Active Projects
Food Systems Veterinary Medicine for the 21st Century
Objective: To develop a new framework, curriculum and delivery mechanism that will transform the mindset and skill set for veterinarian’s tasked with safely feeding the world. There is a serious shortage of veterinarians to support the supply of safe and wholesome food. There is a need for experts to work in today’s complex farming, food production, and processing systems. A veterinarian working in the food supply chain must understand the implications of decisions throughout the food, environment and public health systems. They must understand the “systems approach” to problem solving. The systems approach is a holistic view of the elements and processes working together to produce a desired result. However, changing veterinary education is difficult because current students are overloaded with information. There is no time for more courses, labs or rotations. Innovative methods in this project are to 1) modify existing food animal topics providing current content while imparting the systems methodology and 2) apply concrete systems engineering principles through partnership with the engineering college. We will develop at least one Systems Trainer at each collaborating university, Iowa State University, Kansas State University and University of Arkansas. These trainers, who are well versed in application of systems engineering methods to veterinary medicine and food safety, will work with selected faculty to modify some of their existing lectures. The revised lectures will include the original content while setting the information into systems based examples.
Risk informed management of Salmonella in deep tissue lymph nodes
Objective: To build and parameterize a quantitative risk model of the Salmonella prevalence from the farm to the wholesale pork distribution, and to apply the model in evaluating the relative contribution of each Salmonella source, especially lymph nodes, to human food-borne risk. This project will produce information and analysis which can be presented directly to food safety regulators and industry decision makers about the relative impact of lymph node contamination. Of longer lasting value will be the quantitative model resulting from this project. Using currently available data it will model impacts of changing pathogen prevalence along the farm to wholesale pork continuum. It will be available for future analysis on other pathogens or other intervention questions.
Integrated risk-based analysis of Salmonella in the pork production chain - DKUS (Food Safety Consortium
Objective: This research will specifically address the question of how changes at various points in the pork and poultry production process affect the predicted number of human salmonellosis cases attributable to pork and poultry and the costs of alternative control interventions. These resulting change estimates (quantitative mitigation elasticity) and relative costs will provide meat industry management and food safety policy makers a tool to evaluate and determine priority areas for intervention that are indeed "risk-based" and cost effective.
Risk-Based Analysis of the Danish Pork Salmonella Program: Past and Future
Correlation Between Pig Health and Human Risk: Assessment of Measurement Tools
Objective: Relationship between health and contamination. (data collection began in May 2007)
Moisture enhanced pork - Development of a quantitative risk assessment
Objective: Evaluate the potential microbiological concerns with moisture enhanced pork.
RA&DM Graduate Certificate Program
Objectives: Develop certificate and graduate programs in risk assessment.
Additional information: http://www.bigmap.iastate.edu/radm/
