News

ERA Chair in Valortech professor Rajeev Bhat has been appointed as an expert from the European Union to serve as a member of the 'Guideline Development Group' (Traditional Food Markets) of the World Health Organization (WHO of the UN).

Confirming the news, Prof. Bhat expressed his happiness over this recognition from a world governing body as that of WHO. He considered this appointment as one of the most challenging roles in his career spanning more than two decades in the field of agri-food technology.

Prof. Bhat highlighted that he will be sharing his expertise on various aspects related to the quality & safety of foods and contribute towards providing interim leadership aimed at reducing public health risks linked with the global traditional food markets. 

Being a part of a global team of experts, the role also includes providing inputs on the guideline and development of selective strategic questions related to population, intervention and risk exposures, grading of recommendations, assessment, development and evaluation of evidence-based profiles, formulating new recommendations as well as reviewing the preliminary version of the approvals in the guidelines document prior to the final submission to WHO executive clearance processes.

Prof. Ülle Jaakma (Rector) and Toomas Tiirats (Director, Institute of Veterinary Medicine & Animal Sciences), Estonian University of Life Sciences, congratulated Rajeev on this appointment and considered it a recognition of his commitment to the profession & community, and endorsed his continued positive contribution to the University.

Prof. Rajeev Bhat is presently working as a Professor and ERA Chair-holder in VALORTECH (Food By-Products Valorisation Technologies) at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. The Valortech ERA Chair project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 810630.