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Scientists in the Field of Dietary Supplement Research Won the Highest Honors
Rockville, Maryland, September 23, 2022—Two leaders in the field of dietary supplement research won the highest honors given by AOAC INTERNATIONAL at its Annual Meeting. The scientists were recognized in an awards ceremony shared with more than 600 analytical science colleagues, in person and online, at the AOAC INTERNATIONAL 2022 Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Monday, August 29. Over a dozen awards recognized scientific excellence across the spectrum of AOAC activities, including method development, expert review panels, editorial contributions to the Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, and technical service.
“In looking at the body of work represented by this year’s awardees, it is awe-inspiring.,” said Anthony Lupo, AOAC President, Senior Director of Technical Services for NEOGEN. “Having had the unique insight into the selection process, it gives me an even greater appreciation for the prestige of our awards having seen firsthand the level of talent being nominated and just how difficult some of these choices truly are. Technical and analytical excellence is the lifeblood of AOAC and seeing this caliber of work from our members assures us that our future remains focused around our core principles, and our leadership position is justly earned.”
The Harvey W. Wiley Award, presented each year for outstanding contribution to analytical method development in an area of interest to AOAC INTERNATIONAL, went to Paula N. Brown, PhD, an internationally recognized natural products chemist honored for outstanding contributions to dietary supplement product integrity.
Dr. Brown has long excelled in the development and validation of analytical methods, quality standards, regulatory compliance, plant metabolomics, and chemotaxonomy. As Director of Applied Research for the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT)’s Natural Health and Food Products Research Group, Dr. Brown focuses her research on the basic and applied science underlying natural health product quality and manufacturing processes, along with the roles they play in human health, wellbeing, nutrition, longevity, and society. Her research program at BCIT has contributed to nine Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC INTERNATIONAL related to dietary supplement methods.
The highest volunteer award bestowed by AOAC, the William Horwitz Award, recognizes extraordinary service to the Association. The seldom nominated William Horwitz Award was presented to Darryl Sullivan of Eurofins Scientific, USA. He is also considered an international expert in the analysis of dietary supplements and infant formula and represents Eurofins in many areas of the scientific community. Sullivan is AOAC’s Global Envoy, a delegate to Codex Alimentarius, and actively participates in the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) and the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS).
The Fellow of AOAC INTERNATIONAL Award, which recognizes the dedication of the volunteers who serve the Association, was awarded to four highly active members of the food safety community: Elizabeth Mudge, National Research Council, Canada; Aniko Solyom, GAAS Analytical; Richard B. van Breemen, Linus Pauling Institute and the Global Hemp Innovation Center at Oregon State University, USA; and Morgan Wallace, Rheonix, USA.
A relatively new and important addition to AOAC’s awards ceremony is the recognition of current students’ research endeavors. Those student award winners receive travel and registration to the annual meeting and the opportunity to present their research there, as well as a cash award.
The Harvey W. Wiley Scholarship Award was awarded to Berna Lalin Macin, Dalhousie University in Canada. She currently works by contributing to optimized front-end sample preparation strategies for mass spectrometry-based proteomics. This scholarship recognizes a student who has made an outstanding contribution to analytical method development.
The AOAC INTERNATIONAL/Herbalife Nutrition Scholarship, supported by contributions from Herbalife Nutrition and designed to encourage student researchers who are advancing analytical or molecular (DNA) testing in herbal or dietary supplements, was awarded to Raviraj Shinde, Singhania University, Rajasthan, India; and Rui Huang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
The AOAC INTERNATIONAL/SCIEX Rising Star Award, supported by contributions from SCIEX and designed to encourage the integration of graduate students into AOAC INTERNATIONAL who offer demonstrable potential to become thought leaders and scientific influencers in their respective fields, was awarded to Manisha Dhanshetty, Shivaji University, Kolhapur.
