FDA FERN Cooperative Agreement Continuation Program (U18)

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Commonwealth of Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services FDA FERN Cooperative Agreement Program RFA-FD-15-019 Project Abstract The Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (DCLS) serves the Commonwealth of Virginia as the State Laboratory providing analytical testing in support of foodborne disease surveillance outbreak response and large-scale food emergency testing in coordination with State analytical requirements. DCLS will continue to use both State and FERN FDA Cooperative Agreement funding to strengthen and improve capability and capacity to rapidly and accurately identify microbiological and chemical contaminants in food. Over the past five years, FDA FERN funding has enabled DCLS to participate in all offered surveillance assignments, proficiency tests, method evaluation studies, and to exercise the use of federal standardized analytical worksheets and electronic result reporting in collaboration with FERN. Continued support for personnel, equipment and reagents is necessary for DCLS to continue full participation and support of these initiatives and to continue to strengthen Virginia’s food testing program. This proposal identifies critical resources necessary for DCLS to maintain and strengthen current capabilities and capacities to rapidly and accurately respond to issues of food safety and food defense. Scientific personnel supported through FDA FERN Cooperative Agreement funding have invested hundreds of hours in training, competency assessments and establishing proficiencies in FDA and FERN standardized methods and instrumentation. Additionally, instrumentation has been maintained and supplies stocked in order to assure a ready state of preparedness. With 2015-2016 funding, DCLS proposes to continue to support the salaries of three FERN FDA Microbiologists and three Chemists dedicated to FERN laboratory testing initiatives and to support emergency outbreak and surge testing needs. DCLS agrees to actively participate in all offered surveillance assignments, proficiency testing exercises and special projects as offered by the FERN NPO. DCLS will continue to collaborate with FDA subject matter experts to evaluate novel analytical methodologies to support and expand existing FERN methods in order to improve sensitivity and specificity of pathogen and chemical detection. In the event of a food emergency, DCLS commits to assisting the FERN Network by performing selected microbiological and chemical analyses of domestic and imported food samples collected and supplied by the FDA or as directed trough FERN. DCLS will provide all data for potential regulatory action to FERN NPO as instructed using FDA standardized worksheets and reporting methods.