On January 15th, 2026 the Southwest Regional Food Business Center hosted a webinar focused on “Understanding Food System Vulnerabilities Through Simulation Modeling.” The webinar featured speakers David Goldenberg, Dr. Bennie I. Osburn, and Heather Johnson at the UC Davis Western Institute for Food Safety & Security (WIFSS) at the School of Veterinary Medicine, and Saurabh Parakh and Nelson Alfaro Rivas at MOSIMTEC.
Speakers discussed how risk modeling can inform preparedness and strengthen the resilience of our food systems, presented through research conducted by WIFSS and MOSIMTEC on simulation modeling to assess the potential impacts of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1—a virus that devastated the poultry industry and has recently spread to dairy farms.
This webinar is part of the Southwest Regional Food Business Center quarterly webinar series. The series provides attendees with the opportunity to learn more about the Center and initiatives related to business development and capacity assistance for local producers, farmers, and ranchers. Learn more about the MOSIMTEC at mosimtec.com USDA Disclosures and Guidance: https://bit.ly/USDAdisclosures.
- 00:00 – Welcome and Speaker Introductions
- 03:28 – WIFSS Presentation
- 09:42 – MOSIMTEC Presentation
- 30:38 – WIFSS Presentation
- 48:04 – Closing
Contact MOSIMTEC to learn how digital twin disease modeling can protect your agricultural operations and contrinbute to pandemic preparedness. Read the whitepaper that was developed in collaboration with WIFSS.