BCFPA 2025 Summer Webinar Series 1

The BC Food Protection Association would like to present:

SUMMER WEBINAR SERIES

You are invited to attend our educational Summer Webinar Series through the Zoom platform! 

Webinar #1:

Predict and Prevent: Selected Risk Modelling Activities at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)

Risk modelling helps us predict food safety threats before they reach your table. Learn how CFIA keeps your food safe!

Team Members (Presenters):
Ashwani Tiwari, DVM PhD, Senior Veterinary Specialist
Cory Lindgren, PhD, Science Leader
Justin Falardeau, PhD, Science Specialist
Christina Sparr, BSc, Science Specialist

Date: Monday, June 23, 2025
Time: 5:30-6:30 pm PT
Registration: Free for BCFPA Members
Location: via Zoom*
*The Zoom link will be available in a separate email closer to the event date to those who have registered for the webinar event.

Speaker Bios:
Ashwani Tiwari, PhD, DVM

Dr. Ashwani Tiwari is a Veterinary Epidemiologist working in Canadian Food Inspection Agency for the last 18 years. At present, he is Leading Advanced Data Analytics & Risk Modelling in Food Safety Division in Science branch. His team is responsible for developing risk models such as Food Import Risk Explorer model and Pridictive risk modelling using ML/AI methods. He had received is PhD from Atlantic Veterinary College, UPEI.

Cory Lindgren, PhD

Cory is a Science Leader working with the Advanced Data Analytics and Risk Modelling team at the CFIA.  He holds a PhD in Spatial Predictive Modelling from the University of Manitoba.  His current work focuses on risk modelling using machine learning and AI to support inspection staff in their day to day activities. Machine learning can be leveraged in Food Safety programs to make smarter, faster, and risk-based decisions.

Justin Falardeau, PhD

Justin is a Science Specialist with the Advanced Data Analytics and Risk Modelling team at the CFIA.  He holds a PhD in Food Science from the University of British Columbia, where he specialized in food safety microbiology.  His current work focuses on risk modelling and quantitative data analysis related to microbial food safety.

Christina Sparr, BSc

Christina is a Science Specialist with the Advanced Data Analytics and Risk Modelling team at the CFIA. She holds an Honours BSc in Biochemistry and a BASc in Chemical Engineering with a specialization in Biotechnology from the University of Ottawa. Her current work focusses on analyzing food program data and risk modelling activities in food safety.

Summary:
Selected Risk Modelling Activities at the CFIA
1. Risk Model to Support the Development of Canadian Performance Standards for Salmonella in Poultry
2. Food Import Risk Explorer (FIRE) model: Ranking risk at the food-hazard-country or origin level
3. FishNet: Machine learning model to estimate risk at the shipment level