The AOAC/Eurofins “Testing for Life” Student Award was presented to five student innovators who submitted abstracts on basic or applied research in support of analytical or molecular testing for food safety, food security, food defense, food authenticity, or health and environmental protection. The winners were Sarah Azinheiro, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and International Iberian Nanotechnology, Portugal; Amber Bell, University of Waikato, New Zealand; Bindu Modi, University of Cincinnati, USA; Arineh Tahmasian, Edith Cowan University, Australia; and Ajay S.V., CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), India. In addition to a cash award, the five young scientists will submit an article for AOAC’s Inside Laboratory Management magazine.
AOAC’s Official Methods Board presented nine method authors: Aurélien Desmarchelier, Thomas Bessaire, Marie Claude Savoy, Adrienne Tarres, Claudia Mujahid, Andrea Beck, Pascal Mottier, and corresponding author Thierry Delatour, all from Nestle, with the Method of the Year Award for “Screening of 154 Veterinary Drug Residues in Foods of Animal Origin Using LC-MS/MS, First Action 2020.04.” This method is applicable to 105 antibiotics, 41 anti-parasitics, five anti-inflammatory agents, and three tranquilizers in dairy-, meat-, fish-, and egg-based foods.
The Technical Service of the Year Award went to Erik Konings, Nestlé Institute of Food Safety and Analytical Sciences, Nestlé Research, for his significant contributions to AOAC at both the international level and within numerous sections. He initiated AOAC’s collaboration with the International Organization of Standardization Technical Committee 34/SC5 for milk products on standards development and their presentation to Codex.
The Official Methods Board award for Achievement in Technical and Scientific Excellence went to the AOAC Food Authenticity Methods (FAM) Working Groups, chaired by Joe Boison, EJ Consultancy; John Szpylka, Food Safety Net Services; and Daniele Sohier, Thermo Fisher Scientific. Presented by the AOAC Official Methods Board, the award recognized outstanding volunteer commitment and leadership by the more than one hundred volunteers in this highly effective group.
The Review Panel for Microbiology Methods for Food and Environmental Surfaces won the Expert Review Panel of the Year award for review and adoption of methods to address the need for reliable methods to support carbohydrate labeling of foods for pets and animals. The panel was chaired by Wendy McMahon, Merieux NutriSciences, and Michael Brodsky, Brodsky Consultants, and included members Maya Achen, Abbott Nutrition; Mark Carter, MC Squared; Yi Chen, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Peyman Fatemi, Institute for Environmental Health; Maria Fernandez, Independent Consultant; Thomas Hammack, US FDA; and Yvonne Salfinger, Independent Consultant.
The Best Manuscript Award,recognizing the most outstanding article in the Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, went to “Extensive Evaluation via Blinded Testing of an UHPLS-MS/MS Method for Quantitation of Ten Ergot Alkaloids in Rye and Wheat Grains” by Andriy Tkachenko, FDA. This manuscript was selected for its overall scientific merit; study design, writing quality; technical quality; and potential impact of the work in advancing the field of analytical science, especially human health, and the mission of AOAC. Tkachenko’s paper describes a low-cost, simple strategy for cefixime detection that exhibits excellent stability, selectivity, and sensitivity, as well as great potential utility for drug analysis, biological process research, and clinical research.
The Section of the Year Award was presented to the AOAC Sub-Saharan Africa Section. Sections provide opportunities for participants to share information, build professional contacts, expand leadership skills, and gain practical management experience. There are 19 AOAC Sections that connect analytical communities in the U.S. and worldwide, representing four continents and more than 120 countries.
In addition, 249 AOAC INTERNATIONAL members were recognized for their years of service, including two individuals who have contributed their expertise to the organization for an impressive 45 years, two 40-year members, three 35-year members, 18 30-year members, 17 25-year members, 70 10-year members, and 137 five-year members.
To view the full list of leaders profiled in these awards, please view the full story on AOAC.org.
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About AOAC INTERNATIONAL
AOAC INTERNATIONAL is a globally recognized, 501(c)(3), independent, third party, not-for-profit association and voluntary consensus standards developing organization founded in 1884. When analytical needs arise within a community or industry, AOAC INTERNATIONAL is the forum for finding appropriate science-based solutions through the development of microbiological and chemical standards. The AOAC Official Methods of Analysis database is used by food scientists around the world to facilitate public health and safety and to promote trade.
For more information, please visit AOAC.org.
