# Admin

> **NIH FDA U19** · TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE RESEARCH · 2020 · $31,557

## Abstract

Abstract Administrative Core 
Texas Food Defense and Animal Food Product Testing for Microbiological, Chemical and 
Radiological Hazards, Genome Sequencing and Special Projects. 
The Office of the Texas State Chemist (OTSC) is the government entity within Texas that 
regulates animal feed. OTSC is administratively housed within Texas A&M AgriLife Research. 
OTSC is comprised of a regulatory agency named in statue the “Texas Feed and Fertilizer 
Control Service” hereafter referred to as FFCS and is responsible for administering the Texas 
Commercial Feed Control Act (Chapter 141 of the Texas Agriculture Code), the Texas 
Commercial Fertilizer Control Act (Chapter 63 of the Texas Agriculture Code), and the Texas 
Administrative Codes Title 4 Agriculture chapters 61 titled Commercial Feed Rules, chapter 65 
titled Commercial Fertilizer Rules and chapter 63 titled Pet Food Rules. OTSC is led by the State 
Chemist and Director of OTSC. The state chemist directs FFCS and the Agricultural Analytical 
Services (AAS) which is the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited lab authorized to analyze 
regulatory samples for OTSC. FFCS is comprised of 14 field investigators (13 possess FDA 
credentials) and all are trained in how to collect official samples for microbiological and 
chemical contaminants following FDA procedures and follow chain-of-custody protocol to 
ensure sample integrity through sampling, labeling, shipment, receipt, preparation, analysis and 
reporting. The 13 AAS chemists and 3 PhD scientists are qualified to perform analyses described 
in the microbiology, chemistry and radiochemistry food defense and surveillance projects. OTSC 
will develop whole genome sequencing capability (capability expansion) while participating in 
the WGS project using the Texas A&M AgriLife Genomics and Bioinformatics Service in year 
one. The OTSC laboratory is located in College Station, TX and is equipped with the electrical 
capacity, water purity, and air handling system to perform all analyses and support new 
instrumentation contained in this proposal. The project management plan includes monthly 
meetings by discipline (microbiology, chemistry, radiochemistry) with minutes and action items 
reported in a document control system. AAS will expand its ISO/IEC 17025:2017 scope to 
include new capabilities added through the Lab Flexible Funding Model. The annual 
management review and monthly budget reviews will also assist the project director to track 
project performance against deliverables using the document control system.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10160662
- **Project number:** 1U19FD007097-01
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE RESEARCH
- **Principal Investigator:** TIMOTHY JOHN HERRMAN
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** FDA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $31,557
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10160662

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10160662, Admin (1U19FD007097-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10160662. Licensed CC0.

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