The Division of Residue Chemistry develops and evaluates analytical methods for drug residues in animal tissues, fluids, and feeds. These methods are used in regulatory programs and in research studies. The division conducts metabolism and pharmacokinetic studies that aid the Center for Veterinary Medicine in improving drug availability for minor uses and minor species. Using state-of-the-art instrumentation, regulatory scientists are able to develop better models for drug bioavailability, fate, and disposition. The division is also responsible for reviewing drug residue diagnostic tests (screening tests) and for determining accurate product labeling.

The Division of Applied Veterinary Research conducts research using terrestrial and aquatic animals and animal systems in support of current and evolving regulatory issues. We provide research solutions to issues of animal health, food safety of animal-derived products, and other animal-industry associated technologies.

DAVR conducts research to investigate the pharmacology of veterinary drugs, primarily in food-producing animals; interactions between diet and drugs in food producing animals; interactive effects of dietary, environmental, physiological, immunological, and genetic factors on drug metabolism; animal and public health problems associated with animal feeds; growth requirements and behavior of cultured stem cells, development of methods to differentiate tissues from genetically engineered animals, and new procedures and models to support the evaluation of the safety or efficacy of animal drugs. These research efforts support scientific and regulatory decision-making by the Center for Veterinary Medicine.

The research our division conducts to support our stakeholders spans a variety of disciplines including microbiology and analytical chemistry, and we employ innovative proteomic, genomic, and molecular methodologies, as well as advanced pharmacokinetic modeling, in our investigations. Current efforts include developing new procedures and models for evaluating drug safety and efficacy, conducting residue depletion of drugs in food-producing animals to address food safety concerns, developing bioassays to predict the efficacy of veterinary stem cells, and developing innovative pharmacological models for drug bioavailability assessments.

Aquaculture

The division houses a large aquaculture facility with multiple cold- and warm-water fishes. The aquaculture team performs drug incursion studies to determine the fate of approved and unapproved drugs in edible fish tissues, and standardizes antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods for aquatic bacterial pathogens to improve monitoring for antimicrobial resistance and to foster more judicious use of antimicrobials by the aquaculture industry. They study chemical and drug pharmacokinetics in edible tissues and organs from farmed fish species, develop identification methods for aquatic pathogens, and develop models of fish diseases to study drug effectiveness. This group of scientists also maintains the internationally used Phish-Pharm Database, which consists of close to 600 articles that include data from 175 aquatic species (fish and shellfish). This database is a valuable resource to investigators of drug metabolism in aquatic species as well as government and private organizations involved in the drug approval process for aquatic specie

The mission of the Division of Animal and Food Microbiology (DAFM) is to conduct basic and applied research in microorganisms associated with food/feed safety and animal health. Much of DAFM’s efforts aim at a better understanding of the emergence, persistence, and spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and the development of improved methods to detect and characterize microbial pathogens from various sources. DAFM scientists are exploring metagenomics for assessing the antibiotic “resistome”, conducting special studies designed to evaluate the nature and magnitude of resistance in different environments, developing novel tests to measure the effect of drugs on the animal gut microbiome, and establishing methods to detect pathogens in different food and feed matrices.

Scientists in DAFM also support the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS). NARMS was established in 1996, and is an interagency collaborative effort between the FDA, USDA and CDC that tracks antibiotic resistance in bacteria from retail meats, food producing animals and human clinical cases of infection. DAFM conducts the retail meat testing component of NARMS, performing phenotypic and genotypic tests to characterize bacteria isolated from animal-derived food products such as beef, pork, poultry and seafood. These data are analyzed for trends and used to help inform policy and regulatory decisions. The findings are published annually in the NARMS reports.