AOAC OMB Nomination Review (June 12, 2019)

3M Food Safety Department

3M Center Bldg. 0260-06B-01 St. Paul, MN 55144-1000

Pat knows first-hand how important it is for international acceptance and recognition of methods. Not only has he committed himself towards this goal through leadership within AOAC, but he was also invited by FDA to join the US Technical Advisory Group and be a key technical expert in several Working Groups within the ISO Technical Committee (TC) 34/ Subcommittee (SC) 9 – Food/Microbiology. Through his participation in these working groups, he has contributed to the development of several ISO standards for microbiology – included directing a study that was key to verify that the drafted standard ISO 16140-5 would “work” as expected, before publication (the end of this year). The data generated from this study, will be included within the standard as an Informative Appendix. In addition, Pat is active in another international organization to further support global method efforts – IAFP. He has been involved in IAFP both within the US and in Europe. He is an active member of the IAFP Applied Laboratory Methods Professional Development Group (PDG) and actively working within the sub working group on method validation and verification to create and provide on-going webinars on these topics to continue to expand this knowledge internationally. With all of Pat’s experience and expertise, his voice is well heard, and his opinions are well respected. His focus is international, and not stuck in US-centric thinking. For these and all the above stated reasons, I believe the AOAC OMB would be well served by Pat’s inclusion on the Official Methods Board.

Sincerely,

DeAnn L. Benesh | Regulatory Affairs Manager 3M Food Safety Department 3M Center, 260-6B-01 | St. Paul, MN 55144-1000 | United States Office: +1 651-736-3594 | Mobile: +1 651-592-4092 dbenesh1@mmm.com