UNC researchers receive grant to protect NC food supply, advance homeland security
| August 11, 2009 | |
How long does it take for authorities to recognize an outbreak of foodborne disease, determine what caused the illness, recall the affected foods and examine the geographic distribution of contaminated products? The time could be much shorter, thanks to a new project being developed through an award from the Institute for Homeland Security Solutions (IHSS).
Dr. Pia MacDonald
The award will fund a UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health faculty member’s efforts to develop new informatics tools to address existing gaps in the North Carolina food safety systems. Pia D.M. MacDonald, PhD, MPH, a research assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology, shares the award with fellow researcher Noel P. Greis, PhD, MSE, MA, research associate and adjunct professor at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. The award was one of six the Institute announced recently in Research Triangle Park, N.C. The project, NCFOODSAFE, will analyze existing processes and systems used to manage outbreaks of food-borne disease and develop new targeted informatics tools to improve detection, investigation and management of food-borne outbreaks in North Carolina. “A safe and secure food supply is critical to national security,” said MacDonald, who also is director of the N.C. Center for Public Health Preparedness, at the N.C. Institute for Public Health, part of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. “The recent string of food recalls and food-borne illnesses have created a sense of urgency in addressing gaps in the food safety system and made safe food a high priority in the U.S. Congress. Early detection and rapid response are crucial to minimize the impact of a contamination event, whether unintentional or the result of a terrorist act.” The response to food-borne outbreaks is slowed by latencies — or delays — in discovering an outbreak, in identifying the food that caused the outbreak and in tracing the food products that need to be recalled. “NCFOODSAFE: New Informatics Tools for Latency Reduction” will use informatics technology to develop tools to reduce these delays by recognizing patterns that could signal a possible outbreak, identifying potentially contaminated foods, incorporating information from business databases, tracking the location of affected food products and helping to improve communication among the many government agencies responsible for regulating and overseeing the state’s food safety system. Less latency time results in a quicker public health response, less illness and, ultimately, a safer food supply, MacDonald said. # # #
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
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