The Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) received a scientific conference grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The purpose of the award is to provide scholarships to state and local food & drug regulatory personnel to attend the 2019 AFDO Annual Educational Conference (AEC). This year's AEC is being held June 22-26, 2019 at the Grant Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, Atlanta, GA.

We will be able to fund a limited number of representatives to the conference.

How to Apply

To submit a scholarship application, click here: Application

Deadline

All applications must be submitted no later than the close of business on Friday, March 1, 2019.

The Scholarship Review Committee will consider each application. In some cases, we will only be able to assist with partial funding, but we will attempt to pay for a minimum of fifty percent of the cost of conference attendance to those selected recipients. Applicants should not make travel arrangements until they have received confirmation of selection. Selected recipients will be notified by Friday, March 29, 2019.

Criteria for receiving funding will be based upon a number of factors such as: whether or not your agency has funded participation in the past; the number of participants previously and currently funded by your agency; how active you have been in AFDO; and any other sources of funding available to you, including agency reimbursement and/or regional affiliate assistance. Preference will also be given to states which have active food, drug, and medical device regulatory programs and who have not been able to fund a representative due to the lack of out-of-state travel funds.

Special Note: Grant funds are extremely limited and cannot be utilized for Food or Registration Fees. Please apply for funding only if you have no other option for attending the conference.

The theme for this year's conference is "Industry and Regulators Partnering for a Safer Supply of Food and Medical Products".

Contact Patty Fitzgerald at pfitzgerald@afdo.org or 717-757-2888 ext. 102 with any questions or concerns.

Please feel free to pass this announcement along to other members of your staff who you believe would benefit from attending. We hope to see you in Atlanta, GA!