RAC Meeting Minutes (March 23, 2000)
Washington DC
200 C St SW Rm. 1409
Representatives in attendance:
Mary Batholomew (CVM, FDA, HHS)
Elaine Francis (ORD, EPA)
Dennis Lang (NIH, HHS)
Michael McElvaine (ORACBA, USDA)
Angela Ruple (NMFS,DC)
Richard Whiting (CFSAN, FDA,HHS)
Eileen Choffnes (OPPTS, EPA)
Tom Oscar (ARS, USDA)
Karen Hulebak (FSIS, USDA)
Margaret Coleman (FSIS, USDA)
David Gaylor (NCTR, FDA)
Wes Long (JIFSAN, FDA,HHS)
Tanya Roberts (ERS, USDA)
Steve Schaub (OW, EPA)
Margaret Miller (OWH, FDA,HHS)
Emilio Esteban-Vaz (CDC,HHS)
Mary Torrence (CSREES,USDA)
Also attending:
Mark Walderhaug, CFSAN/FDA)
Marianne Miliotis (CFSAN/FDA)
Lauren Posnick (AAAS)
Sherri Dennis (CFSAN/FDA)
Arthur Miller (CFSAN/FDA)
Miscellaneous
Member agencies provided an update on their activities
and approved the minutes from the meeting held December 16, 1999.
The date for the next meeting was noted as June 6, 2000. This
meeting is planned to include the RAC Policy representatives as well.
Update on the Risk Analysis Clearinghouse
Clearinghouse coordinator, Dr. Wendy Fineblum, was introduced to the RAC. Dr. Fineblum is recent addition to the faculty at the University of Maryland's School for Veterinary Medicine. She is assigned to work on the development of the Clearinghouse full time.
Dr. Fineblum provided a brief walk through of the website and sought input from the RAC on issues of data quality and data access. A recommendation was made to invite Dr. Fineblum to participate in all quarterly RAC meetings to allow more frequent direct interaction with the Clearinghouse.
Update from the Dose-response Workgroup
Dr. Lauren Posnick, (AAAS risk fellow with CFSAN) presented the proposed agenda for a workshop on dose-response modeling for Cryptosporidium parvum . The ensuing discussion examined whether the emphasis should be on dose-response modeling (using Crypto as a prototype organism), or to focus on reviewing Crypto per se. There was general consensus that the goal or direction of the proposed workshop needed to be more clearly defined.
Comparative Risk Assessment "Option 1"
Dr. Tanya Roberts described the current status of the joint CDC, FDA, and USDA effort to develop a risk ranking for foodborne pathogens tracked by CDC based upon economic valuation methods. This project is one component of the three "option" proposal developed by the RAC in response to a request from the President's Food Safety Council. Questions were raised about the status of the proposal. Dr. Long agreed to pursue further information.
Listeria Research Needs to Support Risk Assessment
Ms. Coleman and Dr. Hulebak described a planned data collection to provide quantitative exposure and growth data for small diameter sausages. A discussion ensued into the role of the RAC in identifying and prioritizing listeria research to support quantitative risk assessments. FDA agreed to provide the RAC with a list of research needs culled from their ongoing listeria monocytogenes assessment. This list would provide a strawman for further discussions that would lead to development of research recommendations by the RAC.
Development of Open Public Quarterly Meeting
The requirement for an open public meeting (see RAC Charter) was discussed. Several optional topics, formats, and venues were discussed. The majority of representatives in attendance recommended that this public meeting be combined with the dose-response workshop described above. A number of RAC representatives agreed to help plan this combination meeting.
The possibility that the public meeting the following year (fiscal 2000-2001) could be associated with the Society for Risk Analysis conference in December 2000 was discussed. Dr. Roberts agreed to help develop a RAC session at the conference.
New Business - Development of Annual Plan for Year 3
The successes and shortcomings of the current annual plan where discussed in preparation for development of the year three annual plan. Drs. Oscar, Lang, and Miller agreed to assist the chair in developing the first draft. Dr. Long presented a timetable for completion of the annual plan such that it would be ready for approval at the next quarterly meeting scheduled for June 6, 2000 at the Ronald Reagan Building.
Dr. McElvaine introduced a discussion document that aims to clarify the role of the RAC representatives in conducting reviews of documents for member agencies.
