MSU Visits UN FAO to Celebrate Launch of Aquaculture Reference Center, High Performance Computing Partnership

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Mark E. Keenum shaking hands with FAO Director-General
MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Qu Dongyu mark the launch of MSU’s new Reference Center for Antimicrobial Resistance and Aquaculture Biosecurity, designated by FAO. (Photo courtesy of Alessandra Benedetti, FAO)

Contact: James Carskadon

ROME, Italy.Mississippi State’s global impact in the aquaculture and high-performance computing sectors continues to grow as university leaders visited the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations this week to celebrate new partnerships.

FAO and MSU marked the launch of the new FAO-designated University Reference Center for Antimicrobial Resistance and Aquaculture Biosecurity. MSU is one of four international institutions participating in the launch. The two organizations are also collaborating in efforts to use high-performance computing capabilities to improve understanding of global land and water resources.

“We are committed to working with FAO to advance its global mandate to manage the threats posed by antimicrobial resistance,” said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. These initiatives are vital because more than 3 billion people depend on fish for protein. We want to make sure everyone in our growing population has access to healthy, sustainable diets and we are excited to work with our partners at FAO to do so.

Mark E. Keenum and the FAO Director-General have a conversation at an event at FAO headquarters
MSU President Mark E. Keenum visited Food and Agriculture Organization director-general Qu Dongyu on Monday [June 26] during an event at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. (Photo courtesy of Alessandra Benedetti, FAO)

The referral center is part of a coordinated international effort to better understand and reduce the level of antimicrobial resistance, which occurs when germs like bacteria gain the ability to resist drugs designed to kill them. According to FAO, AMR is a serious global threat with implications for food safety and food security. MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine is a longtime leader in aquaculture research, with programs that impact global and domestic partners, such as the US catfish industry. MSU serves as the lead partner for the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish.

MSU and FAO also marked new collaborations focused on the use of high-performance computing to assess global land and water resources. The collaboration draws on MSU’s supercomputing resources which include two systems ranked among the 500 most powerful in the world. MSU researchers use supercomputers, data science and artificial intelligence to better understand geophysical and agricultural systems.

David Shaw and John Lackey sign memorandum of understanding.
MSU Chancellor and Executive Vice President David Shaw and John Lackey, Deputy Director of FAO’s Division of Human Resources, sign an agreement that will enable internship, volunteer and friendship relationships between MSU and the United Nations Food and agriculture. (Photo courtesy of FAO)

High-performance computing and advanced modeling and simulations have become critical assets for supporting sustainable agricultural systems, Keenum said. These complex models and simulations are based on massive amounts of information, such as satellite imagery and climate change data. Our resources and personnel will be able to improve the performance and efficiency of these models thanks to our capacity and expertise in advanced computation.

We believe data science and artificial intelligence hold great promise for improving food security and alleviating hunger and poverty. We are excited to work with FAO to explore these possibilities and use cutting-edge technologies to find practical solutions to real-world problems.

For more information on FAO’s antimicrobial resistance efforts, visit https://www.fao.org/antimicrobial-resistance/en/.

For more information about MSU’s Global Center for Aquatic Health and Food Safety, visit www.gcahfs.msstate.edu.

Mississippi State University is all about what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.

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