IAFP Announces 2022 Student Travel Scholarship Recipients

Monday, April 11, 2022

Des Moines, Iowa - The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) will present Student Travel Scholarships to the following individuals at IAFP 2022, July 31–August 3, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sponsored by the IAFP Foundation, the Student Travel Scholarships provide travel funds to enable selected students to travel to and participate in IAFP 2022.

Jyoti Aryal is a Ph.D. candidate in Food Science and Technology focusing on food safety at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Ms. Aryal is currently working on developing more cost-effective techniques to mitigate the risk of cross-contamination in fresh produce. This study will help to determine the characteristics of the outbreak associated strains to impart distinctive characteristics which can contribute to the illness and outbreaks associated with fresh produce and can aid in the development of more effective post-harvest treatment methods. Ms. Aryal received her M.S. in Food Science and Technology from LSU and her B.S. in Food Technology from GoldenGate International College and Tribhuvan University, both in Kathmandu.

Patrice Bonny is a Ph.D. student in Food Microbiology at the University of Yaoundé I in Cameroon, where he also received his master’s degree. Mr. Bonny’s research is entitled “Microbiological Quality of the Sanaga Clams, Cameroon” and is partially carried out in the Soizick Le Guyader Lab at the French Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea in Nantes, France. The research is aimed to develop a metagenomic approach to study shellfish viral contamination.

Carmen Cano Roca is a doctoral candidate in Food Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she received her master’s degree. Her anticipated graduation date is May 2022. Ms. Cano Roca’s research focuses on the response of Salmonella to oxidizing antimicrobials, including ozonated water and peroxyacetic acid. She has also led and collaborated on projects focused on Salmonella population dynamics and validation of household appliances for consumer use. She received her B.S. in Food Engineering from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala in Guatemala City.

Grace Dewi is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul, where she received both her M.S. and B.S. in Animal Science. Ms. Dewi’s doctoral research project investigates the efficacy of host-derived probiotics and plant-derived extracts against multidrug-resistant Salmonella in turkey production, striving to develop innovative interventions that add to the arsenal against microbial pathogens and find ways to maximize the benefits to enhance current control measures. She is also a teaching assistant and has a May 2022 anticipated graduation date.

Jennifer Dorick is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia in Athens. Ms. Dorick’s research assesses the potential pathogen presence and microbial risk, including biofilms, associated with a commercial aquaponics system. She is currently completing a two-year microbial examination of the potential pathogens including Listeria monocytogenes, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, Salmonella enterica, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and their frequently contaminated regions in an aquaponics system. She holds an M.S. in Food Science from Auburn University and a B.S. in Food Science and Technology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Mairui Gao is completing her Ph.D. in Food Microbiology and Safety at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Ms. Gao’s current research focuses on improving microbial safety of food using effective, environmentally friendly, and sustainable biocontrol methods, with a focus on fresh produce. She received her M.S. in Food Science from Sichuan University and her B.S. in Food Science and Technology from Nanjing Agricultural University.

Mrinalini Ghoshal is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Ms. Ghoshal’s current research project focuses on developing novel acidified oil-based antimicrobial compounds that can effectively destroy Salmonella contamination on food contact surfaces maintained under conditions of low aw. She received her M.S. in Microbiology from the University of Calcutta and her B.S. in Microbiology from St. Xavier’s College, both in India.

Madison Goforth is an undergraduate student in the Department of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2022. Ms. Goforth is studying microbiology, nutrition, and foods systems, with minors in food safety and biochemistry. She plans to continue her education at the University of Arizona, completing her master’s degree in microbiology and eventually continuing with her doctorate. Her goal is to establish a research laboratory focused on research in soil microbiology, food safety, and quality to design an effective and safe system of farming that would eliminate subsistence agriculture in many countries and allow for a prosperous agricultural economy for farmers in low- and middle-income countries.  

Olivia Haley is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources at Kansas State University in Olathe. Ms. Haley is studying the application of ultraviolet light technologies for surface water disinfection and post-harvest quality enhancement. She received an M.Sc. in Plant Science from McGill University in Canada and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of South Carolina.

Rosa Heydenreich is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Health Science and Technology at ETH Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland. Ms. Heydenreich’s research project aims to develop a gentle method for bacterial spore inactivation in food, with a final goal of designing a food decontamination process that guarantees food safety while maintaining food quality. She holds an M.Sc. in Technical Chemistry from Vienna University of Technology and a B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Vienna.

Minji Hur is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia in Athens. Ms. Hur is researching the potential of avocados as vehicles for transmission of Listeria monocytogenes to determine its survival on avocado skin during storage, its transference to pulp by cutting, and post-cutting growth on pulp during refrigerated storage. She received her MS. In Food Science from the University of Georgia and her B.A. in Food Science and Biotechnology from Gachon University in South Korea.

