Tag Archives: National Institute of Food and Agriculture

FACULTY, FEATURED, GRANTS, NEWS

TSU Professor Lands Half Million-Dollar Award as Part of USDA Food Safety Grants

Research to focus on preventing foodborne illnesses in consumers

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – A professor with the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences at Tennessee State University has received a $500,000 USDA grant to research new ways of preventing foodborne illness and increase the safety of the food production industry.

Dr. Ankit Patras
Dr. Ankit Patras

Dr. Ankit Patras, assistant professor of Agriculture Science received the grant as part of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s $19 million funding awards, including more than $6.7 million for antimicrobial resistance studies to 36 universities across the country including Tennessee State, through the Agriculture and Food Research Food Safety Challenge.

The AFRI Food Safety Challenge is an annual round of federal funding that, according to the USDA, “promotes and enhances the scientific discipline of food safety, with an overall aim of protecting consumers from microbial and chemical contaminants that may occur during all stages of the food chain, from production to consumption.”

Patras’ project, titled “Steering Innovation for Treatment of Liquid Foods to Eliminate Pathogenic Microbes and Toxins Using Low Wave-length UV Irradiation,” will aim to improve the consistency and effectiveness of UV treatments of liquid foods like juice and milk. If successful, the new and improved techniques developed by this research will extend to the food industry and allow for the less expensive, more energy efficient UV treatments to replace traditional heat treatments like pasteurization. This project is supported in part by the Aquafine Corporation, Valencia, California.

“This project will enhance the understanding of irradiation processes and accurate UV dose delivery in different liquid foods,” Patras said. “This will effectively minimize the risk of infections stemming from food contaminations.” Additionally, Patras noted that the project will “foster long-term cooperation, knowledge exchange among students, and integration between academia and industry.”

Dr. Chandra Reddy, dean of the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences, recognized the opportunity for TSU the grant and the technologies will create.

“It feels great to receive this prestigious award from NIFA/USDA,” Patras said. “This will expand and strengthen our Food Bioscience and Technology program at TSU, allowing us to develop cutting-edge optical technologies and offer customized solutions to many of today’s disinfection problems in the food industry.”

 

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University

With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 42 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

FEATURED, NEWS

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES NEW LAND-GRANT UNIVERSITY SYSTEM-WIDE ONLINE RESOURCE

Website Provides Access to Research and Extension Impact Statements Across State and University Lines 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Last week, Tennessee State University announced the official launch of and participation in the National Land-grant Impacts website a centralized online resource highlighting the teaching, research, and extension efforts by Land-grant universities.

Specifically, the website provides access to university or regional-specific impact stories, which document the research and Extension programming planned, performed and implemented by Tennessee State University and other Land-grant universities. The website is a cooperative effort of the Land-grant universities, represents a single voice for the Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension arms of the Land-grant universities.

“The Land-Grant Impacts website is a new tool that will better inform the American people and the international community of the significant agricultural research, education and extension impacts taking place at land grant universities across our nation, which offer practical solutions to today’s critical societal challenges,” said Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. “The website will help policy makers and the public learn more about this work that is partially supported with NIFA funding.”

Impact statements relay the results and impact of research and Extension education programming. Information lists include contact information for university research and Extension project leads and updates on funding, project implementation, or Extension education impact.

Impact statements are categorized according to six focus areas: Food Security; Nutrition and Health; Youth, Family, and Communities; Environmental Stewardship; Agricultural Systems; and Energy and Bioproducts.

“Tennessee State University has been making a very deliberate attempt to integrate research and extension programs with academics to develop a talented and capable future workforce—particularly among African Americans,” said Dr. Chandra Reddy, dean and director of Research and Administrator of Extension for the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences. “We have had success in recent years and continue to build our capacity, in both the human and infrastructural aspects, to become a major source of agricultural knowledge. This website will be a tremendous help in continuing that goal.”

The website also informs users about the history of the Land-grant university system and how its mission has evolved since the systems’ founding. Tennessee State University, like all Land-grant universities, is committed to a three-fold mission of teaching, research and Extension. The website fully demonstrates why teaching, research, and Extension are interrelated and how they better Tennessee State University students, improve communities in Tennessee, and benefit the nation.

Tennessee State University is one of the 238 public research universities, Land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations represented by The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. The Land-grant university system has affiliations in all 50 states, the four U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, Mexico, and Canada.

Tennessee State University was founded in 1912 as a result of the Second Morrill Act, which granted each state funding to charter a university with the purpose to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies to help members of the working class obtain a liberal, practical education.

