Dr. Ashley Johnson has joined the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) as director of food policy. In her role, she will focus on developing and implementing post-harvest food safety and human nutrition programs and addressing animal care issues in market channels.

“We are excited to have someone like Dr. Johnson join the NPPC team,” said NPPC CEO Bryan Humphreys. “Her wealth of knowledge is a tremendous asset as we help set the direction of the country’s food policies and weigh in on issues that could affect producers’ ability to produce safe, nutritious pork for consumers worldwide.”

Johnson comes to NPPC from Zoetis, where she was a technical service veterinarian for more than five years. Among many duties, she worked with the animal health company’s public affairs department to disseminate information to its pork team and customers on legislation and regulatory actions that could affect the pork industry.

Before that, Johnson was a staff veterinarian for Pigs for Farmer John (PFFJ), where she was responsible for supporting herd health programs for the farrow-to-finish system, which had 60,000 sows in four different states. Additionally, Johnson had externships with Murphy-Brown, the swine production subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, and with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Johnson earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and a bachelor’s degree in animal and veterinarian science from Clemson University. She did postdoctoral work with the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she served as regional control coordinator for Johnston and Moore counties in North Carolina, addressing porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome.

Source: NPPC