Vanessa Coffman received her PhD in Environmental Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2018. She previously served as a policy analyst at Stop Foodborne Illness, where her work focused on implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Her research portfolio includes studies for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization examining post-war farming systems in Sierra Leone; analyses of occupational and residential exposures associated with large-scale pork production in rural North Carolina; and investigations of the relationship between nitrate in drinking water—largely attributable to food animal operations—and fetal health outcomes in Denmark.

Upon returning to Stop Foodborne Illness, she has expanded the Alliance’s membership, staff, and programs, with a focus on advancing a strong food safety culture across the entire food system.