We are pleased to announce that Professor Umut Toprak, Professor of Entomology at Ankara University and Director of the Molecular Entomology Laboratory (MOLEN), will participate as an invited speaker in the international virtual symposium, “Informing Policy: The Role of RNAi-Based Pesticides in Sustainable Agriculture,” taking place on 13–14 October 2026.
Professor Toprak will contribute to Session 1: “The State of the Art in RNAi-Based Pesticides — Part 1.” The session will examine major scientific advances since the 2019 OECD conference, including dsRNA construct design, target efficacy, biosafety, risk assessment and emerging approaches to sustainable pest management.
The symposium will bring together leading researchers, regulators, policy experts and industry representatives to discuss the scientific, regulatory and policy dimensions of RNAi-based crop protection and the future of international regulatory harmonisation.
The event is hosted by Charles Sturt University in partnership with CSIRO and The University of Queensland, and sponsored by the OECD Co-operative Research Programme: Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems.
