FSII Project: Phase 1: Exploring Opportunities to Improve the Nation’s Food Safety Information Infrastructure

The Food Safety Research Consortium (FSRC), a collaboration among seven research institutions to improve public health by developing the tools for a more science- and risk-based food safety system, working in collaboration on this project with the Public Health Informatics Institute.

For this project, “food safety information infrastructure” means all of the many public and private institutions, programs, and processes through which data and information are collected, made accessible, and actively shared to improve food safety, including the activities of federal and state regulatory and research agencies, the CDC, state health departments and laboratories, the food industry, academic institutions and researchers, and public health and consumer organizations. 

Elevate understanding across the food safety community of the current food
safety information infrastructure and its public health importance
Identify and analyze issues affecting how data are currently collected, made
accessible, and actively shared
Explore opportunities for collaboration among key institutions and stakeholders
to improve the information infrastructure.

Active dialogue and consultation across the food safety community, including interviews, surveys, workshops and public meetings, supported by research and analysis contributed by the project’s staff; this project is the first phase of a long-term effort to address the scientific, technical, legal, policy, business, and resource issues that affect how food safety data are collected, made accessible, and actively shared. 

The project is supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

FSII Project Description (as of Nov 2006)
This five page document provides an overview of the project. It describes the motivation behind the study and its long-term vision and goals. It outlines a suite of project activities and provides information about the researchers involved. More information may be found in the Papers and Publications section.

University of Maryland School of Medicine
The project is being managed by the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, MD. A member of the FSRC, the Department is dedicated to improving public health through research and education, with a distinct specialty investigating the causes, distribution, prevention, and control of disease. The Department is composed of over 80 faculty members and manages $25 million in direct funded research. The principal investigators of this project at the School are Michael Taylor, Jan Powell, and J. Glenn Morris, Jr.

Public Health Informatics Institute
The Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) is a close collaborator on this project. The mission of PHII is to advance public health practitioners’ ability to strategically manage and apply health information systems. The PHII approach to health information systems combines best practices in informatics with knowledge and experience in public health and health care. PHII's extensive experience working in the field with customers gives the organization an in-depth understanding of the economic, organizational, and political realities facing public health and health care practitioners. Key researchers on this project at PHII include David Ross, Alan Hinman, Mark Rosenberg, Anita Renahan-White and Terry Marie Hastings.

University of Georgia
The Center for Food Safety (CFS) at the University of Georgia is collaborating on the project. CFS is a leading food safety research institution whose objective is to conduct research that provides information useful in solving problems in the food industry and to provide the consumer with high-quality foods having minimal risk to human health. CFS has a large team of food scientists and technologists with extensive experience investigating the relationship between food quality and safety. CFS is a member of the FSRC and has been centrally involved in previous FSRC projects. Dr. Michael Doyle, Director of CFS, will be the lead researcher from the University of Georgia

University of Massachusetts at Amherst
The Food Marketing Policy Center (FMPC) at the University of Massachusetts is collaborating on the project. The FMPC's food safety research program focuses on understanding the operation of domestic and international food systems, with particular interest in the economics of food quality (especially safety and nutrition), international trade, and food labeling. Current research projects focus on the economic evaluation of risk management options for improving food safety; the economics of traceability and certification for food quality attributes such as safety and the use of biotechnology; the effectiveness of labeling in influencing consumer behavior; and the impact of higher safety standards in developed countries on trade between them and on exports from and food safety within developing countries. Dr. Julie Caswell is the lead researcher from UMass.

Resources for the Future
Resources for the Future (RFF), a non-profit non-partisan policy research institution based in Washington, DC, is collaborating on the project. RFF's mission is to improve environmental and natural resource policymaking worldwide through objective social science research. RFF is a member of the FSRC and has been centrally involved in previous FSRC projects.
 

This is a project of the Food Safety Research Consortium, with funding support from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
[This page was last edited on November 08, 2006]