May 30, 2024 – Maureen Spill is appointed by Lindsay Hess as the Center’s first Associate Director.
The Texas A&M Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Evidence Center has appointed Dr. Maureen Spill as the center’s first associate director. Dr. Maureen Spill has been appointed associate director of the Texas A&M Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Evidence Center. (Lindsay Hess/Texas A&M AgriLife) Dr. Spill will join the Evidence Center as program leader for nutrition and health in 2021, bringing extensive expertise in nutrition research and evidence synthesis to the position.
“I am honored and excited to continue supporting the Evidence Center in my new role as Deputy Director,” said Spill. “The Evidence Center is committed to groundbreaking evidence syntheses and research, and I look forward to contributing to the Center’s scientific program and continuing to provide high-quality, objective, transparent, evidence-based scientific reviews and analyses to governments, policy and public health organizations both domestically and internationally.”
Spill brings nutrition expertise to the position.
Ms. Spill has contributed to important nutrition initiatives, including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. From 2014 to 2022, she served as an analyst on the Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) team at the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Advancement. She also led systematic reviews that helped develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 and 2020-2025. Her interests lie in advancing review methodologies and tools.
Prior to her work at NESR, Spill was a senior research scientist in the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Safe and Healthy Foods for Children team, a postdoctoral researcher at the Pennsylvania State University’s Institute for Human Ingestive Behavior, and a senior scientist at Campbell Soup Co. in Sydney, Australia.
“Dr Spill has over 20 years of experience in food and nutrition research, 10 of those years working on systematic reviews and syntheses,” said Dr Amanda McFarlane, director of the Evidence Centre. “She is an expert in systematic review methodology, a talented project manager and has a keen eye for quality and detail. These attributes will serve the Evidence Centre well as she takes on the role of Deputy Director. I can’t think of anyone more suitable for this role.”
Evidence Center Guides Health Practices and Principles
Established in 2021, the mission of the Texas A&M Agriculture, Food & Nutrition Evidence Center is to produce transparent, reproducible evidence reviews and syntheses that evaluate the effectiveness of agri-food policies, practices and guidance related to agricultural, environmental, human and economic health. The Evidence Center advances methods, knowledge and practice, as well as promotes harmonization of methods, indicators and evidence standards to ensure policymakers have the critical information they need to develop evidence-based policies.
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