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Here are some of the speakers that will be presenting at the
2008 MCAFDO Conference.
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Richard Barnes has been
the Director, Division of Federal-State Relations, FDA/Office of Regional
Operations since 1995. Mr. Barnes received the Department of Health and
Human Services’ Secretaries Award for Distinguished Service, which is one of
the most prestigious awards given to a Federal government employee. He has
also received the FDA Commendable Service Award and numerous Group
Recognition Awards. Before coming to FDA, he was the Director of Consumer
Protection at the Oklahoma State Department of Health and the Director of
Veterans and Military Services at the Wichita State University, where he
received the Outstanding Community Achievement of Vietnam Era Veterans and
the Certificate of Appreciation for Service to the Vietnam Veterans. Mr.
Barnes received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from
Wichita State University and his graduate studies include educational
administration at the University of Oklahoma. |
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Paul Bronander is the
Quality Assurance Manager for the Unilever North American Ice Cream
facilities in Sikeston, Missouri. Formerly known as Good Humor- Breyers Ice
Cream, the company is currently undergoing a consolidation into the Unilever
Foods umbrella of businesses. Paul has been with the company for 25 years,
and at the Missouri locations since October of 1990. He has held various
positions in Production, Sanitation, and has been the Quality Assurance
Manager since 1992. He is a member of American Society for Quality, AOAC,
International Association for Food Protection, and National Conference on
Weights and Measures. |
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Captain Cindy Kunkel
received her bachelor's degree in Biology from Drury University in
Springfield, Missouri. After graduation, she worked for the Tulsa
City-County Health Department inspecting all types of food service and
teaching food handlers training classes. While in Tulsa, she received her
Master of Public Health from the University of Oklahoma with a major in
Environmental Health. Cindy is a Regional Food Specialist with the U.S. Food
& Drug Administration (FDA) in Kansas City and a Captain in the U. S. Public
Health Service. Since joining PHS and FDA, Cindy has had some interesting
assignments including deployments in response to several floods and
hurricanes and two different Olympics Games. This past summer, CAPT Kunkel
served aboard the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort as an environmental health
officer visiting Panama, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Peru. CAPT Kunkel is a
Registered Sanitarian and a Certified Food Safety Professional. She is long
time member of the Mid-Continental Association of Food & Drug Officials. |
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Rachel LeBansky, MS,
RS, CBSP, has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Public Health from
the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. She has a Masters degree in
Industrial Hygiene from Texas A&M University. Rachel worked at the TAMU
Environmental Health and Safety office for a little over two years after
graduating. Then she moved on to a Safety Specialist position at the
University of Texas at Austin where she has worked for almost 15 years. At
UT Rachel works primarily in the areas of laboratory and biological safety,
but she supervises staff in the areas of food safety, industrial hygiene,
indoor air quality, and mold remediation. |
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Reynaldo R. Rodriguez Jr
is the Dallas District Director. He has been in his current position since
February, 2008. Prior to this position, he served as the Compliance Branch
Director in Dallas, a Compliance Officer, Supervisory Investigator, and
Investigator. He began his career with FDA in 1983, and has a wide breath of
inspectional and compliance experience across all FDA program areas. Mr.
Rodriguez received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology/Chemistry from St.
Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas, in 1983, and received his Master of
Arts degree in Public Administration from Webster University, St. Louis,
Missouri, in 1986. |
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Commander April Shaw began
her government career as an Active Duty Army officer in 1989, where she was
stationed in Washington DC and San Antonio, TX. In 1996, she transferred
from the U.S. Army to the Commission Corps of the U.S. Public Health
Service. As an officer in the PHS she has worked in both Indian Health and
with the FDA. In Indian Health she worked in hospitals on the Navajo
Reservation and with the tribes in Oklahoma. For the FDA, she served as a
Consumer Safety Officer in the Pacific Region in the areas of Manufactured
Foods and Biologics and is currently a Retail Food Specialist with the
Southwest Region, stationed in Dallas. She has an undergraduate degree in
Food and Nutrition, is a Registered Dietitian, a Certified Diabetes Educator
and holds a Masters Degree in Public Health. |
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Gerald Wojtala manages
the food protection programs in the State of Michigan as the Deputy Director
of the Food & Dairy Division at the Michigan Department of Agriculture. He
is the President-Elect of the International Association of Food and Drug
Officials (AFDO). Mr. Wojtala earned a degree in Microbiology from Eastern
Michigan University and completed graduate work in food science at Wayne
State University. Prior to government service, he worked as a microbiologist
in Detroit. He is a long standing member of the Institute of Food
Technologists and a delegate to the Conference on Food Protection. Mr.
Wojtala received the FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation for his role in
investigating an outbreak of Hepatitis A among school children from the
consumption of strawberries and also for managing the response to the Power
Blackout of 2003 that occurred in the N.E. United States. |
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