Amalia Ghaisani Komarudin is a doctoral student from Indonesia studying in the Department of Global Agricultural Sciences at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo in Japan. Ms. Komarudin is currently sponsored by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education, Republic of Indonesia. Her research focuses on the characterization and development of non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) as an alternative approach to a more environmentally friendly sanitizer for fresh produce. She holds an M.Sc. in Food Safety, Hygiene, and Management from the University of Birmingham in the UK and a B.Sc. in Microbiology from the Institut Teknologi Bandung in Indonesia.

Mwarome Jumbale will graduate in September 2022 with a Master’s in Food Science and Quality from the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Mr. Jumbale’s current research is on the optimization of processing parameters in the production of mango flakes, with a goal of diversifying the processing of products from mango fruits. His project will address the issue of post-harvest losses, seasonal availability of mango products, nutritional and consumption quality, and improved revenue generation by small-scale mango farmers. He received his B.Sc. in Food Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Nairobi.

Tengfei Li is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Ms. Li’s research project involves screening and selecting robust cross-species analytical peptide targets in commonly consumed fish species, which could then be utilized to raise polyclonal antibodies that can be applied to develop a reliable and sensitive ELISA method for the detection of fish residues across different fish species. She holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences at Florida State University and a B.S. from the College of Food Science and Technology at Shanghai Ocean University.

Tlaleo Azael Marole is a Ph.D. food science student at the University of Pretoria in South Africa in the Department of Consumer and Food Sciences. Mr. Marole is a trained food safety lead auditor with more than six years of food safety and quality work experience in the dairy industry. His current research focuses on enhancing the survival of probiotic bacteria and production of bioactive metabolites in a multi-strain synbiotic yoghurt during storage. He holds an M.Sc. in Food Science, Safety, and Health from Heriot Watt University in Scotland and a B.Sc. in Biotechnology from the National University of Lesotho.

David Mugabo is in his third year as an undergraduate student in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Rwanda in Kigali. During his studies, Mr. Mugabo has attained basic insight into many fields including microbiology, toxicology, food safety, and quality management. He plans to pursue his master’s degree in Food Quality and Safety Management and eventually help bring food systems in Rwanda and other developing countries to a higher quality and safety level.

Jennifer Mydosh is completing her Ph.D. in the Department of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Ms. Mydosh’s current research project aims to discover an unknown aspect of Campylobacter jejuni pathogenesis. Her novel research will vastly enhance the understanding of C. jejuni pathogenesis, and will lead to a better understanding of C. jejuni associated post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome, possibly leading to novel treatments of acute disease and post-infectious sequelae. She holds a B.S. in Biomedical Science and Medical Laboratory Science from the University of New Hampshire.

Jasmine Smalls is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Maryland. Ms. Smalls’ research project aims to understand the occurrence of Vibrio spp. in blue crabs and seawater harvested from the Maryland Coastal Bays. Results from her studies will provide new insight on the Vibrio spp. that are identified as well as educate crab farmers and individuals who consume raw or lightly cooked seafood. She received an M.S. in Natural Resources from Delaware State University and a B.S. in Marine Biology from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.

Anand Soorneedi is pursuing his Ph.D. in Food Microbiology in the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst. A native of India, Mr. Soorneedi’s research focuses on the development of methods to concentrate food and environmental viruses from food samples prior to detection, as well as investigating new ways to inactivate viruses that pose a threat to public health. He holds an M.A. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Saki Tanaka graduated in March 2022 with her undergraduate degree in the Department of Bioresource and Environmental Engineering from Hokkaido University in Japan. Her undergraduate research was on food quality control. She plans to pursue her Ph.D. in hopes of elucidating the behavior of various microorganisms in food based on her research on glass transition. This research will help contribute to a wide field of food science, including prevention of food poisoning, quality control, and development of functional foods.

Kaidi Wang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry at McGill University in Quebec, Canada. Ms. Wang is working on her thesis project of isolation, characterization, and resuscitation of viable- but-non-culturable (VBNC) Campylobacter jejuni, one of the leading causes of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. She received her B.Sc. from Zhejiang University in China and her M.Sc. from The University of British Columbia.

Zirui Ray Xiong is completing his Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, with an anticipated graduation date of August 2022. Mr. Xiong’s research has focused on the determination of pathogen death kinetics in juice and alcoholic beverages (hard cider and wine). This project was designed to assist juice processors, hard cider and wine industries to comply with the FDA’s Juice HACCP regulation. He holds an M.S. in Food Science and Technology and a Master’s of Professional Studies, both from Cornell University, and received his B.S. in Biological Technology from the University of Science and Technology of China.

Lang Yao is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biology at Carleton University in Quebec, Canada. Ms. Yao’s current work on approaches for detecting Shigella in foods is anticipated to have important impacts in terms of the development of an approach for rapid response to a foodborne outbreak involving this organism. She received her master’s degree in Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry from McGill University in Quebec and her undergraduate degree in Food Science and Engineering from China Agricultural University in Beijing.