Faculty of Infectious Diseases

Epidemiology of foodborne pathogens at the farm-to-table continuum. Epidemiology of infectious diseases in food animals.

Application of analytical epidemiologic methods to food animal production medicine and food safety research. Interested in infectious and foodborne diseases of livestock and poultry.

Interested in developing rapid and sensitive methods for virus detection in foods and water, evaluating intervention strategies used during food processing (farm to fork) for control of foodborne viruses, and investigating virus attachment on food surfaces and possible uptake of viruses into plant tissues. Other research interests include studying the role of the asymptomatic foodhandler at the farm and restaurant levels in causing outbreaks and sporadic cases of viral gastroenteritis (caused by human noroviruses).

Research has focused on analysis of gene expression profiles of E. coli O157:H7, non-thermal plasma intervention strategies for foodborne pathogens, functionality of naturally derived antimicrobials, and concentration techniques for sampling pathogens from the environment or food for improved detection.

Develop better methods to detect, control, and reduce contamination of foodborne pathogens from farm to plate. Pathogens under study include Salmonella, Campylobacter, Clostridium botulinum, E. coli O157:H7 and EHEC, and Listeria monocytogenes.

Comparative immunology studies at both cellular and molecular levels with particular emphasis on mechanisms of innate immunity. Model systems include teleost homologues of mammalian NK cells and pattern recognition receptors.

Research is focused on new biosensing and bioimaging methods including laser-optical imaging modalities, fluorescent environment-sensitive probes, and image analysis. The research is widely application-driven and focuses on the needs of my collaborators.

Interested in the microflora associated with marine organisms, particularly novel organisms associated with the guts of fishes, as well as the biogeography of potentially pathogenic organisms in the environment.

SERS research on E. coli O157:H7 has demonstrated a potential technique for rapid detection method. The results indicated that E. coli O157:H7 can be identified from other strains and other bacteria including salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. The patent application for SERS system and method for detection has been filed through UGA Research Foundation. For the encapsulation of fish oil using chitosan, the results indicated a novel technique.

Research centers around the merging of Nanotechnology with Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), specifically for biomedical and lab-on-a-chip applications.Focus is not only on the development, characterization and functionalization of new materials and devices, but also on physical modeling, synthesis and device fabrication.

The molecular epidemiology and population genetics of zoonotic and veterinary bacterial pathogens.

Research with goals to isolate, identify, and control parasites that infect humans and animals and can be acquired via contaminated food and water. Currently the lab is focused in Cyclospora cayetanensis, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Neospora, and Toxoplasma.

Research focus is to understand the molecular epidemiology of important multidrug resistant food borne pathogens in animals, food and humans. In addition, characterizing the pathogen to specific strain level is time consuming and very costly. Thus, the molecular characterization of antimicrobial resistance and development of effective detection system for food borne pathogens are the two most important research goals.

Interested in the detection and enumeration of food animal pathogens, ELISA serological test development and developing or improving diagnostic methods.