March 25, 2019
USDA national program leaders to present 'Food Science and Nutrition Funding at the USDA-NIFA' April 3
Submitted by College of Human Ecology
The food, nutrition, dietetics and health department will host Deirdra Chester, Jodi Williams and Melvin Carter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to present the current funding opportunities in the area of food science, food safety and nutrition. The presentation, titled "Food Science and Nutrition Funding at the USDA-NIFA," will be at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, in 164 Justin Hall. This event is open to any faculty and students on campus.
Chester is a national program leader for applied nutrition research in the Division of Nutrition, Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. She provides leadership in identifying emerging issues of national importance, program reviews, and grants management in the area of nutrition, functional components of food, and childhood obesity. She also provides leadership for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Childhood Obesity Prevention and the Foundational Program — Function of Efficacy and Nutrient competitive grants programs. She provides co-leadership for a joint USDA-NIH competitive grants program.
Williams provides leadership for a diverse portfolio of competitive grant programs in food science and food safety. As a national program leader, Williams is actively involved in developing request for applications and leading panels to select research, education, and extension projects in the food science and nutrition priority within the Small Business Innovation Research Competitive Grant Program, the Agriculture Food and Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program — Food Safety Challenge Area and Foundational, and the Food Safety Outreach Competitive Grants Program.
Carter is a national program leader for food science and technology in the Division of Food Safety, Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. He provides leadership in identifying emerging issues of national importance, program reviews, and grants management in the area of food science and safety. Currently, Carter is the acting division director and he is working extensively on a number of intra-agency programs that focus on federal food science and safety priorities.