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Media Contact: Kelly Flynn (202) 445-3465
USDA
Announces $6 Million in Available Funding for Antimicrobial Resistance
Research
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2016 - The U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) today announced the availability of $6 million to
fund research to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This funding is
available through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, and administered
by USDA’s National Institute of Food and
Agriculture (NIFA).
“Through our Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan, USDA is leading the way
to better understand how antibiotic resistance develops find alternatives to
antibiotics, and educate people practices that reduce the need for
antibiotics,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The research projects
funded through this announcement will help us succeed in our efforts to
preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics and protect public health.”
This funding announcement is one of many ways that USDA supports the
Combating Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria (CARB) National Action Plan and
work of the Task Force for Combating Antibiotic Resistance, which USDA
co-chairs. Specifically, this program priority promotes the development of
sustainable and integrated food safety strategies that reduce public health
risks along the entire food chain, from producer to consumer.
Applications must address one or more of the following:
- Develop novel systems
approaches to investigate the ecology of microbial resistance microbes
and gene reservoirs in the environment in animals, in crops, in food
products, or in farm-raised aquaculture products.
- Develop, evaluate, and
implement effective and sustainable resources and strategies, to include
alternative practices, techniques, technologies or tools that mitigate
emergence, spread or persistence of antimicrobial resistant pathogens
within the agricultural ecosystem, in animals, in crops, and in food.
- Identify critical
control points for mitigating antimicrobial resistance in the pre- and
post-harvest food production environment.
- Design innovative
training, education, and outreach resources (including web-based
resources) that can be adapted by users across the food chain, including
policy makers, producers, processors, retailers and consumers.
- Design and conduct
studies that evaluate the impact and efficacy of proposed research,
education and extension/outreach interventions on antimicrobial
resistance across the food chain, from primary producers to primary
consumers.
Since 2009, more than $82 million in food safety research and
extension grants has been awarded through AFRI, including $3.4
million in fiscal year 2015 for antimicrobial resistance. Previously
funded projects include a State
University of New York project evaluating critical control points in
dairy farm operations and a Texas
A&M University project to develop science-based decision aids related
to antibiotic stewardship.
Applications are due August 3, 2016. See the request
for applications for more information.
Science funded by AFRI is vital to meeting food, fiber, and fuel demands of a
growing global population. AFRI programs help develop new technologies and a
workforce that will advance America’s national security, energy
self-sufficiency, and public health. The President’s 2017 budget
requests to fully fund AFRI for $700 million; this amount is the
full funding level authorized by Congress when it established AFRI in the
2008 Farm Bill.
Over the past seven years, USDA has collaborated extensively with other
federal partners to safeguard America's food supply, prevent foodborne
illnesses and improve consumers' knowledge about the food they eat. USDA’s
Food Safety and Inspection Service is working to
strengthen federal food safety efforts and develop strategies that
emphasize a three-dimensional approach to prevent foodborne illness:
prioritizing prevention; strengthening surveillance and enforcement; and
improving response and recovery.
At the same time, NIFA has invested in and advanced innovative and
transformative initiatives to solve societal challenges and ensure the
long-term viability of agriculture. NIFA’s integrated research, education,
and extension programs, supporting the best and brightest scientists and
extension personnel, have resulted in user-inspired, groundbreaking
discoveries that are combating childhood obesity, improving and sustaining
rural economic growth, addressing water availability issues, increasing food
production, finding new sources of energy, mitigating climate variability,
and ensuring food safety. To learn more about NIFA’s impact on
agricultural science, visit www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts,
sign up for email updates,
or follow us on Twitter @usda_NIFA,
#NIFAimpacts.
#
USDA is an equal opportunity
provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA,
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC
20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339
(TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay).
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