After her retirement in 2020 with an ASTA Honorary Member Award,, Dr. Bernice Slutsky began consulting on innovation in plant breeding. Previously, Bernice served as Senior Vice President of Innovation at ASTA, beginning in 2006, to work on issues involving emerging technologies, intellectual property rights, and international regulation and trade. Prior to ASTA she served as Senior Advisor for Biotechnology in the Office of the Secretary, coordinating USDA policies and activities in agricultural biotechnology. Previously, Bernice served as Assistant Vice President, International Regulatory Affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) in a regulatory advocacy position, and before that as the Biotechnology Coordinator of International Trade Policy at the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service. She earned her doctoral degree in biology from the University of Iowa.