Graduate Students
Xiaoqing Tan
Xiaoqing (Ellie) was a Food Science M.S. student from 2017 - 2019. She investigated microbiomes and microbiological safety of the apple packinghouse environments. She graduated in the Summer of 2019 and moved to a research position in eGenesis Bio. She is currently a Research Associate at Qihan Biotech. Xiaoqing is currently a PhD student in Microbiology at Cornell University.
Manjari Mukherjee
Manjari was a Food Science M.S. student from 2017 - 2019. She worked on the quantitative detection of cytotoxic effects of the B. cereus group isolates towards human cell cultures. Manjari is currently a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University.
Taejung Chung
Taejung was a Food Science M.S. student from 2017 - 2019. He investigated the relationship between the microbial ecology of surface waters and the presence of cultured foodborne pathogens. Taejung graduated in the Summer of 2019 and stayed in the lab to pursue his Ph.D.
Priscilla Sinclair
Priscilla was a Food Science M.S. student from 2019 - 2021. She studied the control of L. monocytogenes in food processing facility biofilms. Priscilla graduated in the Summer of 2021. She is currently working at PepsiCo.
Runan Yan
Runan was a Food Science and Clinical and Translational Sciences PhD student from 2018 - 2023. She is currently a postdoctoral scholar at Clemson University.
Maria Laura Rolon
Laura was a Food Science and International Agriculture and Development PhD student from 2019 - 2023. She moved on to a research and development scientist position at the Perfect Day, followed by a tenure-track faculty position in Food Safety at CalPoly.
Taejung Chung
Taejung was a MS and PhD student from 2017-2019 and 2019-2023, respectively. After graduation, he assumed an ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow position at the USDA ARS Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence.
Undergraduates
Jenna Tsvayg
Jenna was an Undergraduate Student in Food Science from 2019-2020. Jenna is currently an Associate Quality Engineer at McCormick & Company.
Jinzhang Feng
Jinzhang was an undergraduate student in Food Science from 2019-2020. Jinzhang is starting a PhD in Food Science at Cornell University in Spring 2021.
Gabriella Pinto
Gabriella was an undergraduate student in Food Science from 2019-2020. Gabriella is currently an Associate R&D Scientist in Food Safety at PepsiCo. Gabriella is currently a PhD student in Food Science at University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne.
Emma Mills
Emma was an Immunology and Infectious Disease major. She worked with Bacillus cereus to study its antimicrobial resistance. She also worked on the genomic epidemiology of clinical Campylobacter strains from Pennsylvania. Emma wants to further her knowledge in tracking disease and antimicrobial resistance. Emma is currently a project manager for all Global Emerging Infections Surveillance projects at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Emma is currently a PhD student at University of Pittsburgh.
Gianna Tartaglia
Gianna was a Food Science major. Gianna is currently a Research Executive at MMR Research.
Timothy Fitzgerald
Tim was an Immunology and Infectious Disease major. He investigated the production of insecticidal crystal proteins by food and environmental isolates of the Bacillus cereus group, and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter. Tim graduated in Spring 2019 and moved to an ORISE fellow position at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Timothy is currently a PhD student at Tufts University.
Hanan Salim
Hanan was a Math major with an interest in mathematical and computational biology. He worked on a research project focused on microbial ecology and the safety of surface waters. Hanan graduated in Spring 2019. Hanan is currently working as a Research Assistant in Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
Xiaoxuan (Meg) Shi
Meg's was a Food Science major. Her project focused on investigating persister physiology in Listeria monocytogenes. Over the summer of 2018, Meg was working on a water safety research and extension project in a frame of the CONSERVE project, at the University of Maryland. Meg received competitive research funding from Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and the Department of Food Science. In Fall 2018, Meg served as a teaching assistant in FDSC 409 - Laboratory in Food Microbiology. Meg graduated in Spring 2019 and moved to a research position at MARS Global Food Safety Center in Bejing. Meg is currently a PhD student in Food Science at Cornell University.
Ashley Weaver
Ashley was an Immunology and Infectious Disease major. She worked on a research project focused on the development of a novel antimicrobial resistance testing method. Ashley was interested in bacterial and viral pathogenesis and investigating how they cause disease in humans, as well as vaccine development. Ashley graduated in Spring 2019 and moved to a research position of an associate scientist at GlaxoSmithKline. Ashley is currently a PhD student at Baylor College of Medicine.
Caitlin Luyster
Caitlin was a Food Science major. She worked in the lab from Fall 2017 to Fall 2018. She developed and secured funding for a project investigating the Salmonella die-off during cocoa roasting. She also assisted in the FDSC 409 Laboratory in Food Microbiology course. In Summer 2018, she worked at Ecolab where she secured a position of an Account Manager in Training after her graduation in Spring 2019. Caitlin is currently a Senior Product Developer at Fresh Blends.
Marysabel Mendez Acevedo
Marysabel was an undergraduate researcher from the University of Puerto Rico visiting Penn State as a Bugs in my Food Fellow (USDA-funded REEU program). Her research in Summer 2018 was focused on the characterization of a new Bacillus cereus group species. Marysabel completed the MS program in Food Science at Penn State in 2023 and is currently a Research Associate at Penn State.
Shannon Brady
Shannon was a Food Science major. She spent a Spring 2018 semester in our lab to learn how to analyze bacterial whole genome sequences. After graduation, she became a Food Technologist and later Sr. Research Scientist at The Hershey Company.
