# Wadsworth Center's Chemical Testing for Food Defense and Capability Development (Discipline B: Chemistry, Analytical Track 1)

> **NIH FDA U19** · WADSWORTH CENTER · 2020 · $267,595

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY - Food Defense 
The Division of Environmental Health Sciences (DEHS) of the Wadsworth Center (WC) is the principal public 
health laboratory of New York State for the analysis of toxic chemicals in environmental samples and clinical 
specimens, and it is the primary response laboratory for chemical spills, nuclear accidents and terrorism-related 
incidents in the state. The DEHS of the WC has participated in the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) 
program at the national level since its inception and has developed substantial emergency capability for 
monitoring of chemical and radioactive contamination of food supplies under a FERN cooperative agreement 
program (CAP) with both Federal Agency USDA-FSIS and FDA. 
The DEHS of the WC is proposing to participate in the FDA funded 2020-2025 Laboratory Flexible Funding 
Model (LFFM) in Discipline B Chemistry - Track 1 - Food Defense to provide following analytical services: (1) 
participation in FDA-requested food surveillance activities and/or annual exercises such as FERN PTs to support 
and maintain readiness; (2) participation in national special security event (NSSE) including political conventions, 
large sporting events, and inaugural events; (3) maintain preparedness to respond rapidly to a suspected or 
confirmed intentional contamination event involving human or animal food, i.e., ensuring bench analysts maintain 
their training and competency, all instrumentation is in working order, and the necessary reagents and supplies 
are available; (4) participation in testing associated with suspected or credible threats to the food supply where 
a chemical agent is suspected, as requested by FDA; and (5) participation in FERN regional and FERN wide 
conference calls and activities. Scientists at the WC will also develop and improve analytical methods (i) to 
provide food defense testing and quality results to the federal agencies, and (ii) to enhance emergency capability 
and surge capacity and apply technical capabilities during a live activation event following FDA guidance. We 
also plan to extend our ISO-17025 accreditation to include our food chemistry methods.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10173139
- **Project number:** 1U19FD007089-01
- **Recipient organization:** WADSWORTH CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Patrick J. Parsons
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** FDA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $267,595
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10173139

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10173139, Wadsworth Center's Chemical Testing for Food Defense and Capability Development (Discipline B: Chemistry, Analytical Track 1) (1U19FD007089-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10173139. Licensed CC0.

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