Romano 2020 Project Summary The objective of this Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet‐LIRN) Capacity Building project is to support enhanced human and animal food safety by strengthening the capacity, collaboration, and integration of food‐safety laboratories and networks, thereby facilitating an effective and coordinated response to future human and animal food safety issues. The overall goal of the program is to complement, develop, improve and use university, state, and federal veterinary diagnostic laboratory testing capabilities. The goal of this specific application is to obtain funding for an ion chromatography system used to analyze biological, feed, water, and other samples for anions, including nitrate, nitrite, bromide, fluoride, chloride, and other anions. These analyses will be used to diagnose intoxications associated with feeds or drugs, and to analyze suspected source material. This will expand the laboratory’s capability ad capacity to perform food‐safety related testing for the FDA Vet‐LIRN program and investigate potential animal foodborne illness outbreaks.