The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) has announced that Dr. Mindy Brashears is the recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Research Award.  The award was established in 1965 to recognize members with outstanding research contributions to the meat industry and is sponsored by ConAgra Brands. Dr. Brashears will be honored at a special awards banquet at the AMSA 71st Reciprocal Meat Conference on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Dr. Mindy Brashears is a Professor of Food Microbiology and Food Safety, Director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence (ICFIE) at Texas Tech University and holds the Roth and Letch Family Endowed Chair in Food Safety. Her research program focuses on improving food safety standards to make an impact on public health.

Dr. Brashears has a passion for helping improve the quality of life in developing countries, is active in international research, and has conducted research projects in Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, the Bahamas, and Australia. Her work, along with her team members, has resulted in the re-building of the beef industry in Honduras with the Honduran President recently allocating $20 million to build new feedyards and slaughter plants based on the work that the team has conducted over the past 4 years.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Brashears has amassed over $22 million in research grants and has obtained 21 US patents. During this time, she has been involved in mentoring more than 125 students through laboratory research projects as a major advisor or committee member. Dr. Brashears has been actively involved in the AMSA organization for 16 years, previously serving as a judge for the RMC graduate research poster competition and Taste of RMC. Dr. Brashears received the AMSA Industry/Extension Service Award in 2017 and in the same year was named a Future Icon in the Meat Industry by the National Provisioner and was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors.

Source: AMSA