FIVM Seminar Series presents: One size doesn’t fit all

Food producers are constantly making tough decisions—often in the face of incomplete information and under privacy constraints. On Friday, February 16, Dr. Renata Ivanek will discuss two case studies on models for aiding food producers’ decision-making. The first is the use of digital twins to optimize food safety in the context of the unique characteristics of a food processing facility. The second case study involves different metrics to quantify antimicrobial use in animal agriculture to improve antimicrobial stewardship. The common theme is recognizing that one size does not fit all and variation in context and metrics matters for decision-making. The studies illustrate individual producers' increasing demand for models for ‘personalized’ decision-making and the opportunity and challenges in leveraging private data for private use. 

Dr. Renata Ivanek is a Professor of Epidemiology at Cornell University. She is co-director of the Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture (CIDA) and co-director of Cornell’s Combined DVM-PhD Degree Program. The overarching goal of her research is to advance One Health. Her computer lab develops approaches for improving food safety, controlling infectious diseases, and optimizing food production systems and antimicrobial stewardship. As a veterinarian and epidemiologist trained in statistical and mathematical modeling, Dr. Ivanek bridges biomedical and mathematical disciplines in her research and teaching. She holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Zagreb in Croatia, a M.Sc. in Veterinary Epidemiology from the University of London in the United Kingdom, and a Ph.D. in Comparative Biomedical Sciences from Cornell University.