Research

Control of infectious diseases

• Antimicrobial stewardship in animals 
• Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)

Improving food safety and optimizing food production systems

• Food safety
• Decision support tools for the food industry

Modeling and Artificial Intelligence applications in One Health, food and veterinary systems

• Simulation modeling
• Machine learning
• Data privacy, standardization and governance
• Benchmark datasets

An agent-based model of COVID- 19 in the food industry for assessing public health and economic impacts of infection control strategies

How can food production facilities protect workers during an outbreak while maintaining operations? We developed FInd CoV Control, a customizable agent-based model that predicts disease spread and compares the health and economic impacts of different interventions. Our results revealed important tradeoffs among strategies and highlighted physical distancing and biosafety measures as particularly cost-effective approaches. The work demonstrates how integrated disease-economic models can support faster, evidence-based decisions during future public health emergencies.

Press: Modeling tool protects worker health and food chain security 

Perceptions of voluntary horizontal confidential food safety data sharing: an exploratory interview study with food industry leadership

We interviewed food industry leaders across dairy, meat, produce, manufacturing, and food safety labs to find out what’s holding data sharing back. We expected the answer to be technical, but it wasn’t. It was trust. Companies see big value in sharing food safety data — spotting hazards earlier, preventing recalls, running operations more efficiently. But they worry about what happens once that data leaves the building: data being taken out of context, legal risks, or competitive concerns. One participant captured the concern: “Once I give that data away, unless I’m absolutely confident that it’s protected, it can be used as a weapon against me.” This exposes a paradox: risks fall on individual companies, but benefits spread across the whole industry. Study participants suggested a way forward: universities and other trusted third parties can help build the data governance and privacy tools that make safe data sharing possible.

Press: Study finds trust is the missing ingredient for AI-driven food safety

Responsible antibiotic use labeling and consumers’ willingness to buy and pay for fluid milk

A new milk label was proposed, indicating the responsible (minimized) use – not complete elimination – of antibiotics on conventional dairy farms. We conducted a survey and an experimental auction with real money and real milk to investigate consumers’ preference for a hypothetical responsible antibiotic use labeled milk. Findings indicate that half of the surveyed consumers would be willing to buy the labeled milk, however, auction participants were not willing to pay a significant premium for it compared to the unlabeled (conventional) milk.

Press: Limiting antibiotics for cows may create a new dairy market

In Silico Models for Design and Optimization of Science-Based Listeria Environmental Monitoring Programs in Fresh-Cut Produce Facilities

Two agent-based models of two fresh-cut produce facilities reported here demonstrate a novel way to evaluate how different sampling schemes can be rapidly evaluated across multiple time points as a way to understand how sampling can be optimized in an effort to locate the presence of Listeria in a food facility.

Press: Sim City for food science takes on Listeria outbreaks

EnABLe: An agent-based model to understand Listeria dynamics in food processing facilities

We developed EnABLe, a detailed and customizable agent-based simulation of a built environment and used it to trace Listeria spp. on equipment and environment surfaces in a cold-smoked salmon facility. Simulations revealed different contamination dynamics and risks among equipment surfaces in terms of the presence, level, and persistence of Listeria spp. 

Press: Computer program aids food safety experts with pathogen testing