Person in white lab gown holding a piglet across from a person taking notes on a clipboard Person in white lab gown holding a piglet across from a person taking notes on a clipboard

FFAR, SHIC & Pork Checkoff Fund H5N1 Swine Research Projects

  • Production Systems

The U.S. pork industry has made prevention and preparedness for H5N1 influenza a top priority due to the virus’ recent expansion into novel species, including dairy cattle and a backyard pig. To address this priority, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) and the Pork Checkoff are funding 10 projects totaling $2.1 million through the H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program to enhance prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response capabilities for H5N1 influenza.

Jasmine Bruno

Collaboration among organizations like SHIC, FFAR and the Pork Checkoff accelerates research to protect swine health and meet consumer demands for safe, affordable pork products. This program marks FFAR’s third collaboration with SHIC and our second joint effort with both partners. By working together, we’re aligning research with producer-driven priorities and consumer expectations, while ensuring producers have the science-based information they need to make informed decisions for their business.

Jasmine Bruno, Ph.D.
Scientific Program Director
Cultivating Thriving Production Systems

The awarded projects focus on transmission within and across species, vaccine development and surveillance. A full list of research projects is available on the SHIC website.

Funding timely research is essential to drive action for emerging disease prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response for the U.S. swine industry. “We were very pleased with the overwhelming response to this research program, which received a record number of applicants.

Dr. Megan Niederwerder
SHIC Executive Director

The H5N1 Risk to Swine Research Program is a $4 million research program. Future requests for research proposals for the program will be announced on FFAR’s and SHIC’s websites.

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Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.

Connect: @FoundationFAR 

Swine Health Information Center

The Swine Health Information Center, launched in 2015 with Pork Checkoff funding, protects and enhances the health of the US swine herd by minimizing the impact of emerging disease threats through preparedness, coordinated communications, global disease monitoring, analysis of swine health data, and targeted research investments. As a conduit of information and research, SHIC encourages sharing of its publications and research. Forward, reprint, and quote SHIC material freely. For more information, visit http://www.swinehealth.org or contact Dr. Megan Niederwerder at mniederwerder@swinehealth.org or Dr. Lisa Becton at lbecton@swinehealth.org.

ID: 24-001305-MOU