AUT - John Brooks

Professor John Brooks

Professor of Food Microbiology, Head of Research

Phone: 921 9428

Email: john.brooks@aut.ac.nz

Physical Address:
School of Applied Sciences
Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences
24 St Paul Street
Auckland City

Postal Address:
Biotechnology Research Institute
Private Bag 92006
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
(MailNo C-47)

Address for blogs:
http://foodsafetywithjaybee.blogspot.com

Links to relevant web pages:
Biotechnology Research Institute

Qualifications:

BSc(Hons) (London), PhD (Sydney), FNZIFST

Memberships and Affiliations:

Member Editorial Board of: "Food Microbiology"

Teaching Areas:

• Food Microbiology
• Hazard Analysis

Research areas:

• The study of biofilms, with particular reference to the food and dairy processing industries
• Biotechnology Research Centre – Biofilm Research Unit

Research Summary:

John Brooks is a microbiologist, specialising in food microbiology. He trained in London under John Pirt and on graduation spent a period of time working at ICI in Billingham, helping to develop the methanol-based single cell protein process. He then moved to Sydney to do a PhD in biochemical engineering, continuing his work on C1 metabolism. After finishing the PhD, John took up a position at Massey University, teaching food microbiology and remained there for 30 years, eventually specializing in biofilm research. During that time, he supervised a number of Masters and PhD projects and consulted extensively for the food industry. He is a member of the NZFSA Science Academy, which provides specialist expertise and advice to the Authority.

Current Research Projects:

• Biofilm modeling
• Impact of biofilms on shellfish farming
• Campylobacter in poultry processing

Publications:

Tang, X., Flint, S.H. , Brooks, J.D.  and Bennett, R.J  Factors affecting the attachment of micro-organisms isolated from ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes in dairy processing plants. Journal of Applied Microbiology ISSN 1364-5072  (Published on-line, 10 March 2009)

Burgess, S.A. , Brooks, J.D. , Rakonjac, J. , Walker, K.M.  and Flint, S.H. The formation of spores in biofilms of Anoxybacillus flavithermus.  Journal of Applied Microbiology ISSN 1364-5072 (Published on-line, 25 March 2009).

Brooks, J.D. & Flint, S.H. Biofilms in the food industry: problems and potential solutions. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 43, 2163–2176, 2008.

Palmer, J., Flint, S. and Brooks, J.D. Bacterial cell attachment, the beginning of a biofilm. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology 34:577-588, 2007.

Scott, S.A., Brooks, J.D., Rakonjac, J., Walker, K.M.R. and Flint, S.H. The formation of thermophilic spores during the manufacture of whole milk powder. International Journal of Dairy Technology 60:109-117, 2007

Deeseenthum, S., Leelavatcharamas, V. and Brooks, J.D. Effect of feeding Bacillus sp. As probiotic bacteria on growth of Giant Freshwater Prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii de Mann). Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 10 (9): 1481-1485, 2007.

Trachoo, N. and Brooks, J.D. Attachment and heat resistance of Campylobacter jejuni on Enterococcus faecium biofilm. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 8:599-605, 2005.

Parkar, S.G., Flint, S.H. and Brooks, J.D.  Evaluation of the effect of cleaning regimes on biofilms of thermophilic bacilli on stainless steel. Journal of Applied Microbiology 96:110-116, 2004.

Parkar, S.G., Flint, S.H. and Brooks, J.D. Physiology of biofilms of thermophilic bacilli - potential consequences for cleaning. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology 30:553-560 (2003).

Flint, S, Brooks, J.D., Bremer, P., Walker, K .and Hausman, E. The resistance to heat of thermo-resistant streptococci attached to stainless steel in the presence of milk. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology 28:134-136, 2002.

Hinton, A.R., Trinh, K.T., Brooks, J.D. and Manderson, G.J. Thermophile survival in milk fouling and on stainless steel during cleaning. Transactions of the Institute of Chemical Engineers 80 Part C:299-304, 2002.

Awards:

• 2005-2009 Honorary Professor, Hong Kong University
• 1992 Elected Fellow, New Zealand Institute for Food Science & Technology
  
• 1992 Bill Stone Memorial Scholarship for research on chicken processing