CALS faculty member on FDA Science Board
Dr. Barbara Kowalcyk, research assistant professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, has been named to the Science Board to the Food and Drug Administration.
In addition to being a member of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty, Kowalcyk serves as chief executive officer and director of research for the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (www.foodborneillness.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing foodborne illness through research, education, advocacy and service.
The FDA Science Board advises the federal agency on complex scientific and technical issues and provides input on the agency’s research agenda and on upgrading scientific and research facilities and training opportunities.
Kowalcyk, who joined the CALS faculty in late 2011, was named in 2010 a Huffington Post Ultimate Game Changer in Food. She has also received a LennonOno Grant for Peace, a biannual award established to honor John Lennon’s dedication to peace and commitment to human rights.
She is a half-time faculty member, splitting time between her CALS faculty duties and leading the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention, which moved in 2011 from Pennsylvania to North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus. She is also an adjunct faculty member of the Gillings School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Kowalcyk’s research focuses on developing a better understanding of how and why outbreaks of foodborne illness occur as well as long-term impacts on human health that may be related to bouts of foodborne illness.
– Dave Caldwell
