ZOETIS Inc., formerly the animal health business unit of Pfizer, announced a gift of $100,000 for salmonella research to Texas Tech University's College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources.
The funds will help provide the department of animal and food sciences with resources to better understand and describe the ecology of salmonella in cattle populations and to discover and evaluate tools that might ultimately result in a safer food supply.
Establishing partnerships with top research institutions such as Texas Tech is essential to managing foodborne pathogens like salmonella during the preharvest stage, Rob Kelly, vice president of the Zoetis U.S. Cattle & Equine Business Unit, said.
"Salmonella continues to threaten human health. With new understandings of how it interacts with livestock populations, we can develop better tools that can lead to meaningful improvements in food safety," said Guy Loneragan, epidemiologist and professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech. "This sort of industry collaboration is vital to the discovery and development of tools to keep food safe, and the research gift from Zoetis will greatly support and enhance our activities to discover and deliver these solutions."
Michelle Haven, Zoetis senior vice president, corporate development, alliances and solutions, said research focused on the cattle industry at large will not only help provide important solutions in salmonella research but also offer opportunities for education and training for graduate students at Texas Tech.
"Texas Tech University has a talented and enthusiastic research team, including microbiologists, molecular biologists, epidemiologists, meat scientists, animal scientists and those focusing on education," she said.
Volume:85 Issue:22