TNFood.SafetyCoE@tn.gov
TNFood.SafetyCoE@tn.gov
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John R. Dunn
DVM, PhD, EMBA
CoE Co-Director
Katie Garman
MPH, CHES
CoE PI
Siobhan Dodds
MPH
CoE Program Manager
Thomas Denes
PhD
CoE Co-Director
Jiangang Chen
MD, PhD
CoE Co-Director
Lauren K. Hudson
PhD
Research Assistant Professor
CoE Co-Director
State Epidemiologist
State Public Health Veterinarian
Director of Foodborne, Vectorborne, and Zoonotic Diseases
Tennessee Department of Health
Dr. John Dunn, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, attended Louisiana State University where he obtained a BS in Zoology in 1991. After completing his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, he spent three years in mixed animal veterinary practice. Dr. Dunn completed a PhD in veterinary medical sciences (Epidemiology and Community Health) at Louisiana State University in 2003. Dr. Dunn conducted collaborative research with USDA-ARS focused on the pre-harvest epidemiology of Shiga-toxigenic E. coli in ruminants. Dr. Dunn received a commission in the U.S. Public Health Service and joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July 2003 where he worked in the Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer. After four years with CDC, Dr. Dunn joined the Tennessee Department of Health as Director of Foodborne, Vectorborne, and Zoonotic Diseases. He currently serves as the State Epidemiologist and State Public Health Veterinarian directing the Communicable and Environmental Diseases and Emergency Preparedness division. Dr. Dunn is past president of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians and has chaired multiple compendium committees. During 2022, Dr. Dunn completed his Executive Master of Business Administration-Strategic Leadership at the University of Tennessee Haslam School of Business. Dr. Dunn has over 100 publications focused on infectious disease epidemiology and is a peer reviewer for numerous journals. His interests include infectious disease epidemiology, zoonoses, and the environmental, social, and governance impacts on pre-harvest food safety and the global supply chain.
CoE PI
Foodborne and Enteric Diseases Program Director
Tennessee Department of Health
Katie Garman is a public health professional with 20+ years of experience in the field. She holds an MPH degree with a concentration in Behavioral Sciences from Emory University and a BS degree in Applied Psychology from Ithaca College. In 2002, she started with the Tennessee Department of Health as a Health Educator and moved into her current role as the Foodborne and Enteric Diseases Director in 2014.
Siobhan Dodds is a public health professional with seven years of experience in community health and epidemiology. She specializes in program management and evaluation, stakeholder engagement, needs assessment, and training development. She currently manages the Tennessee Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence as part of the Foodborne and Enteric Disease program in the Communicable and Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness Division of the Tennessee Department of Health. She earned her MPH at the University of Illinois – Chicago and started her career in food safety at the Chicago Department of Public Health Disease Control Bureau. She assisted the department stand up their first student team of investigators and led a multi-disciplinary workgroup to develop a protocol for communicable disease investigation. She is passionate about building capacity in foodborne and enteric disease programs and developing an empowered public health workforce.
CoE Co-Director
Assistant Professor
University of Tennessee
Department of Food Science
The University of Tennessee’s Department of Food Science, founded in 1972, is the only food science program in State of Tennessee. Research in the Denes lab focuses on bacteriophage-based applications for food safety and whole genome sequencing for improved surveillance and outbreak detection of food-borne pathogens. Denes employs genomic approaches, such as whole genome sequencing and RNA sequencing, as well as traditional microbiology and genetics methodologies.
Jiangang Chen, MD, PhD researches potential environmental impacts on human reproduction, with a special interest in effects of endocrine disruptors (EDS) on the homeostasis of endogenous hormones. A considerable part of his research has been focused on a wide variety of synthetic compounds with intrinsic hormonal activity that may have adverse effects on human health. Exposure to EDS may change the balance of endogenous hormones, i.e. between estrogen signaling and androgen signaling; and thus, may contribute to the pathology of many hormone responsive diseases, including prostate and breast cancers.
Research Assistant Professor
University of Tennessee
Department of Food Sciences
Lauren Hudson has worked with the Tennessee Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence since 2018. She collaborates closely with the Tennessee Department of Health to improve foodborne disease surveillance, cluster detection, and outbreak investigation. This partnership fosters a two-way exchange between academic research and public health practice: real-world needs guide research priorities and research findings drive improvements in practice. Her research focuses on foodborne bacterial pathogens, specifically Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Listeria. She uses computational tools to analyze whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data to investigate source attribution, assess transmission patterns, and detect molecular epidemiological clusters. Her training and outreach efforts, including the WGS Live Learning Series and online learning resources, help equip epidemiologists with the skills to interpret WGS data and integrate it into investigations. She holds a PhD in Food Science from the University of Georgia and a BS in Food Science and Human Nutrition (Food Science emphasis, Chemistry minor) from the University of Florida.