PROJECT SUMMARY- SAMPLE COLLECTION SPECIAL PROJECT FDA LFFM: Discipline-Special Projects; Sample Collection at CT AES Project Summary- This proposal is being submitted in response to RFA-PAR-20-105 Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (LFFM)(U19). The Project detailed in our Research Strategy also describes in our plan to meet this Project Specific Aim. Sample Collection will occur in support of our Human Food and our Animal Food Analytical Track Projects within the Chemistry Discipline. Sample collection will occur through the two relevant regulatory agencies for Human Food and Animal Feed in the State of Connecticut; The CT Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) for human food and the CT Department of Agriculture (DoAg) for animal food. Funds awarded under this project will be transferred directly to those agencies to support sample collection. Current sample contracts with those two agencies expire on August 31, 2020 and include the collection of 120-125 samples per agency. Sample collection numbers will be expanded to 510 and 500 under both the Human Food Testing and the Animal Food Testing Analytical Tracks, respectively, and hence, the need for this Collection Project and its associated funding. The CT AES has demonstrated the expertise, capability, and adaptability to fully meet the objectives of this RFA through our successful participation in a number of FDA CAPs, including one specifically targeting animal food product testing. Receipt of this new award from FDA will significantly enhance the ability of the CT AES specifically, and CT in general, to meet the program goals laid out in the RFA, and as described by the President’s Food Safety Working Group, the Partnership for Food Protection and the Food Safety Modernization Act. 1