Commander Nisha Oatman Antoine, the deputy director of the International Equivalence Staff in the Office of Policy and Program Development within the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, was awarded the 2019 UMES MANRRS Alumni Achievement Award.
Antoine joined the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service in 1995 through the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program. She joined the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in 2007 after 11 years of civil service.
In her current post, Antoine is responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and egg products imported into the U.S. are produced under standards equivalent to U.S. food safety standards, said Karl Binns, Jr., lead development officer for the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, national president of the MANRRS Club, and liaison for several attached Jr MANRRS clubs.
She provides leadership and management, ensuring the International Equivalence Staff apply a science-based equivalence process that aligns with World Trade Organization obligations.
Antoine earned a bachelor’s degree in pre-veterinary medicine/animal science with a minor in biology from UMES. She received her Master of Public Health in epidemiology/biostatistics from George Washington University.
