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2018 Fellows Program
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Director, Division of Microbiology; Supervisory Research Microbiologist National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR)

Dr. Steven Foley is the Director of the Division of Microbiology at the FDA National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) and serves a Senior Biomedical Research and Biomedical Product Assessment Service expert. Dr. Foley earned his Bachelor of Science in Zoology and his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology/Infectious Diseases from North Dakota State University in Fargo. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, where the focus of his research was developing methods for source tracking of Salmonella from food-animal species. Following positions in academia and a research foundation, Dr. Foley joined the NCTR in 2009 and his research team has been focused in the fields of zoonotic diseases, food safety and the microbial assessment of FDA-regulated products. In addition, Dr. Foley completed the Leadership Arkansas program and the Leadership in a Democratic Society program through the Federal Executive Institute and is an Adjunct Professor in the Cell and Molecular Biology graduate faculty at the University of Arkansas and was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

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Discovery Economics: Seeking Safer Foods
Foley and his team are developing a database of Salmonella virulence genes that can be used by FDA and other public-health organizations to detect an increase in Salmonella’s disease-causing ability. This allows improved utility of the gold-standard, whole-genome sequencing, for dissecting foodborne outbreaks and understanding risk.
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January 2022 ARA Project Scope
Dr. Steven Foley of the FDA National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) shares a lifetime of dedication to identifying and preventing foodborne pathogens like Salmonella. Dr. Foley, a Supervisory Research Microbiologist and Deputy Director of the Division of Microbiology at NCTR, is a member of the ARA Academy of Scholars and Fellows. He and his team works diligently to protect the nation's food supply – including Arkansas' $16 billion agriculture industry.
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