Building resilient food safety labs in West Virginia
Official title: Building Resilient Food Safety Infrastructure in West Virginia: Enhancing Laboratory Capabilities and Capacity under the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model
Funded at West Virginia State Dept of Agriculture · NIH-11418715 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This grant funds West Virginia’s state agriculture department to upgrade and expand its laboratories so they can quickly and accurately test foods for a wide range of pathogens and keep contaminated products off the shelves.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | West Virginia State Dept of Agriculture NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Charleston, United States) |
| Project start | September 20, 2025 |
| Project end | June 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $777,346 |
| NIH project number | 5U19FD008589-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11418715 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Not applicable to patients; applicable to the population served by food safety systems in West Virginia and anyone consuming state-tested foods.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals seeking direct medical treatment are not the target of this grant.
What this research studies
If you live in West Virginia and rely on safe food, this project aims to strengthen the state’s food testing labs so they can process more samples faster and with higher accuracy. The effort includes expanding microbiology and chemistry testing, aligning with FDA standards, and building better collaboration with federal partners like the FDA. Through upgraded equipment, training, and streamlined processes, the labs hope to detect problems earlier and protect the public from contaminated foods. The work is coordinated by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, led by Megan Susanne Young, and spans multiple years to create a more integrated food safety network.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Stronger, faster food testing could lead to fewer contaminated foods reaching consumers and quicker remediation when problems are found.
How similar studies have gone: Prior food safety infrastructure upgrades have shown improvements in testing capacity and timeliness in other states.
Where this research is happening
-
West Virginia State Dept of Agriculture
Charleston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Young, Megan Susanne — West Virginia State Dept of Agriculture
- Study coordinator: Young, Megan Susanne
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.