The 12th Annual Center for Produce Safety Research Symposium starts and June 15, and programming will continue until mid-July.
Registration is available online
Here is the agenda, according to CPS:
- June 15: A Forum on Cyclospora cayetanensis:
What we know, what we don’t know and identifying challenges that lie ahead. This forum will provide an update on the science and current thinking on Cyclospora and offer practical information on mitigation strategies for growers. It brings together a wide variety of
stakeholders, including growers, academics, government agencies, trade associations, and others interested in learning more about this important parasite and in seeking practical solutions to prevent Cyclospora contamination and illnesses attributed to produce. This gathering provides a forum for a diverse audience of stakeholders to think together and discuss areas of concern about this important issue in the produce industry.
Moderator: Robert Gravani, Ph.D., Cornell University
- June 22: How to put CPS research to work in your real world
Session Moderator: Suresh De Costa, Lipman Family Farms
CPS’s research program exists to answer the fresh produce supply chain’s burning food safety questions. So how do you turn that concept into reality for your business? Your peers will share how they have applied CPS research to their businesses, or to inform industry guidance.
- June 29: CDC’s New Disease Prevention Technical Assistance Initiative
Panelist: Samuel J. Crowe, Ph.D., M.P.H., Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases
This session will cover CDC’s new initiative to work with the produce industry on ways to prevent foodborne illness. The initiative aims to provide greater access to CDC’s human illness data as well as technical advice or direct support on industry-led epidemiological and microbiological studies that are intended to improve our understanding of the causes of pathogen contamination and spread in food.
- July 6: Outbreaks: Past, Current, and Future with WGS Data
Panelist: Martin Weidmann, Ph.D., Cornell University
This session will use a “case study approach” to help attendees understand both the basics of whole genome sequencing as well as advanced approaches to interpreting publicly available WGS data and leverage these data to manage food safety risks and outbreak investigations.
- July 13: CPS STEC Colloquium - Critical Path for Long Term Solutions
Panelist: Trevor Suslow, Ph.D., University of California, Davis
This session will highlight an industry-oriented overview of the key hypotheses towards root cause solutions, the facts and science supporting inclusion or exclusion of each category, and the key questions revolving around WGS relationships of outbreak and environmental isolates.
