural and functional genomics to elucidate the genetic and molecular bases of traits of interest in domestic animals. He also has previous experience in human medical genetics. His current work focuses on integrating structural genomics with single-cell functional genomics to identify genetic variants associated with fertility-related traits in boars.

Member
Yaofeng Zhao
China Agricultural University
Beijing, China

Term of Service (2nd, 2023-2027)

Yaofeng Zhao has been working as a professor of animal genetics at China Agricultural University since 2006. He received his PhD in animal genetics in 1998 at China Agricultural University. From 1998 to 2006, he did his postdoctoral work in Karolinska Institute, Sweden. He has published more than 100 papers in peer-reviewed international journals.

Co-Chair
Claudia Kasper
Agroscope
Posieux, Switzerland

Term of service (2nd, 2027–2031)

Member
Simara Larissa Fanalli
University of Sao Paulo
Piracicaba, Brazil

Term (1st service, 2025-2027)

Simara Fanalli is a PhD candidate in animal biosciences at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and was a visiting researcher at Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands (2024–2025). She holds an MSc from the University of São Paulo and a BSc in animal science from the Federal University of Uberlândia. Her research focuses on omics-based approaches and data integration, including nutrigenomics/foodomics, to investigate molecular mechanisms related to genetics and genomics, metabolism, health, and disease in pigs.