VIDA-PIG‟s project management team will be chaired by Anders Dalsgaard, Project Coordinator and Professor in Veterinary Public Health at the University of Copenhagen (UC). The UC Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences will provide expertise on pig health and management and antibiotic use and resistance. Prof. Dalsgaard has been doing research in Vietnam for more than 20 years, during which he worked with NIVR and NIN. Het was the main supervisor for the PhD studies of Drs. Son and Huong (see below). Dr. Britt Tersbøl is an anthropologist at UC and will be engaged in the qualitative studies.
Dr. Son (NIVR, Hanoi) will coordinate input from NIVR and field activities. NIVR is the leading veterinary research institute under MARD. NIVR will participate in a range of activities in the National Action Plan (NAP) and has core expertise within animal health management, including antibiotic use and resistance. Dr. Son will be part of the project management team.
Dr. Huong (NIN, Hanoi) will coordinate input from NIN such as qualitative research. NIN is a leading nutrition and food research safety institute under the MoH and has the mandate and key competences in food safety research, including analysis of antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance in food products. Dr. Huong will be part of the project management team.
Dr. Hung (International Livestock Research Institute, ILRI, Hanoi) will represent ILRI with quality assurance of protocols and field work, engaging researchers from the Institute of Anthropology in qualitative research activities and facilitating dissemination of research findings. ILRI is an international CGIAR livestock production research institute and works on food safety aspects using a One Health approach.
Dr. Hansen is Sector Director for Danish Pig Production at SEGES, a Denmark-based private sector partner affiliated with the Danish Agriculture & Food Council. SEGES builds bridges between research and practical pig farming in Denmark and internationally. It also has broad research expertise in pig production and will be responsible for establishing contact with and disseminate research findings to Danish companies with interest in Vietnamese pig production. The project management team will hold monthly meetings using AdobeConnect and Skype internet software.
An Advisory Committee will be established with members from NIVR, NIN, key staffers from MARD (e.g. DAH), the Danish Embassy‟s Growth Councilor, and a representative from the Danish Food and Veterinary Authoritative (DFVA). Bi-annual Advisory Committee meetings will be held in Hanoi to discuss on various project activities. Prof. Dalsgaard will have separate meetings with DFVA in Denmark as well.
The project management team and Advisory Committee will co-ordinate and initiate relevant collaborations with related national and international initiatives including those supported by NAP/MARD, US-AID, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit and the UN‟s FAO and WHO. During the first three months of the project, the activity plan will be reviewed and revised and used as the basis for finalizing the project‟s Log-Frame Matrix.