# Environmental Health Specialist Network (EHS-Net) - Practice Based Research to Improve Food Safety

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · TENNESSEE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH · 2021 · $192,587

## Abstract

Abstract Tennessee EHS-Net Application 2020
Foodborne pathogens cause substantial burden of illness. The Tennessee Department of Health
(TDH) considers involvement in EHS-Net vital to promoting safe practices, educating
environmentalists and epidemiologists in outbreak investigation, preventing illness, adding to the
body of generalizable knowledge about food safety and environmental contamination, and
demonstrating to health officials, industry, and the general public the value of food safety
measures. This application will demonstrate our EHS-Net objectives, our history of EHS-Net
accomplishments, and our future EHS-Net plans.
We will continue the interagency approach in the Tennessee EHS-Net Food Program by
supporting two full-time environmentalists (one designated as Co-PI), in two of the state’s most
populated regions that contain comprehensive food safety programs. They are strategically
positioned so the entire state has coverage for outbreak response, training, and conducting
single and multi-site EHS-Net studies. These environmentalist and the EHS-Net PI will actively
contribute to all aspects of the five Tennessee food safety projects listed below and will
participate in steering committee and working group calls.
Projects will include the following:
1. Operate EHS-Net in Tennessee as a Collaborative Consortium Member
2. Evaluate, Promote, and Implement the National Environmental Assessment Reporting
 System (NEARS)
3. Farmers’ Market Raw Dairy and Safe Food Practices Assessment
4. Development of a dashboard and routine user updates to increase complaint system
 uptake by regional and local health departments
5. Raw Animal Product Handling and Availability on Food Service Menus, Tennessee-
 Specific Study
Continued participation in multi-state EHS-Net studies will also remain a high priority.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10259644
- **Project number:** 5U01EH001366-02
- **Recipient organization:** TENNESSEE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** JOHN ROBERT DUNN
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $192,587
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2025-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10259644

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10259644, Environmental Health Specialist Network (EHS-Net) - Practice Based Research to Improve Food Safety (5U01EH001366-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10259644. Licensed CC0.

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