Megan Condello
Megan was a Food Science major. She worked in the lab in Fall 2018 on a research project focused on antimicrobial resistance of E. coli and Salmonella. She was interested in food safety and hoped to gain more knowledge of these major food pathogens through her project. Megan graduated in Spring 2019 and started working as an R&D Contractor for Campbell Soup.
Kaelyn Emanuel
Kaelyn was a junior undergraduate majoring in Food Science, with an interest in microbiology. She worked in the lab in Fall 2018. She assisted in the research focused on the inactivation of Salmonella on cocoa beans. Kaelyn spent her summer of 2019 as an intern at Turkey Hill. After graduation, Kaelyn joined Vantage Foods. She is currently a Business Development Representative at Microbac Laboratories.
Sarah Koay
Sarah was a Food Science major. She worked as an undergraduate researcher in the lab in Spring 2018. She secured competitive funding from Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences for her research focused on evaluating food safety of raw cocoa. She was evaluating the antimicrobial effects of the infrared treatment of cocoa to improve the safety of minimally treated cocoa. Sarah has graduated in Spring 2018 and is working on a quality assurance position at Bloomin Brands. She moved to the position of a Project Engineer at Fraser & Neave Holdings BHD. Sarah is currently the Head of Product Management at Notti Pet Food.
Hephzibah Nwanosike
Hephzibah was an undergraduate researcher from Juniata College, visiting Penn State as Bugs in my Food Fellow (USDA-funded REEU program). Her research in Summer 2018 was focused on investigating the effect of different cocoa roasting processes on inactivation of Salmonella. Hephzibah is interested in research studies that contribute greatly to improved public health. She has done research in the area of food and environmental microbiology, epigenetics and metagenomics. Hepzibah is currently a PhD student at Baylor College of Medicine.
Thomas Pastor
Thomas was a Food Science major working in the lab in Spring 2018. He was evaluating Bacillus cereus group microorganisms from food and food processing environments as potential reservoirs of transmissible antimicrobial resistance genes (AMRg). He was using whole-genome sequence data to identify AMRg and investigate their associations with phenotypic susceptibility. Thomas was awarded IFT's 2016 Feeding Tomorrow General Undergraduate Scholarship. He graduated in Spring 2018 and moved to Christian Hansen. He is currently a Senior Lab technician at Bell & Evans. Thomas is currently a Senior Research Scientist at The Hershey Company.
Elizabeth Yeung
Elizabeth was a Food Science undergraduate student that worked on inactivation of Salmonella during cocoa roasting. Elizabeth served as a teaching assistant in FDSC 409 - Laboratory in Food Microbiology in Fall 2019. Elizabeth is currently a Supplier Quality Specialist for Nutrition at Unilever North America.
Gyasu Bajracharya
Gyasu from Gettysburg College was a summer 2019 REEU student in a USDA NIFA-funded program Bugs in my Food Fellow. Gyasu is currently a PhD student at University of California San Francisco.
Aimee Koestler
Aimee from University Lafayette College was a summer 2019 REEU student in a USDA NIFA-funded program Bugs in my Food Fellow. Aimee is currently a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Adrian Padin-Lopez
Adrian from the University of Puerto Rico was a summer REEU 2019 student in a USDA NIFA-funded program Bugs in my Food Fellow.
Madison Ruston
Madison assisted with research focused on the control of L. monocytogenes in food processing facilities. She graduated in Food Science in the Spring of 2021. She went on to work as a Nutrition Product Development Inter at ADM. Madison is currently an R&D Associate Food Technologist at F&S Fresh Foods.
Abigail Zimomra
Abigail assisted with research focused on the control of L. monocytogenes in food processing facilities. Undergraduate Student, Food Science. Abigail is currently a Quality assurance supervisor at Park 100 Foods.
Sarah Olson
Sarah assisted with research focused on the control of L. monocytogenes in food processing facilities. Undergraduate Student, Food Science. Sarah is currently an R&D Manager at Alamance Foods inc.
Abimel Salazar
Abimel from the University of Puerto Rico was a summer REEU 2021 student in a USDA NIFA-funded program Bugs in my Food Fellow. He is currently an MS student in Food Science at Penn State.
Carlos Centeno-Velez
Carlos from the University of Puerto Rico was a summer REEU 2021 student in a USDA NIFA-funded program Bugs in my Food Fellow.
Cassidy Prince
Cassidy was an Undergraduate Student in Microbiology. She is currently a PhD student in Microbiology at Cornell University.
Katie Bartlett
Katie was an Undergraduate Student in Microbiology. Katie is currently an ORISE fellow at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Makayla Mine Blackstock
Makayla was an Undergraduate Student in Immunology and Infectious Disease. Makayla is currently an MS student at the Florida International University.
Kayla Kimble
Kayla was an Undergraduate Student in Immunology and Infectious Disease. Kayla is currently an MS student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Christopher Pedone
Christopher was an Undergraduate Student in Food Science. Christopher completed an MBA at West Virginia University and is currently working at PepsiCo.
Anjali Sapre
Anjali was an Undergraduate Student in Immunology and Infectious Disease. Anjali is currently an ORISE fellow at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Erin Sullivan
Erin was an Undergraduate Student in Immunology and Infectious Disease. Erin is currently a Research Associate at Carnegie Mellon University.
Jason Nelson
Jason is an undergraduate student in Food Science at Penn State.
Elizabeth Henry
Elizabeth graduated with a BSc in Food Science in Fall 2023.
Grant Harm Miller
Grant is an undergraduate student in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Sociology.
Staff
Dilhani Nisansala Jayawardhana
Dilhani was a Research Technologist in the Lab. Dilhani is currently a Research technologist in the Department of Food Science at Penn State.
