Release No. 0199.00
                                                               
                     USDA CONTACT: Steve Teasley (202) 720-0350
                                              steasley@usda.gov
                         FDA CONTACT: Brad Stone (301) 827-6250
                                              bstone@oc.fda.gov
                                                               
NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR THE JOINT INSTITUTE FOR FOOD SAFETY
RESEARCH

     WASHINGTON, June 19, 2000--The Department of Health and Human Services
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the appointment of Jerry R.
Gillespie, DVM, PhD, as the Executive Director of the Joint Institute for
Food Safety Research.  He will succeed Dr. William C. Wagner who has served
as the Interim Executive Director since September 1999.

     JIFSR, which was created in 1998 as part of the Clinton
Administration's Food Safety Initiative, is a joint undertaking staffed and
supported by DHHS and USDA.  Its major functions are to coordinate planning
and priority setting for food safety research among the two departments,
other government agencies, and the private sector, and to foster effective
translation of research results into practice.

     Dr. Gillespie has been professor and director of the Food Animal Health
and Management Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State
University in Manhattan, Kan., since 1994. In the last four years, he has
conducted research on the food safety of beef production, serving as the
principal investigator for studies on the ecology of Escherichia coli in beef
cow-calf operations. 
     
     Prior to his current post, Dr. Gillespie held faculty positions in
physiology at the University of California-Davis (1976-85), and was professor
and head of the department of clinical sciences and veterinary medical
teaching hospital at Kansas State University (1985-94).

     Dr. Gillespie received his DVM degree from Oklahoma State University
and his PhD degree from the University of California-Davis. His many
achievements in veterinary medicine were recognized in 1992 when he was
elected as a Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice
(Veterinary Medicine).

     During his two-year appointment, which began on June 1, 2000, Dr.
Gillespie will provide leadership for the coordination of research on food
safety issues across the government, including USDA, DHHS, and the
Environmental Protection Agency. Their efforts, in cooperation with the work
of scientists from other federal and state agencies and the private sector,
will help to achieve the ultimate purpose of reducing the incidence of
foodborne illness.

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