MEA&FS Consulting is a small woman-owned business focused on developing risk assessments and risk-based priorities for transparent and scientifically based decisions to aid food safety and environmental health policy.
- Dr. Anderson has more than 12 years of experience in conducting microbial risk assessments for food safety and environmental issues. She is currently serving as a food safety microbiologist on the Norovirus Research Collaborative (NoroCORE), a six-year, 25 million research grant charged with reducing the burden of diseases caused by human norovirus.
Experience and Research Highlights
- Performing a sensitivity analysis of the data inputs in NorOPTIMAL and validation of the model outcomes.
- Developed the data for NorOPTIMAL, a virtual laboratory to model the the spread and intervention of norovirus in long term care facilities.
- Researched and compiled data input variables for the latest additions to the Integrated Vector Management Program for Malaria Vector Control: Programmatic Environmental Assessment (USAID). The new data include physical and chemical properties, pesticide us and toxicological profiles for the new chemicals involved in the interventions (indoor residual sprays, long-lasting insecticide nets, clothing, hammocks and larvicides to combat malaria and Zika virus). Criteria and data for the scoring of the persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity of larvicides were also developed. The data were ranked based on the developed criteria (low, medium or high) and used to generate “heat maps” that display the most sensitive receptors and how much data there is to support that finding.
- Peer review for USEPA microbiological methods and projects.
- Validated the FDA-iRISK® food safety model that evaluates the risk associated with hazard-food combinations by generating a disability-adjusted life years (DALY) value based on food, hazard, processing, consumption, dose-response, and health effects data
- Expanded the FDA-iRISK® library to have representative foods from FDA’s 28 reportable food registry (RFR) commodity categories that are associated with chemical and microbial hazards.
- Developed the data for a relative risk ranking model to aid the FDA in determining high-risk foods that require further product tracing, and updated the model with the latest published information and improvements based on public comments to the model approach.
- Developed the P3ARRT (Pathogen-Produce Pair Attribution Risk Ranking Tool, now named FDA Fresh Produce Risk Ranking Tool) to prioritize pathogen and fresh produce commodity pairs for risk assessment based on epidemiological, health, and commodity-based criteria.
- Expanded P3ARRT to cover all FDA-regulated products (iRank) and compiled the data for the Food-Safety Risk Information Management System (FS-RIMS) database that are part of an integrated decision support system (iDeSS) for food safety management.
Gaps Analysis for FSEHD, Doha, Qatar
- Researched and outlined a framework for best management practices for the three food safety divisions (Port Health and Food Control Sector, Environmental Health Sector, and Central Food Laboratory) in the Food Safety and Environment Health Department of the Qatar Supreme Council of Health. Outlined the currents gaps in the food safety programs compared to international best practices and the steps required to eliminate those gaps.
QPRAM model
- Developed the probabilistic data for QPRAM, an agent-based model designed as a virtual laboratory for modeling the transfer of E. coli O157:H7 to Romaine lettuce from farm to fork. QPRAM characterizes baseline risks and risk reductions through proposed interventions to prevent, reduce, or eliminate pathogen contamination at critical points along the farm-to-fork continuum.
- Participated in the study design and field sampling of a field trial for the transfer of E. coli O157:H7 to Romaine lettuce.
- Prior research determined microbial, chemical, and physical water quality of groundwater on or near swine farms in eastern North Carolina, with a focus on antimicrobial resistance of the enteric bacteria.
- Determined microbial water quality of groundwater used for drinking water after hurricanes and floods in North Carolina.
- Determined disinfection efficacy of electrochemically generated mixed oxidants from a miniature “pen” cell against enteric viruses, bacteria, and parasites, specifically Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts.
- Literature review and data collection to determined the fate and transport of pathogens and fecal indicators with respond to treatment, releases and environmental behavior in ambient waters downstream of sewage discharges.
Education
Ph.D.Doctorate in Environmental Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2003
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M.E.M.Masters in Environmental Management in Water Resources, Duke University, 1999
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B.S.Bachelor of Science in Honors Biology, Chemistry Minor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992
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