The Center for a Livable Future announces 2008-2009 Innovation Grant Recipients Four research projects will be funded through the Center for a Livable Future’s Innovation Grants program. Each year, the program awards up to $20,000 for innovative interdisciplinary study by Johns Hopkins University faculty, fellows or graduate students. The purpose of the grants is to promote research that addresses some of the complex interactions among diet, human health, food production, food security, equity, and the environment. The 2008-2009 grant recipients include: Sara Bleich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management for her project, entitled “Formative Research to Understand Key Barriers to Implementing a Farm-To-Table Program in the Navajo Nation.” Bleich and her colleague, Joel Gittlesohn, Ph.D. of the Center for Human Nutrition, will examine the feasibility of linking farmers on the Navajo Nation to their community in order to increase consumption of local produce among American Indian children, who have disproportionately high rates of poverty and obesity. Meghan Davis, DVM, MPH, Doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, and colleagues for their research on the “Agricultural Origins of Community associated methicillin-resistant Staphylcoccus aureus (CA-MRSA).” This project focuses on the role of agricultural sources in the spread of community-associated MRSA. Studies in the Netherlands have shown an association between strains of MRSA in cattle and pigs with community-acquired strains in humans. Similar research has not been conducted in the United States. The study will provide some of the first evidence on the role of agricultural sources in community-associated MRSA in the USA. Lori Leonard, Sc.D, Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Behavior & Society, for her research entitled “Sustainable Smallholder Farming: A Demonstration Project in the Oilfield Region of Chad.” Leonard and colleagues seek to improve soil conservation practices and food security in an area of Chad experiencing land shortages due to oil extraction and resettlement. The team will introduce low-cost and locally available soil and crop management techniques and will evaluate the adoption of these techniques among residents of the oilfield region. As part of a longer-term study they will assess the effects of these new techniques on crop yields and soil quality. Leora Vegosen, MHS, Doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and colleagues for their research, entitled “Occupational Exposures to Campylobacter jejuni and Biomarkers for Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in Poultry and Swine Farmers.” The project aims to expand understanding of the relationship among the following: exposure to poultry or swine by farmers and workers, the presence of biomarkers indicating exposure to Campylobacter infection, biomarkers for Guillian-Barré Syndrome (an autoimmune disease affecting nerves), and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy in farmers. The study will provide important information on the potential risks of agricultural exposures to farm workers and rural communities. For more detailed information about these projects, please see website. Watch the CLF web site for information on 2009-2010 CLF Innovation Grants. The RFP will be available soon and proposals will be due in Mid-July.
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