By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Dr. Mindy Brashears, professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech University, was recently presented with the American Meat Science Association’s (AMSA) 2018 Distinguished Research Award.
Established in 1965, the award recognizes members with outstanding research contributions to the meat industry. AMSA was established with the goal of bringing together the commercial, academic, government and consumer audiences of the American meat sector. The organization has more than 1,000 members dedicated to improving all aspects of meat science.
Brashears’ research focuses on food safety standards and ways to prevent contamination of food before and after harvest. She has primarily focused on meat and poultry products, as well as some work on spinach.
Brashears’ work, according to AMSA, resulted in the commercialization of pre-harvest feed additives to reduce E. coli and salmonella in cattle.
She has also led international research teams to Argentina, Belize and Mexico, and she has helped establish sustainable agricultural systems in impoverished areas.
Brashears, who has been with Texas Tech for 20 years, is also a faculty member on the Texas Tech Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy in the Texas Tech School of Law.
Throughout her career, Brashears has received more than $22 million in research grants and obtained 21 U.S. patents. She is the director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech and has been actively involved in AMSA for more than 15 years.
She has also received the AMSA Industry/Extension Service Award.
Brashears was nominated for undersecretary of Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture by President Donald Trump earlier this year, and the nomination is pending Senate confirmation.