About the Authors
James R. Coffman is provost at Kansas State University. During his long-standing tenure there he has held numerous professorships and administrative positions, including dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, head of the Department of Surgery and Medicine, and director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Coffman holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate of veterinary medicine degrees from Kansas State University. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Coffman’s areas of research and expertise include equine medicine and laminitis research. He lends his experience and service to many national organizations, professional societies, editorial boards, and university committees.
George W. Beran is distinguished professor and program chair of preventive medicine in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Preventive Medicine of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University. Beran serves as chair of several organizations and programs including the Food Safety Research Program of the Food Safety Consortium at Iowa State University. He is currently a member of the National Research Council’s Board on Science and Technology for International Development proposal review panel and of the National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria for Foods. Beran holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine, a Ph.D. in medical microbiology, and a Ph.D. in humane letters from Iowa State University, the University of Kansas, and Silliman University in the Philippines, respectively. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and of the American College of Epidemiology.
Harvey R. Colten is dean and vice president for medical affairs, Northwestern University Medical School. Prior to this he was pediatrician-in-chief at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Barnes Hospital, both in St. Louis, Missouri. Colten was also the Harriet B. Spoehrer Professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, as well as professor of molecular microbiology at the Washington University School of Medicine. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, Colten received an honorary master’s degree from Harvard University when he was appointed professor of pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School. He is an active member of numerous committees and boards, including the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. Colten’s research interests include the regulation of acute-phase gene expression and genetic deficiencies of proteins important in pulmonary diseases, autoimmunity, and inflammation.
Connie Greig is owner and operator of Little Acorn Ranch, a 200-head Simmental seedstock operation in Iowa. Greig currently holds the positions of vice-chairman of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Animal Health Committee and of chairman of the Iowa Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Industry Issues Committee. She has been an active spokesperson for animal care, animal welfare, and animal health issues as related to the food-animal industry. Greig completed undergraduate work and received a degree in English from the University of Iowa.
Jean Halloran is director of the Consumer Policy Institute, a division of Consumers Union. Her 20 years of experience in the public health sector have enabled her to touch a variety of issues, including food safety, pesticides, biotechnology, hazardous pharmaceuticals, sustainable agriculture, and toxic air pollution. In 1979 and 1980, she was on the staff of President Carter’s Council on Environmental Quality, for which she helped prepare an Executive Order on export of hazardous products. Halloran obtained her undergraduate degree with honors in English literature from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.
Dermont Hayes is a professor in the Department of Economics, professor in charge of the Meat Export Research Center at Iowa State University, and head of the Trade and Agricultural Policy Division at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. He completed his undergraduate degree with honors in agricultural economics from University College in Dublin, Ireland. Continuing his education at the University of California at Berkeley, he received a master’s degree in agricultural economics and a Ph.D. in international trade. His research interests include food safety, livestock modeling, demand analysis, commodity markets, and agricultural and trade policy.
John B. Kaneene is a professor of epidemiology and director of the Population Medicine Center at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. His research interests include molecular epidemiology of emerging and re-emerging enteric zoonotic diseases; epidemiology of antibiotic resistance in animal and human populations; risk assessment modeling as it relates to food-borne pathogens; epidemiology and prevention of drug residues in foods of animal origin; and development, implementation, and evaluation of disease surveillance systems. Kaneene’s undergraduate studies in mathematics and his degree in veterinary medicine were completed at the University of Khartoum in Sudan. He received a master’s of public health and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota.
Kristin McNutt is president of Consumer Choices, Inc., and editor of Consumer Magazines Digest. After securing an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Duke University, she studied nutrition and received a master’s degree from Columbia University Physicians and Surgeons. McNutt completed Ph.D. work in biochemistry at Vanderbilt University. Her extensive educational background also includes a doctorate law degree in the DePaul College of Law. She served on the National Research Council Board on Agriculture Committee on Designing Foods and participated in the “More and Better Foods” project, in collaboration with the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology. McNutt is member of the Food and Drug Administration Food Advisory Committee.
David Meeker is associate professor of animal science at Ohio State University and coordinator of the Ohio Pork Industry Center, which coordinates expertise from various disciplines to facilitate the profitable and environmentally responsible production of wholesome pork. Until 1996 he served as vice-president of research and education for the National Pork Producers Council, where for 11 years he directed growth of staff and programs in production, marketing, economics, animal health, education, and research. He received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in animal science from Iowa State University. In 1994 he received an M.B.A. in agribusiness from Iowa State. He has studied pork production abroad and served on several U.S. Department of Agriculture advisory committees.
Stephen C. Nickerson is professor and director of the Mastitis Research Laboratory Hill Farm Research Station. Nickerson’s research and teaching areas emphasize bovine mastitis and lactation physiology. His educational background includes an undergraduate degree in animal science from the University of Maine and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in dairy science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Thomas Seay is medical director of OnCare Southeast and chairman of the cancer committee at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a
staff physician and assistant professor at Emory University Hospital. Seay’s research interests include molecular immunology and oncogene point mutation frequency in development of myelogenous leukemia. At the University of Georgia, Seay obtained an undergraduate degree in microbiology. He furthered his studies at East Tennessee State University, where he completed Ph.D. work in biomedical sciences. Seay holds M.D. from the James A. Quillen College of Medicine.
R. Gregory Stewart is currently the director of the poultry business unit of Bayer Corporation in Watkinsville, Georgia. Previously, he was president of Southern Veterinary Services, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri. He received undergraduate degrees from the University of Florida and continued his education at the University of Georgia, where he obtained a master’s degree in poultry science, a Ph.D. in medical microbiology, and a D.V.M. Stewart served two consecutive terms (1992–1996) on a National Research Council’s Panel on Animal Health and Veterinary Medicine. Stewart’s other experience includes teaching, research, and management positions.
