Our governance
The Government Chemist Programme Expert Group (GCPEG) plays a key role in the governance of the GC programme by providing the necessary independent scrutiny.
The GCPEG membership is given below.
Paul Berryman
Chair of Government Chemist Programme Expert Group Paul is the Director of Berryman Food Science Ltd, which works closely with government and businesses, including the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Innovate UK, FERA and SGS Ltd. He is a visiting Professor at the University of Reading. Paul has an extensive career spanning more than 30 years in which he has worked at senior level with most of the top 100 global food companies. An Expert Witness and former Public Analyst, he holds the MChemA, an MBA and a PhD in Science Strategy. He was also CEO and Research Director at Leatherhead Food Research Ltd.
Simon Branch
Simon is Director of Research, Development and Scientific Affairs at Herbalife and sits on a number of committees including the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) LGC Advisory Committee and the RSC Science and Technology Board.
John L Collins
John has a multi-disciplinary background from nuclear physics to biotechnology with experience in R&D, materials and product development, manufacturing and manufacturing technologies, international trade, and technical sales. Until 2020, John was Operations and Commercialisation Director at the UK’s national Synthetic Biology commercialisation facility, SynbiCITE, where he developed business support, mentoring, and funding for Engineering Biology start-ups . John works as an ethics adviser to companies and institutions, is a director of several companies and is a mentor to numerous start-up founders and business owners.
David Franklin
David leads the Scientific Sampling and Laboratory Policy Team in the FSA, which is responsible for policy and scientific advice for Official Control Laboratories, National Reference Laboratories and Sampling. He has experience working across a range of government departments and in developing and overseeing innovation and research funding.
Jonathan Griffin
Jonathan began his career as a graduate scientist at Kent County Council, where he carried out classical and instrumental analysis of foods, agricultural samples, water and consumer goods. He completed the MChemA in 2002 and became a Public Analyst. He continues to work as Public Analyst and Technical Manager for Kent Scientific Services.
Kasia Kazimierczak
Kasia leads a multidisciplinary team covering marine science and shellfish hygiene, authenticity, allergens, foodborne viruses and surveillance at Food Standards Scotland (FSS). Kasia joined FSS from her previous role as a scientific advisor at FSA in Scotland after her academic research career. Kasia brings significant experience in food safety, having worked in foodborne disease, chemical safety and shellfish teams.
Chelvi Leonard
Chelvi is Policy Lead for Accreditation across government at the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), in the Department for Business and Trade. Chelvi was previously at the FSA and was the UK representative at CEN and Codex meetings in the standardisation of analytical methods for food from 2009-2019. She now represents OPSS on the BSI committees on conformity assessment policy. OPSS has interest in analytical methods in food that may be adapted for non-food product safety testing.
Declan Naughton
Declan joined the Inflammation Research Group at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, where he spent 10 years before accepting posts at Bath University and the University of Brighton. He is currently Professor of Biomolecular Sciences at Kingston University London. His research interests span food safety, nutrition, natural products, performance enhancing drugs, inflammation, drug discovery and endocrinology. He is currently the Interim Associate Dean for Research for the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing.
Brenda McRory
Brenda is a Technical Lead Officer at Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority, based at the port of Felixstowe. Brenda currently leads on imports of fishery products, and is also involved with the import of foodstuffs of non-animal origin, having qualified as an Environmental Health Officer and been part of, and managed, teams dealing with imported food ever since.
David Pickering
David is the Trading Standards Manager for the Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards Service. David qualified as a Trading Standards Officer in 1989 and has been part of and managed teams dealing with food, animal feed and animal health throughout that time. He has been the Chartered Trading Standards Institute Lead Officer for food for over 16 years and represents the profession on numerous groups including the national Food Standards Focus group. He has a law degree and a Masters of Law (LLM) in European Law.
Sophie Rollinson
Sophie is the food science Lead in Defra’s Food and Farming Directorate and manages the Department’s food authenticity research Programme. Sophie brings expertise gained during her scientific career in government at Defra and FSA in the areas of food standards and labelling, and microbiological food safety.
Diane Turner
Diane is the Director and Senior Consultant of Anthias Consulting Ltd, an independent provider of analytical training and consultancy. Diane has developed methods for and given support to companies in most industries around the world for the past 20 years. She is a visiting Academic & Consultant at The Open University where she continues her disease diagnosis research from her PhD plus food, drug and space applications. Diane is President of the Royal Society of Chemistry Analytical Division Council and Chair of the Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund.
Programme Expert Group Meeting records
The Government Chemist Programme Expert Group meets twice a year. Minutes of the meeting will be published once approved for transparency.
