Gerrard's family frequently moved around the United Kingdom when she was a child, including to Nottingham, Wales and Grimsby. She liked science and focused on chemistry in her studies.
Education and career
Gerrard obtained a First Class Honours degree in chemistry at the University of Oxford and then in 1992 a DPhil at titled 'Studies on dihydrodipicolinate synthase' . She moved to Crop and Food in New Zealand in 1997 and then the University of Canterbury in 1998, where she rose to full professor. She then moved to a professorship at the University of Auckland in 2014, where she holds a Callaghan Innovation Industry and Outreach Fellowship. Having been the recipient of Marsden grants herself in 1998 and 2003, Gerrard went on to serve as the chair of the Royal Society of New Zealand'sMarsden Fund Council from 2012 until 2018. Her research includes investigations of protein-protein interactions, lysine biosynthesis and the application of protein chemistry to the food industry. She has over 175 publications, including three books. In June 2018 she was appointed the New Zealand Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor, succeeding Sir Peter Gluckman and taking up the role for a three-year term starting 1 July 2018. In her role she has tried to "draw on as many science voices as possible", and to be "rigorous, transparent, accessible and inclusive".
She has a koru tattoo on her back, purchased for by her lab group for being made professor before her fortieth birthday. She has spun out her own company called Hi-Aspect, which produces protein nanofibres for medical and other uses. She is divorced and has two children.
Selected works
Books
Journal papers
Gerrard, Juliet A. "Protein–protein crosslinking in food: methods, consequences, applications." Trends in food science & technology 13, no. 12 : 391–399.
De Zwart, F. J., S. Slow, R. J. Payne, M. Lever, P. M. George, J. A. Gerrard, and S. T. Chambers. "Glycine betaine and glycine betaine analogues in common foods." Food chemistry 83, no. 2 : 197–204.
Gerrard, J. A., S. E. Fayle, A. J. Wilson, M. P. Newberry, M. Ross, and S. Kavale. "Dough properties and crumb strength of white pan bread as affected by microbial transglutaminase." Journal of Food Science 63, no. 3 : 472–475.
Hutton, Craig A., Matthew A. Perugini, and Juliet A. Gerrard. "Inhibition of lysine biosynthesis: an evolving antibiotic strategy." Molecular BioSystems 3, no. 7 : 458–465.
Rasiah, I. A., K. H. Sutton, F. L. Low, H-M. Lin, and J. A. Gerrard. "Crosslinking of wheat dough proteins by glucose oxidase and the resulting effects on bread and croissants." Food Chemistry 89, no. 3 : 325–332.