 

 

 

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 42 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

EVENTS, NEWS

TSU College of Ag to Conduct Good Agricultural Practices Workshop Nov. 7-8

The GAP workshop on Nov. 7-8 will teach growers the guidelines stipulated by the USDA and FDA in order to comply with the Food Safety Management Act.
The GAP workshop on Nov. 7-8 will teach growers the guidelines stipulated by the USDA and FDA in order to comply with the Food Safety Management Act.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Sustainable Food Safety and Security starts with the producers. As such, growers play a vital role in the supply chain of safe, fresh produce production, harvesting, cleaning, handling, packaging and delivery. To address this important step in the process, the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences will conduct a Good Agricultural Practices Workshop on Nov. 7 and 8 in the Farrell-Westbrook Complex on the main campus. The workshop will start at 8:45 a.m. on Nov. 7, and at 8 a.m. on Nov. 8.

Experts from TSU, the University of California, Davis; The University of Illinois; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct the workshop.

According to organizers from CAHNS, growers attending this workshop will learn to follow the “stringent and specific guidelines” of the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration in complying with the conditions of the Food Safety Modernization Act to minimize the risk of serious health consequences or death. Technical training will be provided to empower participants to meet the consumer demand for safe produce and ensure competitiveness in the fresh produce industry.

This project is funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

For more information, contact Dr. Agnes Kilonzo-Nthenge at (615) 963 5437 or akilonzontheng@tnstate.edu.

 

 

 

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

 

 

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

 

FACULTY, NEWS

College of Ag Executive Council Receives Prestigious USDA Partnership Award

Members of the College of Agriculture Executive Council are Front row (from left): Dr. Jan Emerson, Dr. Gearldean Johnson, Ms. Rhonda Moore Back row (from left): Dr. Surendra Singh, Dr. Muhammad Karim, Dr. Carter Catlin, Dr. Chandra Reddy, Mr. William Hayslett, Dr. Latif Lighari Members of the CAHNS EC not pictured: Mr. Sam Comer, Dr. Nick Gawel, Dr. Terrance Johnson, Dr. Roger Sauve. (courtesy photo)
Members of the College of Agriculture Executive Council are Front row (from left): Dr. Jan Emerson, Dr. Gearldean Johnson, Ms. Rhonda Moore
Back row (from left): Dr. Surendra Singh, Dr. Mohammad Karim, Dr. Carter Catlin, Dr. Chandra Reddy, Mr. William Hayslett, Dr. Latif Lighari
Members of the CAHNS EC not pictured: Mr. Sam Comer, Dr. Nick Gawel, Dr. Terrance Johnson, Dr. Roger Sauve. (courtesy photo)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences has received the prestigious National Institute of Food and Agriculture Partnership Award for Effective and Efficient Use of Resources.

The award, directed at the CAHNS Executive Council, recognized the group for its “exemplary work and outstanding contribution” in support of the mission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and for its positive impact on agriculture.

“NIFA recognizes that there are many outstanding contributions that our partners in the land-grant universities and other cooperating institutions and organizations achieve,” said Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, director of NIFA. “[We] want to recognize them through this awards program.”

The award will be presented in Washington, D.C., Nov. 10 at the annual meeting of the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities.

“We are quite ecstatic about this recognition as it validates our restructuring effort and recognizes our growth and leadership success,” said Dr. Chandra Reddy, dean of CAHNS,” under whose leadership the Executive Council worked to identify and execute strategies to boost enrollment and graduation rates, enhance outreach activities and improve research efforts.

The Council, which comprises associate deans, department heads, and research center directors, among others, was established in 2008 by Dr. Reddy to serve as a policy-making and program-coordinating arm of the college.

Under the Council’ guidance, the College has doubled its student enrollment in agricultural and family and consumer sciences, tripled its research portfolio in five years, and expanded its outreach efforts to 46 counties from 12 counties in 2008, while graduate enrollment in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has grown to more than 100 students from 11 students in the same year.

NIFA, one of the four research, education and economics agencies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, also recognized the CAHNS Executive Council’s help in governing and integrating the academics, research and outreach of the College, as well as helping the College secure funds to improve its physical facilities, including a 25,000-square-foot agricultural biotechnology building, a new open-roof greenhouse range, a state-of-the-art landscape studio, and a 4,800-square-foot. agriculture teaching/research facility.

“The NIFA partnership award provides positive feedback for the hard work of the Executive Committee,” added Dr. Reddy, who was recently recognized as one of the top professors at Historically Black Colleges, by Affordable Colleges Online.

 

 

 

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

 

About Tennessee State University
With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.