| Food Safety Research Consortium |
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A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH |
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Steering Committee
J. Glenn Morris, Jr., Chairperson
Michael Batz, MS Mr. Batz has been the Executive Director of the FSRC since 2006, and has been Head of Food Safety Programs at the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute since 2007. His research centers on the use of information and analytic tools to improve regulatory and public health decision making, particularly in food safety. Specific interests include risk ranking, mathematical modeling, resource prioritization, health valuation, food attribution, and decision making under uncertainty. Previously, he was based in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, and was a research associate for 7 years at Resources for the Future, a nonpartisan nonprofit research institution rooted primarily in environmental economics. While there, he worked on a broad set of issues, including modeling of criteria air pollutants, estimating regional patterns of US carbon emissions, predicting future costs of the Superfund program, and evaluating coffee farming policies in Oaxaca, Mexico. Mr. Batz has a B.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering & Engineering and Public Policy, and an M.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, both from Carnegie Mellon University. Robert L. Buchanan, PhD Dr. Buchanan is Professor and Director of the Center for Food Safety and Security Systems in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland. He received his B.S, M.S. M.Phil, and Ph.D. degrees in Food Science from Rutgers University, and post-doctoral training in mycotoxicology at the University of Georgia. Since then he has 30+ years experience teaching, conducting research in food safety, and working at the interface between science and public health policy, first in academia, then in government service in both USDA and FDA, and most recently at the University of Maryland. His scientific interests are diverse, and include extensive experience in predictive microbiology, quantitative microbial risk assessment, microbial physiology, mycotoxicology, and HACCP systems. He has published widely on a wide range of subjects related to food safety, and is one of the co-developers of the widely used USDA Pathogen Modeling Program. Dr. Buchanan has served on numerous national and international advisory bodies including serving as a permanent member of the International Commission on Microbiological Specification for Foods, as a six-term member of the National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Foods, and as the U.S. Delegate to the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Hygiene for a decade. Extended bio: Center for Food Safety and Security Systems at the University of Maryland Julie A. Caswell, PhD Dr. Caswell is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Resource Economics and Adjunct Professor of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts. She has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and Economics from the University of Wisconsin, a MS in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, and a BS in Public Affairs Management from Michigan State University. Her research focuses on understanding the operation of domestic and international food systems, with particular interest in the economics of food quality, especially safety and nutrition, and international trade. Her edited books include Economics of Food Safety, Valuing Food Safety and Nutrition, and Global Food Trade and Consumer Demand for Quality. Dr. Caswell has provided her expertise to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on food safety and labeling issues. From 1989-2002 she chaired Regional Research Project NE-165, an international group of over 100 economists who analyzed the operation and performance of the food system. She has held numerous senior positions with the American Agricultural Economics Association and the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association. Dr. Caswell is the recipient of an Outstanding Teaching Award and a Certificate of Achievement for Outstanding Research Contributions from the College of Food & Natural Resources at UMass. She has taught graduate courses in Poland, Italy, Brazil, and Spain. Extended bio & publications: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Michael P. Doyle, PhD Dr. Doyle is Regents Professor of Food Microbiology and Director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia. He is an active researcher in the area of foodborne bacterial pathogens and works closely with the food industry on issues related to the microbiological safety of foods. His research has focused on the study of microbial pathogenicity, the development of methods for pathogen detection, and the identification of means to control or eliminate pathogens in foods. Dr. Doyle is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received his B.S. degree in Bacteriology, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Food Microbiology. He serves on food safety committees of many scientific organizations and has served as a scientific advisor to many groups, including the World Health Organization, the Institute of Medicine, International Life Sciences Institute-North America, the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has published more than 400 scientific publications including editor of two authoritative books, Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens and Food Microbiology: Fundamentals and Frontiers; and has given more than 500 invited presentations at national and international scientific meetings. In addition, he has received several research awards from academic and national scientific organizations, has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the International Association for Food Protection and the Institute of Food Technologists, and has been awarded several named Lectureships. Research overview and publications: Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia Sandra A. Hoffmann, PhD, JD Dr. Hoffmann is Fellow at Resources for the Future, in Washington, DC. She graduated with her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1986, obtained an M.A. