The Value of Research Innovation
Global South Summit
November 14, 2012
Arlene Garrison, Vice President, University Partnerships
ORAU today
• Nonprofit government contractor
• Providing scientific, health and security expertise to help our customers:
– Advance research and education
– Protect health and the environment
– Strengthen national security
Hunger in the World
– 528 million in Asia and the Pacific
– 239 million in Sub-Saharan Africa
925 million suffer from severe hunger
Source: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
Food Safety & Security
• CDC estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48M) people gets sick from contaminated food, with 128,000 hospitalized, and 3,000 deaths
Source: Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 2010
Food Virology Collaborative
• Human noroviruses cause >21M cases of foodborne illness each year
• North Carolina State University
– Lead on human noroviruses research across the food supply chain
DHS Center of Excellence for Food Protection and Defense
• Vulnerability of the nation’s food system
• Farm-to-table view
• Research focus:
– Agent behavior
– Event modeling
– Systems strategies
– Risk communication
Pharmaceutical Innovation
• University of Kentucky, Center for Pharmaceutical Research and Innovation
• Drug discovery and development
• Therapeutics
• Pharmacoepidemiology
Biosurveillance
• University of Pittsburgh
– Foodborne outbreaks
• Michigan State University
– Surveillance of foodborne illness using social media
• University of Kentucky
– Digital content analysis lab for risk and crisis-related communications
Avian H5N1 Outbreaks Domestic Poultry Density
Epidemiology
• ORAU’s worker and public health studies
– Worker and public health screenings
– Occupational illness and injury surveillance
– Beryllium exposure studies and testing
– TVA Kingston Fossil Plant fly ash spill
Water Availability and Purity
• One-third of the population receives drinking water from public water systems
• Water Technology Innovation Cluster
– University of Cincinnati
• Security of water systems
– Johns Hopkins University
• Biological agents of water and foodborne bioterrorism
Serving a variety of organizations
11
Recommended
