Excellent institutional and Office of Field Operations (OFO) experience made me a valuable asset to OPHS, achieving exceptional service to customers, both internal and external.
| Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Food Distribution (trace-forward & trace-back) Regulatory Authority & Enforcement Actions Recalls Field Staffing Logistics (patrols, shifts, etc.) Sample Collection Methods |
Food Safety Systems (HACCP, Sanitation, & Perquisite)
Processing Equipment Common Interventions used by Federal Establishments Microbiological Sample Collection Procedures |
Working knowledge of the Public Health Information System (PHIS) and in-plant personnel (IPP) terminology.
| Useful for:
Reviewing establishment profile & sample collection data Monitoring issues affecting sample collection and/or results |
Working directly with OFO to increase accurate sampling and scheduling
Revising & Generating PHIS questionnaires |
Expert knowledge of food safety principles, policies, procedures, and public health significance of pathogenic microorganisms elevated me to serve as lead, co-lead, and SME on FSIS food microbiology workgroups:
Raw Pork Products Exploratory Sampling Project (RPPESP)
Lead, 2015 – 2016 — SME, 2017 -2018
Beef-Veal Carcass Survey (BVCB)
Lead, 2015 – 2016 — SME, 2017 -2018
Other Raw Chicken Parts Exploratory Sampling – Lead
Salmonella, Campylobacter Coordination Group – OPHS co-Lead
Campylobacter Workgroup – OPHS co-Lead
Other Raw Ground Beef Components – SME
Duck Baseline Survey – SME
Salmonella Policy Measures of Success – SME
Low volume & Religiously Exempt Poultry Exploratory Sampling – SME
Raw, Breaded, Not-Ready-to-Eat (NRTE) Poultry Exploratory Sampling – SME
Exploratory Sampling of Imported Poultry – SME
Exploratory Sampling of Imported Pork – SME
Poultry Establishment Enforcement and Posting Strategies – SME
Salmonella and Campylobacter Prevalence Report – SME
New Poultry Inspection System – SME
Fish Sampling Workgroup – SME
Staphylococcal Enterotoxin Detection – Replacement Method – SME
PHIS Sampling Form Revision – SME
Routinely reviewed, analyzed, and interpreted complex analytical microbiological data used to develop food safety regulations, policies, reports, and peer reviewed publications, including:
Poultry Performance Standard Initiatives for Salmonella& Campylobacter
Analyzed historical sampling data to develop risk-weighted criteria for repetitive results of public health concern using:
Serological, Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis [PFGE] Patterns
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clusters Codes
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Patterns
Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) Data
Outbreak Investigations Sampling Plans & Results Interpretation Design
Addressed Inquiries from the Government Accountability Office
Responded to Federal Register Notice Comments
Reviewed Processing Deviations & Assessed Potential Public Health Risk
Participated in New Technology Review Teams and Salmonella Initiative Program (SIP) Waiver Reviews as an OPHS Representative
Conducted Waiver Reviews, Including Microbial Sampling Plans Applicable to New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) Regulatory Requirements
Reviewed laboratory methods for the State Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) Program to comply with FSIS standards for routine culture isolation and identification of food pathogens including:
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Methods
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) Methods
Serological Testing Methods
Served as OPHS Sci/S Representative on Recall Committee Deliberations and Outbreak Investigations; Offering Expertise on Microbiology and Recalls for Colleagues within OPHS and Other Program Areas.
Participated in Recall Workshops Geared Toward Improvement and Consistency and Outbreak follow-up with States and Federal Partners.
One of two OPHS Sci/S covering outbreaks and performing reviews of third-party sample results in order to determine reliability of those results per FSIS criteria.
