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AgVetLink: Number 53, December 2005

Staff Update

Brian Pidford, Programme Manager – ACVM Programmes

In January, we will farewell Brian Pidford who is retiring after a long and varied career in the pharmaceutical industry. Brian’s work in England before immigrating to New Zealand in 1977 included time in the R&D section of Evan Biologicals (Liverpool), working on rabies vaccine. He also worked for Pfizer (Sandwich, Kent) in the production and quality control of oral polio vaccine, primarily for the North American and European markets.

When Brian and his family came to New Zealand, he joined ICI Tasman’s R&D division in Upper Hutt. As ICI Tasman went through a number of mergers and name changes (Coopers, Pitman Moore, Mallinkrodt), so too did Brian’s role. He moved from R&D to virus production to becoming Operations Manager for all manufacturing and engineering on site and was Quality Manager when he left to join the MAF Agricultural Compounds Unit at Wallaceville in 1990.

Brian has been a key part of the ACVM Group’s development of compliance programmes in the manufacture, import, sale and use of veterinary medicines and agricultural compounds. We will miss him and wish him all the best in his new ventures.

John Bongiovanni, Assistant Director – Approvals

"Hi there. I took up this postion in the Approvals and ACVM Group at the beginning of November. It was a new role created under NZFSA’s restructure to bring together all approvals functions under the legislation administered by NZFSA. Beginning work in NZFSA felt
very comfortable because there were so many familiar faces of people I’d worked with or known before. I spent the last eight years in New Zealand Post working in both the Risk Review and Human Resouces teams. But before that, I had spent twenty-three and a half years in MAF. Most of that time was in the MAF Quarantine Service, then five years in the Director General’s Audit team and five years as National Advisor (Border Inspection) in MAF’s Regulatory Authority.

Before MAF I obtained a horticultural degree from Massey. My wife Chris and I have recently moved to a large garden property in Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast where we can indulge in our mutual passion for gardening. It is here that we have established headquarters for, and maintain the network of, six children, their spouses/partners and seven grandchildren."

Jennie Moran, Senior Advisor (ACVM Standards – Animals), will be taking on a totally new role early in 2006. Jennie and Jeff’s first child is due in March, and Jennie will begin a 12-month period of parental leave on 3 February 2006.