FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Feb. 4, 2013 - Dr.
Lance Price, an Associate Professor at the Translational
Genomic Research Institute (TGen), has been appointed to the
National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for
Foods (NACMCF).
Dr. Price also is Professor of Environmental and
Occupational Health at the School of Public Health and Health
Services (SPHHS) at George Washington (GW)
University.
As a member of the NACMCF, Dr. Price will counsel
President Obama's Cabinet - the Secretaries of Agriculture and of
Health and Human Services - on food-safety issues.
Specifically, the 30-member panel assesses the microorganisms
that indicate whether foods have been properly
processed.
"This appointment is a tremendous opportunity for the work
that we've been conducting at TGen and GW to be translated into a
safer food supply for the American public," Dr. Price
said.
Dr. Price is Director of the Center for Food Microbiology
and Environmental Health at TGen's Pathogen Genomics
Division, also known as TGen North, in Flagstaff, Ariz.
There, Dr. Price and his team are helping pioneer a technique
called "genomic epidemiology" to study new and emerging
foodborne pathogens.
Dr. Price's group uses the genetic code of foodborne
bacteria and human bacterial infections to measure how often these
bacteria make us sick. His team is currently studying a
special kind of E. coli found on poultry products
that may be causing antibiotic-resistant urinary tract
infections, particularly in women.
Dr. Paul Keim, Director of TGen North and the Cowden
Endowed Chair of Microbiology at Northern Arizona University
(NAU), praised the selection of Dr. Price.
"Lance is one of the leading scientists in his field. This
appointment is not only an honor for him, but also will add
to the quality of information and knowledge available to the
NACMCF, and thereby brace the government's ability to help
protect public health," said Dr. Keim, a world-renowned
expert in anthrax and other infectious diseases who also is
Director of NAU's Microbial Genetics & Genomics Center, a
program that works with numerous government agencies to help
thwart bioterrorism and the spread of pathogen-caused
diseases.
The NACMCF is chartered by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS).
NACMCF
members are scientists from academia, industry, other
organizations, and federal and state government, as well as
one individual affiliated with a consumer group. They are
appointed by the USDA Secretary in consultation with the
Secretary of HHS, and with advice from the Department of
Commerce's National Marine Fisheries Service, the Department
of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency, and the Department of
Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Dr. Price is joined on the NACMCF with SPHHS doctoral
student Susan Grooters, who also is a research and policy associate
for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
NACMCF was established in 1988 to formulate positions on the
development of microbiological criteria, the review and
evaluation of epidemiological and risk assessment data, and
methodologies for assessing microbiological hazards in foods.
The committee's work assists the CDC and the Departments of
Commerce and Defense. The committee is the outcome of a 1985
report of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Food
Protection, Subcommittee on Microbiological Criteria.
About TGen
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. Research at
TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as cancer,
neurological disorders and diabetes. TGen is on the cutting edge of
translational research where investigators are able to unravel the
genetic components of common and complex diseases. Working with
collaborators in the scientific and medical communities, TGen
believes it can make a substantial contribution to the efficiency
and effectiveness of the translational process. For more
information, visit: www.tgen.org.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
+1.602-343-8704
syozwiak@tgen.org
About the George Washington University School of Public
Health and Health Services
Established in July 1997, the School of Public Health and Health
Services brought together three longstanding university programs in
the schools of medicine, business, and education and is now the
only school of public health in the nation's capital. Today, more
than 1,100 students from nearly every U.S. state and more than 40
nations pursue undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level degrees
in public health. http://sphhs.gwu.edu/
Press Contact:
Kathy Fackelmann
SPHHS Director of Media Relations
202-994-8354
kfackelmann@gwu.edu