Kevin Cooper's Posts (7)

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The Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with Teagasc Food Research Centre, Dublin is undertaking a safefood sponsored investigation to evaluate the applications, opportunities and challenges presented by nanotechnology across the agri-food sector on the island of Ireland.

You are invited to participate in an on-line survey (Word version of the survey is available on request below) by 28/02/2014. It will take approx 10 min to complete.

To complete the survey and the opportunity to win an ipad please click the following link

http://kwiksurveys.com/s.asp?sid=wjzimiyerwkb0fg300074

This is aimed primarily at commercial enterprises, including farmers, in the agriculture and food sectors but views are also welcome from the public sector in academia and regulatory/monitoring.

If you have any questions about the survey or would like to find out further information about this research project, please contact either Dr. Katrina Campbell (QUB Lecturer) katrina.campbell@qub.ac.uk or Caroline Handford (PhD student) chandford01@qub.ac.uk

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EU Prize for Women Innovators launched

Apply until 15 October for the EU Prize for Women Innovators!

After a successful first edition in 2011, the European Commission has launched the second edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators to reward three women who have developed outstanding innovations and brought them to market.

The contest is open until 15 October 2013, 5:00 pm (Brussels time) to all women who have founded or co-founded their own company and who have at some point in their career benefited from the EU's research framework programmes or the Competitiveness and Innovation framework programme.

The first prize is EUR 100,000, second prize EUR 50,000 and the third prize EUR 25,000.

With this Prize, the European Commission aims to raise awareness about the contribution, potential and importance of Women researchers to entrepreneurship and to encourage women to exploit the commercial and business opportunities offered by their research projects and become entrepreneurs.

Compete and tell your story now to inspire other women to follow in your footsteps!

Applications can be submitted via the competition website until 15 October 2013 (5 p.m. Brussels time): www.ec.europa.eu/women-innovators 

Information flyer below:

EU_Prize_Women_Innovators.pdf

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Prof Chris Elliott of Queen's University Belfast, and Facilitator of the safefood Biotoxins and Chemical Residues Knowledge Networks, will lead an independent review of Britain’s food system in light of the recent horsemeat fraud, the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Health announced today.

The review will focus on consumer confidence in the authenticity of all food products and any weaknesses in food supply networks which could have implications for food safety and public health. It will look at the causes of the systemic failure that enabled the horsemeat fraud, the roles and responsibilities of businesses throughout the food supply chain to consumers and how to support consumer confidence.

The review will begin in early June and a call for evidence will follow, seeking information and views on the integrity of the food supply network, any vulnerabilities and how it might be strengthened to support consumer confidence.

A UK Government press release with terms of reference can be found here, and a Queen's University release here.

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As an aside from safe foods, how about safe medicines? Perhaps herbal medicines bridge that gap?

Here is a new and arresting report from Kings College London, who reviewed global cases of aristolochic acid nephropathy and conclude that millions of people may be exposed to a risk of developing kidney failure and bladder cancer by taking herbal medicines that are widely available in Asia. The condition may be largely unrecognised or mis-diagnosed. Their review can be seen here.

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Collab4Safety is a new EU FP7 project seeking to optimise the integration of research and training in food safety between the European Union (EU) and its trading partners, in order to facilitate the control and mitigation of existing and emerging food risks, and to provide a sustainable platform for global integration of food safety policies.

We are constructing the Collab4safety Stakeholder Database, designed to include all types of stakeholders worldwide involved in any area of food safety. The public database aims to increase brokerage and future collaborations between parties with common interests.

All safefood Knowledge Network members are invited to visit the project website and consider registering here as a project stakeholder.  The project brochure can be downloaded here. Thank you for your time.

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