Executive Committee
Xinping Hou
President (2022 – present)
Email: [email protected]
Xinping Hou is currently the analytical service manager at Merieux NutriSciences AQ (Singapore), where she provides technical consultation and develops analytical service strategies for the organization to support the industries on their innovation, process improvement and product quality control. Prior to BV-AQ, She had been working in other contract research and testing laboratories as technical manager and operation director for food and pharmaceutical product analysis.
She has been a member of AOAC International since 2016. She has participated AOAC SPIFAN program and led the setup of many AOAC methods in the laboratory.
She has been appointed by Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) as the technical auditor for food and pharmaceutical laboratory accreditation since 2003.
She has a bachelor and master’s degree in analytical chemistry and got her PhD in Chemistry from National University of Singapore. She is (co)author of more than 10 scientific publications.
Erik Konings
Mentor (2021 – present)
Email: [email protected]
Erik Konings is a retired Program Manager at the Nestlé Institute of Food Safety and Analytical Sciences in Lausanne, Switzerland where he provides leadership to global quality, laboratory and regulatory teams to engage in strategic local activities to drive alignment/harmonization of analytical methods and partners with government and non-government organizations in the development of standards for analytical methods.
He is active within AOAC INTERNATIONAL (Past-President), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (Chair ISO TC 34, Working Group 14 on Vitamins, carotenoids and other nutrients), the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) (Chair CEN TC 275 Working group 9 on Vitamins and carotenoids), and the International Dairy Federation (IDF). He participates in the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS).
He studied higher professional laboratory education with majors in Analytical and Clinical chemistry holds an MSc degree in Epidemiology and a PhD in Health Sciences of Maastricht University, the Netherlands (2001). He is (co)author of more than 40 scientific publications.
Nicole Zhang
President-Elect (2026 – present)
Email: [email protected]
Nicole Zhang is an accomplished marketing leader and scientist with extensive experience in the analytical instrumentation industry across the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) regions. Currently serving as the Senior Regional Marketing Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, she develops regional marketing strategies that drive demand generation and has successfully led multiple New Product Introductions (NPI) and international events. Her professional background includes significant tenures at Shimadzu Asia Pacific and Waters Asia Pacific, where she managed diverse product portfolios ranging from spectroscopy to LCMS and achieved substantial market share growth and revenue increases. Nicole holds a Global MBA with Distinction from the University of Manchester, an M.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Leicester, and a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Huazhong Agricultural University. Complementing her business acumen, she is a trained MALDI-TOF and LC-MS(MS) Chemist and a certified UPLC Engineer.
Sylvia Lawrance
Secretary (2026 – present)
Email: [email protected]
Sylvia Lawrance is a senior Scientific and Regulatory Affairs leader with 20 years of experience across Asia Pacific particularly Southeast Asia region. She brings deep expertise spanning accredited analytical laboratories, regulatory policy, and market access across food, flavour, nutrition, and medical technologies. With a career bridging analytical science and regulation, Sylvia focuses on advancing science‑based regulatory approaches, supporting standards harmonization, and translating analytical evidence into pragmatic regulatory and policy outcomes across the region. She currently serves as Director of Regulatory Affairs for Southeast Asia at Abbott, leading regulatory strategy across nutrition, medical devices, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals.
Lee Huei Hong
Treasurer (2026 – present)
Email: [email protected]
Lee Huei Hong is an accomplished analytical scientist and agricultural food science expert with over 10 years of experience supporting global and APAC business operations. Currently serving as a Principal Field Application Chemist at Waters Pacific Pte Ltd, she specializes in advanced chromatography and mass spectrometry for multi-omics and life science applications. She holds a PhD in Food Science from Universiti Putra Malaysia and has established herself as a regional leader through her roles as co-chair of the AOAC Southeast Asia Emerging Issues Working Group and her extensive record of peer-reviewed publications. Throughout her career, which includes senior roles at Waters Corporation and ITS Interscience, she has demonstrated a strong track record of driving technical innovation, mentoring postgraduate researchers, and fostering international scientific collaborations.