Summer/Fall 2010 PDF Version - University of Minnesota College of ...

RESEARCH
College is home to Homeland Security
Center of Excellence
Tucked away on the first floor of the
College of Veterinary Medicine’s
Veterinary Science building is a
Homeland Security Center of Excellence,
the National Center for Food Protection
and Defense (NCFPD).
Directed by Shaun Kennedy, assistant
professor in the Veterinary Population
Medicine Department and director of
partnerships and external relations for the
College, NCFPD was officially launched
as a Homeland Security Center of
Excellence in 2004. The multidisciplinary
coalition of researchers addresses the
vulnerability of the nation's food system to
attack through intentional contamination
with biological or chemical agents.
NCFPD has a staff of just over 10 and
a national network of hundreds. More
than 150 experts from higher education,
private-sector research, professional
organizations, state and federal
government agencies, and the food
industry are involved in NCFPD's research
and education programs. Academic
collaborators include the University of
Minnesota, Michigan State University,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, North
Dakota State University, Georgia Institute
of Technology, and investigators from
over 30 other universities and national
laboratories. Nearly all NCFPD research
and education projects involve students
and research trainees.
A Princeton
University
graduate,
Kennedy
is a former
international
corporate
executive
with Ecolab
and Proctor
& Gamble. In
2003, he joined
the College’s
Shaun Kennedy Center for
Animal Health
and Food Safety as associate director,
NCFPD director Shaun Kennedy teaches a Summer Public Health Institute class, “Food System Defense:
Vulnerabilities in the Food System and How to Close Them.”
immersing himself in global food safety
and protection issues. NCFPD’s director
emeritus and senior science advisor
is Francis F. Busta, a University of
Minnesota professor emeritus of food
microbiology.
NCFPD takes a comprehensive, farmto-table
view of the food system,
encompassing all aspects from primary
production through transportation and
food processing to retail and food service.
Its research and education program
is aimed at reducing the potential for
intentional contamination or disruption
at any point along the food supply chain
and mitigating the potentially catastrophic
public health and economic effects of
such attacks. The program incorporates
cutting-edge research across a wide range
of disciplines, including supply chain
management, logistics, epidemiology,
risk assessment, economics, molecular
biology, food microbiology, biomedical
engineering, toxicology, and risk
communication.
In delivering on its mission to defend the
safety and security of the food system
through research and education, NCFPD
places a high priority on addressing
potential threats to the food system that
could lead to catastrophic damage to
public health or the economy.
Research teams and capabilities
Forty-five research and education projects,
based on collaborative efforts across
multiple teams and organizations, are
currently underway in these areas:
• Behavior of biological and chemical
agents. Developing innovative
detection, decontamination, and
inactivation technologies based on the
fundamental behaviors of chemical or
biological threat agents in food.
• Modeling possible food contamination
event. Developing dynamic, real-world
models of food contamination events
and public health responses, with the
goal of identifying possible sources of
contamination, food distribution points,
and outbreak locations.
• Systems strategies. Establishing
innovative prevention, response, and
Profiles Summer Fall 2010 13