Speaker:  Prof. J. David Miller, Professor of Department of Chemistry, Carleton University, Ottawa

Time: 4:00-6:00pm, 26 October 2017(Thursday)

Venue: T29-105

Language: English

Abstract of the talk:

There are five agriculturally important mycotoxins in food and feed, aflatoxin (1961), ochratoxin (1965), deoxynivalenol (1974), zearlanone (1966) and fumonisin (1988). In the US and Canada, contamination by mycotoxins costs the agri-food system between $200 million and $2 billion in loss each year. This accrues from testing commodities, foods and feeds, crop losses to farmers and disruptions to the value chain. In China, two mycotoxins have historically had a large impact on public health: aflatoxin and deoxnivalenol. The WHO Global Burden of Disease FERG (2015) considered all relevant chemical contaminants of food. Aflatoxin accounted for more than half the cancers (~30% of liver cancer globally) and considering the contribution of aflatoxin to child stunting, aflatoxin has a health impact equal to all chemicals found in food. Over the past three decades, very significant reductions in human exposure to these aflatoxin and deoxynivalenol have been achieved in China with the associated reductions in disease. The presence of these toxins in export commodities from China results in economic loss. In the EU, the US and Canada, aflatoxin in products sourced from China for about 1/3^rd of rejections at the border.   

About Prof. J. David Miller:

Dr. Miller received his secondary education at the University of New Brunswick, before studying at the University of Portsmouth in England, where he was also a NATO Science Postdoctoral Fellow. His post-university career at Agriculture Canada in 1982, and became head of the Fusarium mycotoxin program in 1988. He became a Professor & NSERC Research Chair in fungal toxins and allergens at Carleton University in 2000. From 1999-2008, he was a visiting scientist and science advisor at Health Canada in the air health effects division.

Dr. Miller has published >350 papers on fungi and fungal toxins and has co-written 9 books on the public health aspects of exposures to fungi, and has several patents. He participated in International Agency for Research on Cancer Monographs 56 and 86, and a panel leading to an IARC publication on mycotoxins and public health (Scientific Publication 158). He was a member of the drafting committee of the World Health Organization IPCS monograph on fumonisin B1. He was a member of the Toxicology Study Selection and Review Committee that considers compounds nominated by the US Food and Drug Administration to the National Toxicology Program. He chaired a WHO panel on fungal toxins in developing countries and co-edited the final report “Mycotoxin Control in Low- and Middle-Income Countries” (2016). He is a member of the 83rd Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (WHO/FAO; 2016-17).

Miller is an elected member of the International Academy of Indoor Air Sciences. Among other awards, he received the AgExcellence Award from Agriculture Canada, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Science and Technology Award, the Toxicology Forum Scott Award for contributions to toxicology, the Applied Research Award from the Ottawa Life Sciences Council, and the 2017 Award of Merit from the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association. In 2013, Miller was elected as a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. In 2016, he received the prestigious NSERC Synergy Award for his research partnership with JD Irving, Limited. Dr. Miller is a member of the Toxicology Forum in Washington.