Executive Committee

Teodoro Miano has served as Secretary General of CIHEAM in Paris since March 2023. He is Full Professor of Agricultural Chemistry at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, where he was also Vice Rector for International Relations. He has held leading roles in professional associations, including President of the Italian Society of Agricultural Chemistry and the International Humic Substances Society. His collaboration with CIHEAM began in 1996 through teaching, research, and cooperation initiatives. He later became Member and Vice President of the CIHEAM Governing Board before his current appointment as Secretary General. 

Mouin Hamze is a Lebanese researcher affiliated with CIHEAM and serves as the Coordinator of the BEANS Executive Committee.
He holds a Doctorat d'Etat in Agricultural Sciences and has served as Secretary General of the National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon (CNRS-L), Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Sciences at the Lebanese University, and President of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute.

Dr. Hamze has represented Lebanon in several international institutions, including CIHEAM, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

He was awarded the Légion d'Honneur (France, 2018) and the Cavalieri de la Republica (Italy, 2012). He has received several academic distinctions, including doctorate honoriscosa from the University of Montpellier and the University of Haute-Alsace.

Juan Lucas Restrepo is the Director General of the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) , and Trustee for Bioversity International UK/USA.  A Colombian and French national, he worked in the agricultural domain, both in the public and private sectors, for the past 25 years. Among other positions, in Colombia, he served as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as the Executive Director of AGROSAVIA, the largest agricultural research organization in the country, and as Chief Commercial Officer of the National Federation of Coffee Growers. As its Chair, he also led the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR), hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). He holds a degree in civil engineering from Universidad de los Andes and an MS in agricultural economics from Cornell University.  

Aly Abousabaa is Regional Director, Central and West Asia and North Africa, CGIAR, as well as Director General of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). His scope covers North Africa and the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central and West Asia. Prior to joining CGIAR to head ICARDA, he was Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB). He continues to sit on several international boards and has built up a personal global network of international partners in development. He holds a master’s in civil engineering from Montana State University in the US and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Alexandria University. 

Zohra Lili Chabaane is the President of IRESA (Research and Higher Education Institute), Tunisia, she is also a professor of Remote Sensing & GIS and Water Resource Management at INAT (the National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia), and an Associate Corresponding Member of the French Academy of Agriculture. 

An agricultural engineer by training with a specialization in rural engineering, she completed her PhD in France.

Professor Chabaane has supervised 12 doctoral theses, often under international co-supervision, and has published 88 articles in international scientific journals. She heads a research laboratory on integrated and sustainable resource management, which maintains numerous international collaborations.

Massimo Iannetta is a scientist at ENEA since 1993.He is head of the "Biotechnologies and Agro-industry" Division and has been Head of the "Combatinf Desertification" Group from 2002 to 2010. He has been University lecturer in "Soil Conservation and Management" from 1999 to 2007.

His main field of interest is the application of new methodologies and technologies to the evaluation and monitoring of natural resources and agro-food systems, the definition of adaptation and mitigation measures to the global and local environmental changes. He is involved in many national, EU-funded and international research programmes as coordinator or scientific responsible for ENEA. Supporter and partner of the InTReGa ENEA Spin-off devoted to the technological transfer of the research activities results. 

Biagio Di Terlizzi is the Director of CIHEAM Bari. An agronomist by training, he has dedicated his career to advancing sustainable development and international cooperation in agriculture. At CIHEAM Bari, where he served in various roles since 1987, including Deputy Director and Head of Planning and Cooperation, he has been instrumental in numerous training, research, and technical assistance initiatives. His expertise spans a wide range of fields, from project management for key international donors to leading diverse teams on country-specific and regional projects across the Mediterranean, the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond.