Darryl Sullivan is the director of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Nutrition Chemistry and Food Safety Division at Covance Laboratories. Mr. Sullivan acts as the primary liaison with food, nutritional and dietary supplement companies as well as providing expertise on designing comprehensive testing programs to meet scientific and regulatory requirements. In this role he is often called upon as an expert witness for litigation and dispute resolution. He has managed numerous departments at Covance including lab operations, research and development, client services, sample management, sample preparation and study direction, as well as a satellite laboratory in Michigan. Mr. Sullivan received his BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has more than 30 years of experience in laboratory testing of food and dietary supplements. He is considered to be an expert in the field of validation of analytical methods, having served for three years as chair of the AOAC International Official Methods Board. He is currently the past president and secretary of the AOAC International board of directors. He is also a former member of the board of directors of the AOAC Research Institute. He is the chair of the Analytical Laboratories Committee of the American Herbal Product Association and is a member of the Joint Committee on Dietary Supplements of NSF. Mr. Sullivan has developed and validated hundreds of analytical methods in the areas of nutrient and residue testing, and is the author of more than 50 publications and over 100 scientific presentations. In addition, he is the past chair of the AOAC Dietary Supplement Task Group and co-editor of the book Methods of Analysis for Nutrition Labeling.
 
Health E-Insights: Which is most important to your organization—mission, core values or vision?
 
Mr. Sullivan: While all three are important, I would choose our mission as the most important for two reasons. First, our mission focuses first and foremost on supporting our customers. We recognize that the foundation of our business is making each and every client project a success. Second, our mission focuses on the role our people play in delivering our services. As a service provider, people are our most valuable resource.
 
Health E-Insights: What has been Covance’s most effective marketing tactic or technique?
 
Mr. Sullivan: Leveraging the expertise and scientific talent of our people has ultimately been our most effective marketing technique. Our customers repeatedly tell us that one of the greatest values we provide is our ability to be their scientific partner. We do this every day when we collaborate with our customers to solve their analytical challenges through new method development or consult with customers in the midst of a food safety crisis. We also demonstrate our thought leadership by being active in the scientific community, such as our leadership roles in AOAC International and the work we have done to help shape the Food Safety Modernization Act.
 
Health E-Insights: How does Covance give back to the community or to society?
 
Mr. Sullivan: Through the Covance Charitable Foundation, established in 2002, the company administers donations to select, eligible not-for-profit organizations with causes ranging from those that target specific diseases to those that benefit the communities in which Covance employees work and live. The company has banded together to raise funds for both domestic and international relief efforts. For example, employees donated approximately $50,000 to support victims of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake; the Covance foundation contributed an additional $40,000. The funds were distributed by CARE, UNICEF and other relief organizations.
 
Health E-Insights: What are the most important decisions you make as a leader of your organization?
 
Mr. Sullivan: As a leader at Covance the important decisions I make are in regard to the strategic direction of the business. This includes development of domestic and international expansion plans and implementation of new test method or service offerings. These decisions need to be made based on sound market data research as well as effective collaboration with current and future Covance customers. Understanding the industry trends as well as the new product development pipelines is critical in making informed decisions. Most of the industry testing needs have become global, so most of my strategy decisions need to have an international perspective.
 
Health E-Insights: What do you consider to be your greatest virtue?
 
Mr. Sullivan: My greatest virtue is my ability to develop and foster relationships in a business environment. I have a very strong technical background and I learn new technologies very quickly, but in the competitive world market today, trust is one of the most important factors in business decisions. I work very closely with customers to help me understand what their needs and requirements are.  With that knowledge, my ability to help solve difficult technical challenges becomes much easier. 
 
Health E-Insights: What talent would you like to most have?
 
Mr. Sullivan: I often wish that I was more patient with inexperienced people. If I had the talent to be a better mentor to some people, I could greatly assist them in their career development. This would provide great benefit to these younger individuals, and would give Covance a stronger succession plan for future leaders. 
 
Sheldon Baker wants to interview you. Contact him at SBaker@BakerDillon.com. Follow him on Twitter @NutraInk and visit his website at www.BakerDIllon.com.