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A new, multi-institutional graduate level food safety course will be is being offered during the Spring 2013 semester.  This distance learning course will be taught collaboratively at Cornell, Texas Tech University, Purdue University and North Carolina Statue University.  Expected enrollment is approximately 30 students across all universities.

The course will provide an overview of foodborne pathogens (bacterial and viral), detection/subtyping of foodborne pathogens along with epidemiological approaches to foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak investigation.  Participants will complete four instructor-guided case studies on foodborne pathogen contamination, transmission, and disease (i.e., pre-harvest, processing plant, retail, and outbreak investigation) and develop a case study to be presented to the class.  An online video conferencing system will be used to communicate across institutions during each scheduled weekly class meeting.   

After completing this course, students will be able to...

1. Discriminate between the environmentally transmitted pathogens that may contaminate a food during production/handling (i.e., before, during and after harvest) and Understand (i) the biology and transmission characteristics of different foodborne pathogens (including typical sources and transmission routes) and (ii) the characteristics of the associated foodborne diseases.
2. Evaluate the primary methods used to detect and subtype foodborne pathogens.
3. Describe the causes and mechanisms of food contamination in various food-associated environments, and apply this knowledge to solving problems related to contamination of food.
4. Integrate and apply core competencies in epidemiology and microbiology to solve/explain practical food safety problems.
5. Apply critical thinking, problem solving and systems analysis skills to new situations.
6. Develop a case study learning module and supporting materials.

Class schedule:

1-28-13          "Introduction to foodborne pathogens, molecular detection/subtyping and epidemiological approaches to foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak detection"

2-4-13            Case Study 1 (Part 1): "Pre-harvest food safety: Foodborne pathogens and produce"         

2-11-13          Case Study 1 (Part 2): "Pre-harvest food safety: Foodborne pathogens and produce"

2-18-13:         Case Study 2 (Part 1): "Persistence of Foodborne pathogens in the Food Processing Plant Environment"

2-25-13:         Case Study 2 (Part 2): "Persistence of Foodborne pathogens in the Food Processing Plant Environment"

3-4-13            Spring Break North Carolina State University (Students work in groups to develop case studies outside of class)

3-11-13          Spring Break Texas Tech University/Purdue University (Students work in groups to develop case studies outside of class)

3-18-13          Spring Break Cornell University (Students work in groups to develop case studies outside of class)

3-25-13          Case Study 3 (Part 1): "Foodborne Virus Transmission at Retail"

4-1-13            Case Study 3 (Part 2): "Foodborne Virus Transmission at Retail"

4-8-13            Case Study 4 (Part 1): "Foodborne Disease Outbreak Investigation"

4-15-13          Case Study 4 (Part 2): "Foodborne Disease Outbreak Investigation"

4-22-13          Student Presentations

4-29-13          Final Exam