Ri State Health Laboratories Will Enhance Capabilities to Identify Microbiological Contaminants in Food and Will Continue Active Participation in Fern-directed Emergency Preparedness and Response.

FDA FERN Microbiology Cooperative Agreement-Project SummaryThis proposal is for the continuation of the previous cooperative agreement with the RI StateHealth Laboratories. We have been the recipient of the MCAP funding for several cycles, andcontinually since 2009. Previous rounds of funding allowed us to build laboratory infrastructure,including traditional culture/biochemical capabilities, molecular detection and identificationinstrumentation, and trained personnel to greatly enhance our ability to perform rapidmicrobiological identification of pathogens implicated in food borne outbreaks. In thisapplication, we propose to build on these gains and further enhance our detection capabilities andto continue our participation in the FDA-directed food surveillance for pathogens in food,proficiency testing and method validation studies. We will also increase microbiology testingcapabilities and capacity to offer even greater support to the FDA to aid the agency's fooddefense and food security efforts. This will also enhance laboratory preparedness for respondingto local foodborne outbreaks involving contaminated (intentionally or unintentionally) foodproducts. We will continue our efforts towards ISO 17025 accreditation, with the anticipationaccreditation date in 2016.