New centre will study agriculture's impact on human health

Monday, October 6, 2014

The Center for Health Impacts of Agriculture, run by Michigan State University (MSU), will address global health concerns with agriculture, including the impact of agricultural development on increased cases of malaria in Malawi and the implications on human and animal health of antimicrobial resistance in humans, animals and plants.

MSU's website calls the centre the first of its kind and describes the venture as a collaboration between MSU's "renowned" agriculture research and its three colleges of medicine: the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the College of Human Medicine.

Prof. Felicia Wu, who will be leading the centre, says, "The world's population is expected to reach nine billion by the year 2050, creating drastically increased demands on agriculture and food production around the world . . . We need an integrated approach that will feed the population while maintaining health." BF