IAFP Announces 2011 Travel Award Recipients

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Des Moines, Iowa (May 5, 2011) - The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) will present the Travel Award for State or Local Health or State Agricultural Department Employees to the following individuals at IAFP 2011, July 31-August 3, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sponsored through a generous contribution to IAFP's Foundation by Marler Clark, LLP, PS, this new award will provide funding to enable recipients to travel to IAFP 2011.

Robyn Atkinson is Director of the Knoxville Regional Laboratory, Tennessee Department of Health Division of Laboratory Services, Knoxville, Tennessee and serves as Deputy Director for the state laboratory system. She is a member of the Tennessee Food Safety Task Force and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Food Safety Committee. Dr. Atkinson received the APHL 2010 Emerging Leader Award for her efforts related to food safety and laboratory practice standardization.

Leslie Frank is an Environmental Health Specialist for Jefferson County Public Health, Golden, Colorado. She works closely with retail food establishments providing education and assistance on safe food handling practices. Ms. Frank is a Certified Professional in Food Safety (CP-FS) and is working toward a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Applied Biostatistics. She is a member of the Jefferson County Epidemiological Response Team and the Communicable Disease Control group, where she partners with emergency response professionals, public health nurses, and epidemiologists to build capacity for a large-scale foodborne illness response for Jefferson County.

Joseph Graham is the Technical Lead for the Food Safety Program in the Washington State Department of Health, Olympia, Washington. Mr. Graham also coordinates the State Retail Food Safety Rule revision, directing the program's responses to technical questions, recalls, and foodborne disease. He has a public health background with the U.S. Army and holds a degree in Environmental Science.   

Christina Ritchey Wilson is Section Chief of Food Protection, Columbus Public Health (CPH), Columbus, Ohio, where her staff is responsible for licensing and inspecting nearly 6,800 retail food facilities and trains more than 2,000 people annually in food safety. Ms. Wilson has worked for CPH for the past 14 years. Under her leadership, the Food Protection Section of CPH was the recipient of the 2009 Samuel J. Crumbine Award.