Jessica Brown, a doctoral candidate in Dr. Steven Ricke’s lab, was recently awarded the J. Mac Goepfert Developing Scientists Award. This award is presented by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), an association focused on advancing food safety worldwide. The J. Mac Goepfert Developing Scientists Awards are presented to students in the field of food safety research who enter into either the technical or poster competition at the IAFP annual meeting.

Twelve students, including Jessica, were selected as Developing Scientist Finalists based on their abstracts, earning them the opportunity to present their data to a panel of judges composed of academic and industry professionals. Jessica won first place in the Technical Presentation category of the award.

Jessica’s project focused on the utilization of 16S sequencing with viability differentiation to create a microbial map of a Ready-to-Eat (RTE) meat manufacturing facility. The goal of this research was to identify steps in the process where contamination is likely to occur and utilize this information to make data driven decisions to improve the safety and quality of RTE meat products. Jessica’s project is now complete and was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Ricke’s lab members.

Jessica graduated with her bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Florida in the Animal Sciences department. In 2021, she moved to Madison to start her doctorate program in Animal and Dairy Sciences with a focus on Meat Science and Food Safety . She was influenced by MSABD’s state-of-the-art facility to further focus on meat processing research.

Jessica’s doctoral research focuses on the application of molecular-based technologies in the meat industry. In the past, her research has focused on identifying Salmonella within the pork industry by looking at harvest and fabricated cuts.

Her most recent research project has inspired Jessica to further pursue research in the area of viable molecular sequencing. Traditional sequencing is unable to distinguish whether DNA is coming from live or dead cells. This can create challenges when evaluating food safety risks. Jessica hopes her research will encourage others to continue to pursue effective ways to differentiate DNA from live and dead cells prior to molecular detection.

For someone interested in being involved in meat science, Jessica recommends growing your network and finding an internship. She notes how having connections in different places has helped guide her both from a research perspective and in her academic career. Jessica will complete her doctorate program this Summer. In the future, she hopes to get involved in the meat industry with a focus on food safety. Congratulations, Jessica!