The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) hosted the 2018 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grants Program (BRAG) and Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Social Implications of Emerging Technologies Annual Project Directors (PD) Meeting in Riverdale, MD on May 22, 2018, at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - Biotechnology Regulatory Service (APHIS-BRS) headquarters.
The overall goal of the PD Meeting was to improve post-award management of competitive grants administered by NIFA and ARS and enhance communication and interaction between USDA program staff and BRAG and AFRI awardees. The meeting featured oral and poster presentations by BRAG awardees from 2014–2017 and AFRI awardees from 2017. In addition, federal regulators from APHIS-BRS, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA), and ARS staff discussed emerging research needs, outcomes, and impacts regarding environmental risk related to genetically engineered organisms and emerging technologies, such as genome editing. NIFA and ARS program staff moderated the meeting.
Download or view the meeting booklet below.