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or two further from you on these linkages, it seems to me that 

 when we're talking about industry-funded research with the sus- 

 pect question mark from some entities out there, we do have to 

 look at linkages. For example, I have offered the thought that in 

 regard to food safety and environmental issues that the public 

 health sector needs to be linked with the research community in 

 some way, some shape or form or fashion. 



Are you aware of any efforts along that line in any of your States 

 or any of your affiliates that you represent here today in which we 

 might have a success story or two or something that has worked 

 along those lines, or is this still in its infancy of thoughts all over? 



Mr. Fischer. In the public health arena? 



Mr. Stenholm. Yes, the linking of the public health sector with 

 the questions that we're talking about today. 



Mr. Foil. Mr. Chairman, I'm aware, and I know Dr. Fischer is, 

 of the beginnings of a program in agrimedicine in South Carolina, 

 North Carolina, and recently initiated in Mississippi. 



I think it had its start in South Carolina, Jim. 



Mr. Fischer. That's correct. 



Mr. Foil. That one is a beginning, and I'll ask Dr. Fischer to 

 mention it. 



Another initiative that we're excited about is in the extension 

 arena in a new initiative funded in a pilot fashion this past yeai 

 in rural health care, a joint program between community and jun- 

 ior colleges, the Cooperative Extension Service, the State depart- 

 ment of health, and the university medical center in our State. 

 These are ideas whose time, I think, has come. 



Jim, you might mention the agrimedicine. 



Mr. Fischer. Forgetting your own State is not the appropriate 

 thing to do when you're here, but in South Carolina several years 

 ago we looked at the situation of health, and it started out reallj 

 in the pesticide area and exposure to pesticides by farmers, and we 

 linked with the medical university in the State of South Carolina 

 and then, through that linkage, have funded some programs where 

 we have both a research and an outreach and extension effort to 

 enhance the knowledge level of physicians on particular health is- 

 sues that farmers would be exposed to. It has been received very 

 well to enhance the level of knowledge of these physicians and also 

 to build the linkage. So they are looking at us in some joint re- 

 search efforts on trying to evaluate some of the impacts of health 

 specifically that's amenable to the agricultural profession. 



Mr. Stenholm. Dr. Carpenter, how can we maintain the most ef- 

 ficient linkage between extension and research, along these same 

 lines? 



Mr. Carpenter. Mr. Chairman, I believe that that is principally 

 done at the local and State level, and I might also cite some exam- 

 ples for you in which, in working with the meat industry, we deter- 

 mined through our research program that because of some percep- 

 tion of a biased nature of those of us in agriculture that we needed 

 linkage with the medical community, and so we did that — a strong 

 medical research program in Dallas and also through the Baylor 

 College of Medicine, looking at dietary fats and animal fats, and 

 that's been an extremely positive and productive linkage for us. 



