Grant Opportunity: Supporting Animal Health and Food Safety in Ukraine

Aug 16, 2022

Among the many consequences of Russia’s attack on Ukraine is an increased risk to animal health and food safety due to weakened monitoring, testing, and control systems. In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service is offering a grant opportunity to provide technical assistance to Ukrainian agricultural producers, focusing on the detection and mitigation of animal diseases and prevention of their introduction into the food supply. The work will be conducted in coordination with FAS staff in Kyiv and Washington.

This work will support the recent Memorandum of Understanding between USDA and Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food to enhance coordination between the U.S. and Ukrainian agri-food sectors, sharing information and expertise and building a strategic partnership to address food security.

Source : usda.gov

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.