Dr. Brendon Gill is a Senior Research Scientist for Fonterra based in the Nutritionals Laboratory at Waitoa, New Zealand and is responsible for the development and implementation of analytical methods for the analysis of vitamins and other micronutrients in dairy products for routine laboratory use; as well as providing scientific support to both the laboratory and product teams.
He is passionate about the development of analytical methods which both add value to the understanding of milk composition and facilitate compliance against international requirements for nutritional dairy foods. He has extensive practical skills and experience in commonly used instrumental techniques such as LC-MS, LC‑UV, ICP‑OES, GC‑FID, and FIA accumulated in over 15 years working in a high through-put, quality control laboratory. In addition to analytical development, Dr. Gill develops laboratory quality standards, and is a trained and qualified auditor performing both internal and external laboratory technical and quality audits against ISO 17025. He also provides technical advice and general expertise on the subjects of vitamins and micronutrients to product formulation.
Dr. Gill is an active member within AOAC International (a globally recognised voluntary consensus standards organisation founded in 1884). He has performed as a voting member for the Stakeholder Panel for Infant Formula and Adult Nutritionals (SPIFAN) and also the Stakeholder Panel on Strategic Food Analytical Methods (SPSFAM), in addition to acting as a subject matter expert on the SPIFAN Expert Review Panel (ERP) and numerous Working Groups. As Chair of the Nucleotides Working Group he facilitated the development of the nucleotides Standard Method Performance Requirements (SMPR) and the selection of methods for further evaluation. Dr. Gill is currently a member of the Official Methods Board of AOAC International and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of AOAC International. He also serves on other AOAC committees (Fellows, Membership, Test Materials) as part of his volunteer duties as an AOAC member. In additon, he regularly participates as a member of the Vitamins, Carotenoids and Other Nutrients Working Group (ISO TC034/WG14) within the International Standards Organisation (ISO).
A key part of Dr. Gill's role is to develop new analytical methods for the accurate quantiation of vitamins and micronutrients in a range of dairy products, particularly infant formula. Two of these methods were selected for further study by the SPIFAN ERP as possible international reference methods. Dr. Gill served as Study Director during both single-laboratory validation (SLV) and multi-laboratory testing (MLT) phases of these methods:
(i) The analysis of nucleotide 5′‑monophosphates in infant formulas by HPLC‑UV; and
(ii) The analysis of vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 in infant formulas, and adult nutritionals by LC‑MS/MS.
The method for the analysis of nucleotide 5′‑monophosphates was successfully trialled in ten laboratories around the world as part of the MLT study; which led to its adoption as Official Final Action method 2011.20 by AOAC International and as ISO Standard 20638:2015 and was subsequently endorsed by Codex Alimentarius as a Type II Reference Method.
The method for the analysis of vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 also performed successfully in ten global laboratories during its MLT study, and was endorsed as AOAC Official Final Action method 2016.05 and ISO Standard 20636:2018 with subsequent adoption as a Codex Type II Reference Method. In recognition of the application of innovative technology, the critical need for a new reference method internationally, and the difficultly of the analysis, this method was awarded 2017 AOAC Method of the Year.
At the 2018 Kudos Awards in 2018, Dr. Gill won the Hamilton City Council Emerging Scientist Award. In 2015, Dr. Gill was named a Fellow of AOAC International and in 2017 he was presented with two of AOAC's most prestigious awards; the Method of the Year award and the Technical Service of the Year award. Additionally, on three occasions he has been awarded as a member of the Expert Review Panel of the Year. In 2017, the vitamin D project led by Dr. Gill was a finalist in the New Zealand Business Innovation Awards.
Dr. Gill's scientific work from his various research projects is regularly published in highly regarded peer reviewed journals such as Food Chemistry, Journal of AOAC International, International Dairy Journal, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, and he routinely acts as peer-reviewer for manuscripts submitted for publications in the field of micronutrient analysis in these journals.
Dr. Gill studied at the University of Waikato, and earned a Bachelors of Science (BSc, chemistry major) in 1998, a Masters of Science with honours (MSc(hons), chemistry) in 2000, a Graduate Diploma (GradDipT, secondary education) in 2001; and a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD, chemistry) in 2013.
In his spare time, Brendon enjoys watching American football, is an amateur enthusiast in the topics of orbital mechanics and cryptography. For fun, he plays chess and poker, solves logic puzzles, and is an avid trivia quiz participant.
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