About

Dr. Judy Carman has a Bachelor of Science, an Honours Degree in Organic Chemistry, a PhD in Medicine in the field of nutritional biochemistry and metabolic regulation, and a Master of Public Health specializing in epidemiology and biostatistics.

She has taught chemistry, biochemistry, epidemiology, research methods and statistics in Universities.  She has held senior population health positions in Australia, including as the Senior Epidemiologist investigating outbreaks of disease for her State government.  In that role, she conducted a government-funded, multi-State investigation into whether Rabbit Calicivirus (Viral Haemorrhagic Disease of Rabbits) could infect people, after the virus had escaped from quarantine in Australia to spread across the landscape. She also has considerable experience in conducting animal feeding experiments.

Dr. Carman currently serves as a director for the Institute for Health and Environmental Research (IHER), a non-profit organization that has a scientific interest in the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), particularly those destined for the food supply.  She also serves as a member of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Risk Assessment and Risk Management for Living Modified Organisms (LMOs),  Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Environment Programme.

As part of her efforts in this area, Dr. Carman has written numerous scientific papers and submissions, advised government and non-government organisations and presented to the New Zealand Royal Commission into Genetic Modification in 2001.  She is also a founding member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Sustainable Food Trust, based in the UK.   She received grant money from the Government of Western Australia to conduct some of the first long-term, independent animal feeding studies into the safety of GM crops with human health end-points.