Spotlight: Theme Meetings
Eric Johnson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Peter Varelis, University of Ballarat, Agents theme leaders. Read more about the meetings in the Message from the Director, below right.
Upcoming Events
World Response Conference on Global Outbreak (WRCGO 2009)
November 12th-13th, 2009 Las Vegas, Nevada
NCFPD Research in Food Protection Webinar Series
"The Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology's Terrorism Risk Assessments" -Save the date- December 4, 2009 10amET / 9amCT / 8amMT / 7amPT 2009 International Society for Disease Surveillance Eighth Annual Conference December 2-4, 2009 Miami, FL Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases (CRWAD) December 6-8, 2009 Chicago, IL Consortium for Plant Biotechnology Research, Inc. February 9-10, 2010 Washington, DC 2010 Public Health Preparedness Summit February 16-19, 2010 Atlanta, GA Funding Opportunities
DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions 2010 Competition Letter of Intent Due: January 8, 2010 Application Due: February 1, 2010 RFI: Regulation of Host Response as a Medical Countermeasure Approach Closes: January 15, 2010 Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program: National Integrated Food Safety Initiative Closes: January 19, 2010 NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security Third Annual Essay Competition Closes: January 31, 2010
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NCFPD News
The DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions 2010 Competition is now open. This is an excellent opportunity for MSI faculty and students to conduct research at DHS Centers of Excellence. The program provides research opportunities to increase and enhance the scientific leadership at Minority Serving Institutions in research areas that support the mission and goals of DHS. In addition, the program is designed to engage early career faculty, along with undergraduate and graduate students, in research that will provide them opportunities to understand the mission and research needs of DHS. Letters of Intent are due January 8, 2010. Applications are due February 1, 2010.
Mimi Chen, a high school student working in Vangie Alocilja's laboratory last summer, was selected as a semi-finalist in the 2009-10 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology for the project "The Construction of a Restriction Enzyme Set for the Detection of B. anthracis Using Bio-Barcode Assay." Congratulations to Mimi and Vangie!
Applications are currently being accepted at NCFPD for the following positions:
Risk Analyst/Epidemiologist (Closes November 20)
Post-Doctoral Associates
Emma Hartnett, Greg Paoli and Don Schaffner have published an article in Risk Analysis, Modeling the Public Health System Response to a Terrorist Event in the Food Supply.
Shari Veil, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, and Michael Palenchar, Ph.D. assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, conducted a workshop on NCFPD's best risk communication practices and social media during a crisis, representing NCFPD and the Risk Communication Theme Group at the Social Media in Crisis Communication in Government Conference in Washington, DC, November 2-5, 2009.
Jeffrey Bender, University of Minnesota, was quoted in an article in the New York Times about a Minnesota woman who became paralyzed due to an E-coli infection in 2007.
A free webinar is currently available from Waters titled "The Science of Food Profiling: Determining the Adulteration, Authenticity and Origin of Foods." Registration is required.
 Message From the Director
In October, we had meetings of our Systems Strategies, Event Modeling, Chemical Agent Behavior and Microbiological Agent Behavior research themes. These meetings brought together over 70 investigators from around the world to advance the research domain of food protection and defense. This included collaborative interaction on their own research projects as well as identifying important research needs and opportunities for the future. These were very exciting meetings that helped outline our strategic research direction as we continue to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of our growing food system in order to protect it from intentional or natural catastrophic events. One of the important attributes of these meetings was bringing in partners from outside the academic community, including presenters from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the private sector, to help connect our research to end users and stakeholders. Our partnerships with stakeholders are key to our long-term success in the Center. In a recent speech at the Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response, Michael R. Taylor, the Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, highlighted the importance of partnerships in FDA’s efforts to prevent foodborne illness. While his talk was primarily focused on food safety, the concepts extend just as much to food defense. It is the partnerships with academia and the private and public sector that provide the long term capabilities to advance food protection and defense, to protect the public and to advance the vitality of the food system that nourishes us all.
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