Clotilde Patry is Director at Eleveurs des Savoie, a cooperative established 60 years ago, supporting cattle, goat and sheep farmers with practical expertise and a constant commitment to performance, quality and animal welfare.

Since more than 15 years, Dr Clotilde Patry is working in the field of ruminant breeding facilitating collaboration (local, European or International level), encouraging innovation, and knowledge transmission. She is the current chair of the steering committee for the European Forum for Farm Animal Breeders (EFFAB).

Dr. Clotilde Patry holds a Ph.D. in cattle genomics, complemented by advanced studies in Business Management. Until 2025 she was Innovation Director at ELIANCE, encouraging service development from research in the field of new genomic or phenotyping techniques.

A strong believe: from diversity comes richness and it is more than important to listen farmers’ needs, share those experiences across countries connecting with research organizations.

Manuel Revilla is Global Customer Services Manager at Hendrix Genetics Swine, providing technical leadership and delivering genetic solutions across the pork production chain.

Dr. Revilla graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Extremadura, Spain, and holds advanced degrees in Animal Breeding, Reproductive Biotechnology, and Animal Production, Dr. Revilla has built an international career at the intersection of animal genetics, research, and product development. Following the completion of his PhD at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and postdoctoral research positions at INRAE and AgroParisTech in France, Dr. Revilla joined Hendrix Genetics in the Netherlands, serving first as a Geneticist within Hendrix Genetics and later Hypor.

Throughout his career, he has contributed to genetic improvement programmes spanning multiple livestock and aquaculture species and has held global roles in product development, strategy, and customer support. He has published peer-reviewed scientific articles, contributes as a journal reviewer, and has presented his research at leading international conferences in animal genetics.

Morten Rye is the Director of External Services and International Strategies at Benchmark Genetics, renowned for its global leadership in aquaculture genetics and breeding.

With over 35 years of experience, Dr. Rye has made significant contributions to genetic research, the design and implementation of applied breeding programs for more than 20 aquaculture species, including marine and freshwater fish, shrimp, and mollusks, all across Europe, Asia, America, and Africa.

Dr. Rye obtained his PhD in Animal Breeding and Genetics from the Norwegian University of Agriculture in 1992. Throughout his career, he has held positions at the Institute of Aquaculture Research (now Nofima) and the Akvaforsk Genetics Center, before joining Benchmark in 2015.

Dr. Rye has (co)authored 80 scientific papers and book chapters, primarily focusing on genetics and selection in aquaculture.
He is a strong advocate for the uptake of selective breeding programs in aquaculture industries globally.

Sijne van der Beek got his master and PhD degrees from Wageningen University. His Ph.D. was on the use of genetic markers in poultry breeding. After finishing his degrees, he joined the animal breeding industry. He worked 23 years for Dutch/Flemish cattle breeding cooperative CRV in various roles in research, breeding, product management and innovation.

His last role at CRV was as global manager of research and innovation. In this role he represented CRV on the Breed4Food board, the collaboration between breeding companies Hendrix Genetics, Cobb Vantress, Topigs Norsvin, CRV and Wageningen University. In November 2020 Sijne joined the EW group as Chief Technology Officer Layer Genetics. Within EFFAB he represents Lohmann Breeders GmbH, the layer genetics company based in Cuxhaven (Germany).

Sijne was born and raised on a dairy farm, married to a daughter of a dairy&poultry farmer, and has two sons that are now at university.