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1991, and her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1998. Dr. Hoffmann's research focuses on improving the role of regulation and tort law in managing health and environmental risks. Her research focuses on the role of economics in regulatory risk analysis, including the valuation of health benefits, regulatory design, and developing decision analysis models for regulatory decision-making. She works on a number of policy issues including food safety, valuation of children's benefits from environmental policy, modeling the social costs of pesticide use, and the health benefits of environmental policy in China. Hoffmann is co-editor of Toward Safer Food: Perspectives on Risk and Priority Setting, a joint effort aimed at developing a practical approach to promoting a more risk-based approach to regulatory decision making in the U.S. food safety system. She is part of a team of researchers working to develop comparative risk ranking models of the U.S. food system. Extended bio & publications: Resources for the Future Michele Jay-Russell, DVM Dr. Jay-Russell is project director of the Western Center for Food Safety (WCFS) in the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security (WIFSS) at the University of California, Davis. Prior to joining WCFS, one of four FDA CFSAN academic institutes, Dr. Jay-Russell was a Research Scientist with the Food and Drug Laboratory Branch at the California Department of Public Health. In this capacity, she was involved in many environmental foodborne disease investigations including the 2006 farm investigation following the E. coli O157:H7 contamination of fresh, bagged baby spinach. In 2006-2007, she was recognized for teamwork on the spinach outbreak with a CDHS Superior Accomplishment Award, the FDA Leveraging/Collaboration Award, and the International Association of Food Protection Innovation award. Other prior work includes positions as the California State Public Health Veterinarian and the Chief Epidemiologist for Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Jay-Russell is active in professional service and currently serves as the President of the Northern California Chapter of the American Society for Microbiology and Chair of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine's Communication Committee. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in 1992 from the University of California, Davis, and is a Candidate for a doctoral degree in Microbiology. She was board certified with the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine in 1997. Extended bio & publications: Western Institute for Food Safety and Security at the University of California at Davis Helen H.Jensen, PhD Dr. Jensen is professor of economics and head of the Food and Nutrition Policy Division in the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University. Her major areas of research are food and nutrition policies, food security and the economics of food safety and food hazard control options. In CARD, she leads a research program on economics of food programs and policies, including food safety. Her research addresses the implications of changes in the design of food programs and food safety regulations. Within the Consortium, she is developing methods and procedures for assessing exposure to foodborne contaminants in the food supply and studying the economics of hazard controls in pork processing. This includes the development of a statistical framework for evaluating relative health risks and intervention strategies in the food distribution chain, monitoring food hazard exposure, evaluating the cost effectiveness of HACCP implementation, and valuation of food safety.She recently served as chair of the Food Safety and Nutrition Section of the American Agricultural Economics Association, and is currently serving on several committees of the National Academy of Sciences. She joined the faculty at Iowa State in 1985. Dr. Jensen holds a masters degree in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. degree in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin. Research and publications: Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University J. Glenn Morris, Jr, MD, MPH & TM Dr. Morris is Director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute of the University of Florida in Gainesville. Previously, he was professor and chairman of the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Morris has a strong research interest in the area of emerging pathogens: he maintains an active, NIH-funded laboratory working in the area of molecular genetics and molecular epidemiology; is involved in hospital studies looking at emergence of resistant microorganisms; has worked extensively with clinical, laboratory, and environmental issues related to harmful algal blooms; and serves as co-PI of the CDC Emerging Infections Program sentinel surveillance site (FoodNet) in Maryland. He has served on four National Academy of Sciences expert committees dealing with food safety. From 1994-1996, he worked with the Food Safety Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, on the first major revision of food safety regulations since 1906. He received his BA from Rice University in Houston in 1973, and his MD degree and a master’s degree in public health and tropical medicine from Tulane University, New Orleans, in 1977. Extended bio and publications: Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida Ewen C.D. Todd, PhD Dr. Todd is Professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing at Michigan State University. He conducts research with faculty in different disciplines for understanding consumer food safety preferences, better food recall strategies, improved hygiene in child care centers and elder care facilities, safe product labeling and communication issues, risk assessment and management, harmonization of Listeria regulations and discussing issues surrounding consumption of raw milk and raw milk cheese. He also conducts research through the Food Safety Research Consortium, and serves on its steering committee. Dr. Todd previously served as the Director of the Food Safety Policy Center and the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, both at Michigan State University. He was formerly in Health Canada, Ottawa, where he worked on methods development for pathogens in foods, foodborne disease investigation and reporting, costs and surveillance of disease, and risk assessment of foodborne pathogens. He received his B.Sc. in Bacteriology and his Ph.D in Bacterial Systematics from Glasgow University, Scotland. Faculty page: Michigan State University |
For technical questions, please contact mbatz@ufl.edu. |