Dr Kristina Sinemus

is CEO of the consultancy Genius, communications expert and mediator.

She studied biology, German and education at the Universities of Muenster and Kassel in Germany. She finished her doctoral thesis on “Biological Risks in the Field Release of Transgenic Plants” at the Biochemistry Institute of the Technical University of Darmstadt (TUD), Germany, in 1995.

During that time, she worked as a scientist in the Interdisciplinary Engineering Research Centre at the TUD. From 1995 until 1998 she was head of the Public Relations Group at the Biochemistry Institute  (TUD), which became “Communication in Life Sciences (CLS)“ in 1997. In 1998, she founded Genius Ltd. (a biotech/science consulting and communications company) and has been its CEO ever since. In 2000, she was elected vice-president of the “Hessen-Wisconsin Association”. Two years later, she became a certified mediator, and in 2004, she was appointed member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hessen, Germany. In 2009, she was named vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rhein-Main, Germany.

She has been active in many projects concerned with consumers' perception of biotechnology as well as in several traceability, biosafety and coexistence related projects. Since 2000, she has headed a communications project on GMO risk assessment and monitoring on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with its website www.biosicherheit.de. She is coordinator of the EU grant programme GMO-Compass, leader of the work package “Dialogue and communication” in the EU-funded projects “Co-Extra” and “BIOSAFENET” and member of the project management board and member of the Network on gender aspects in the Sixth framework program “Food Quality and Safety”.

In addition to numerous publications, she has delivered lectures on bioethics and genetic engineering. Her acquired expertise in agro-biotechnology led to her being appointed as an expert in the U.S. biotech industry by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. She has participated in various TV and radio broadcasts.