In the past decade, considerable advances in technology have changed the landscape for most food safety programs. Technologies such as whole genome sequencing, increases in the sensitivity of lab analytical instrumentation, and advances in computing power and database technologies allow us to detect and manage issues that were previously undetectable. These developments have changed our understanding of outbreaks—and the course of food safety—forever.

In this webinar, you will hear from leading technology and policy experts from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), food safety laboratories, and food processors, who will discuss these technological advances and how you can use them to benefit your food safety program. You will also hear what more than 250 of your fellow food safety professionals told Food Safety Magazine about their adoption of these new technologies and the impact they have had on their programs.

From this webinar, attendees will learn:

How whole genome sequencing has revolutionized outbreak investigations
Lessons learned from FDA's recent outbreak investigations, and the impacts of the GenomeTrakr and PulseNet databases
Why outbreaks are more numerous now, and why that is an indicator of improvements, not failures, of our food safety system
What these developments may mean from a policy standpoint, and where this may take us in the future

Speakers:

Karen Beers, Director of Laboratory Services, Pilgrim's. Karen Beers is the Director of Laboratory Services for Pilgrim's. She has been with Pilgrim's since 2015. Her responsibilities include overseeing the food safety laboratory system within Pilgrim's, as well as supporting other Pilgrim's business units. Before joining Pilgrim's, Karen served as the Research and Development Laboratory Director for Safe Foods Corporation from 2005–2015. Prior to Safe Foods, Karen worked at the Tyson Corporate laboratory as an Associate Microbiologist from 1998–2005. Karen obtained her B.S. degree in Animal Science from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, with studies that included a number of microbiology and laboratory courses.

Eric Brown, Ph.D., Director, Division of Microbiology, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Eric Brown has been with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) since 1999, and has served as Director of the Division of Microbiology in the Office of Regulatory Science since 2011. He oversees a group of 60 food safety microbiology researchers, students, and support scientists engaged in a multi-parameter research program to develop and apply microbiological and molecular genetic strategies for detecting, identifying, and differentiating bacterial foodborne pathogens from foods and the surrounding environment. His laboratory has been instrumental in adapting next-generation sequencing technologies to augment foodborne outbreak investigations, including the establishment of the GenomeTrakr whole genome sequencing network. Dr. Brown received his M.Sc. degree in Microbiology from the National Cancer Institute/Hood College joint program in the biomedical sciences and his Ph.D. in Microbial Genetics from The George Washington University.

Frank Yiannas, M.P.H., Food safety leader and executive, food system futurist, author, and professor. Frank Yiannas, M.P.H., is a food safety leader and food system futurist, author, professor, and former food safety executive at global brands. He also served as the Deputy Commissioner of Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2018 to February 2023. While at FDA, he was instrumental in creating the New Era for Smarter Food Safety blueprint and many other initiatives related to the implementation of FSMA. He has also held food safety leadership roles with Walmart and the Walt Disney Company. Additionally, he advanced global thinking on food safety culture with his pivotal 2008 book, Food Safety Culture: Creating a Behavior-Based Food Safety Management System. Mr. Yiannas has long been recognized for his role in elevating food safety standards and building food safety management systems based on science and risk.

Moderators:
Adrienne Blume, Editorial Director, Food Safety Magazine
Bob Ferguson, President, Strategic Consulting Inc.

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