Principal Investigator: Renata Ivanek

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 

Dr. Ivanek has received a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts for a project “Comparison of different biomass methodologies to adjust data on antimicrobial drug sales for use in food-producing animals in USA”. In the project Dr. Ivanek’s team will estimate the amount of antimicrobials used in livestock in the USA adjusted for the animal weight. This will allow for a fair comparison of animal antimicrobial use across years and among food animal species. Estimation will involve an approach proposed by the Food and Drug Administration and the estimates will be compared with those from methods developed by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC) project, and the government of Canada. Thus, the grant is expected to lead to a major advancement in our ability to compare antimicrobial use not only across years and among livestock species but also among different geographic regions.