| Faculty & Staff | |
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Siyun Wang, PhD, Principal Investigator Dr. Siyun Wang is an Associate Professor of Food Safety Engineering at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, where she conducts research on microbial safety in the Ulrich Freybe Food Safety Laboratory. Siyun received her B.S. degree in Pharmacy from Fudan University (2005) and Ph.D. degree in Biology from the Institute for Food Safety and Health at Illinois Tech (2010). Prior to joining UBC in 2013, she was a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University. |
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Gahee Ban, Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Gahee Ban received her Ph.D degree in Food Science and Biotechnology from Seoul National University and worked as a postdoctoral associate at University of Hawaii before joining our lab. Her current project focuses on developing effective strategies to reduce Salmonella contamination in food chain. |
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Yvonne Ma, Lab Manager BSc in Microbiology and Immunology, UBC, 2017 MSc in Food Science, UBC, 2019 Yvonne completed her MSc in characterizing bacteriophages isolated from British Columbia in our lab. She was a recipient of the NSERC CGS-M scholarship. |
| Graduate Students | |
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Karen Fong, PhD Candidate BSc in Microbiology, UBC Okanagan, 2012 MSc in Food Science, UBC, 2015 Karen was born and raised in the Okanagan region of BC. She completed her MSc thesis in our laboratory in 2015, titled “Environmental adaptation and stress response of Salmonella enterica in peanut oil, peanuts and chia seeds”. Her PhD research is focused on isolation and characterization of bacteriophages from BC agricultural environment. Karen is a recipient of Canadian Dairy Commission & NSERC PGS-D scholarship. |
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Justin Falardeau, PhD Candidate BSc in Food Science, Carleton University, 2014 MSc in Food Science, UBC, 2017 Justin’s research is focused on the interaction between Listeria monocytogenes and the native microflora in soft-ripened cheeses like Brie and Camembert. His goal is to develop cheese starter cultures that possess intrinsic antilisterial activity. Justin originally came to UBC for his MSc after completing his BSc in Food Science and Nutrition at Carleton University in Ottawa. During his MSc research, Justin investigated the occurrence and predictors of common foodborne pathogens in surface waters used for irrigation in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Justin was the recipient of an Izaak Killam Pre-Doctoral Fellowship and currently holds an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Doctoral Scholarship |
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Thomas Brenner, PhD Student BSc in Honours Biology with a minor in Chemistry, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2015 MSc in Integrative Biology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2017 During his BSc and MSc programs, Thomas investigated the structure and function of proteins involved in cellulose biosynthesis by Escherichia coli. Following this, Thomas spent a year as a Project Manager/Research Associate for two major biofilm projects at Wilfrid Laurier University. He investigated potential treatments for periodontitis-causing organism biofilms under the Canadian Glycomics Network and bacteriophage treatments for various Salmonella spp. under Salmonella Syst-OMICS. His current PhD research at UBC involves the characterization of bacteriophages for reducing foodborne pathogen contamination. |
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Catherine Wong, PhD student BSc in Food Science, UBC, 2016 MSc in Food Science, UBC, 2019 Catherine was raised in Vancouver, BC and completed her Bachelor in Food Science in 2016. Her MSc thesis focused on reducing Salmonella contamination during pre-harvest of lettuce and tomatoes. |
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David Mahoney, MSc student BSc in Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, 2018 David was born and raised in Nova Scotia and attended Dalhousie University where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and immunology in 2018. David’s current area of study is how internalins play a role with stress response in Listeria monocytogenes. |
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Linda Yu Tong Lu, MSc student HBSc in Immunology and Nutritional Science, University of Toronto, 2019 Linda grew up in British Columbia but pursued her bachelor’s degree at University of Toronto. During her undergraduate, Linda investigated clinical predictors of mortality in heart failure at Toronto General Hospital. Her current MSc research at UBC involves characterizing bacteriophages for reducing pathogenic Escherichia coli contamination in fresh produce.
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Cora Chmielowska, Visiting PhD student Cora is currently a PhD student at the Department of Bacterial Genetics, University of Warsaw. |
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Kaili Wang, Visiting PhD student Kaili is currently a PhD student at the School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University. Her MSc thesis focused on pre-cooling and bacteria-reducing technology in the process of broilers slaughtering. |
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Undergraduate Students
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Erkan Yildiz, Visiting BSc student Erkan is a visiting research student working on the growth of Listeria monocytogenes on soft-ripened cheeses with Justin. He is currently pursuing his BSc in Applied Science at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. |
| Lab Alumni | |
| Postdoctoral and Research Associates | |
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Aljosa Trmcic, PhD PhD in Biotechnology, University of Ljubljana, 2011 Dr. Aljosa Trmcic was a Research Associate in our lab from 2016 to 2018. He worked on L. monocytogenes and biofilm formation, as well as on microbiology of sourdoughs. Currently, he is apointed as a food safety specialist at the BC Centre for Disease Control. |
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Kristie Keeney, PhD Dr. Keeney was a part-time Research Associate in our lab from 2015 to 2017. She is the founder of Keeney Scientific, Vancouver, BC. |
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| Graduate Students | |
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Patricia Hingston, PhD BSc in Food Science, Dalhousie University, 2010 MSc in Food Science, Dalhousie University, 2013 PhD in Food Science, UBC, 2017 Patricia (Trish) is originally from Ontario but also lived in Halifax, NS for 7 years while she completed her Bachelors and Masters in Food Science. She came to Vancouver for her PhD. Most of Trish’s past and current research is focused on elucidating stress survival mechanisms used by the human foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, to survive in food and food processing environments. Trish’s research in our lab focused on investigating L. monocytogenes‘ cold, salt, acid, and desiccation stress survival as well as its ability to form a biofilm on food processing surfaces. Trish was a recipient of the Alexander Graham Bell Canada Doctoral Scholarship scholarship. Currently, Trish is appointed as an Assistant Professor of Teaching (tenure-track) at UBC. |
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Yue (Cindy) Dai, MSc student BSc in Food Science, UBC, 2016 MSc in Food Science, UBC, 2018 Born and raised in China, Cindy came to Vancouver in 2012 and obtained her Bachelor of Food Science degree from UBC in 2016. Her MSc thesis project was focused on developing mitigation strategies for reducing pathogen contamination on sprouted vegetables. |
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Huihui (Hanna) Chen BSc in Environmental Science, Zhejiang University, 2015 MSc in Food Science, UBC, 2017 Hanna was born and raised in Zhejiang Province, China. Her MSc project in our lab focused on characterizing the Salmonella strains that are important to fresh produce safety in BC. |
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Shoukui He, visiting PhD student (2018) Department of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China Shoukui was a visiting student supported by the China Scholarship Council. He worked on the ethanol stress response mechanisms of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in our lab.
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Maxime Haure, Visiting MSc student (2015) Maxime is pursuing his MSc in Food Engineering at AgroSup Dijon, France. His project at UBC was focused on understanding the survival of Listeria monocytogenes in soil. |
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Maram Garout (2014-15) BSc in Microbiology, King Abdulaziz University, 2010 Maram has completed her graduate study on Master of Food Science (MFS) at UBC. When in our lab, Maram investigated the effects of Millard Reaction products on Verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC). |
| Undergraduate Students | |
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Devita Kireina BSc in Food Science, UBC, 2018 Devita conducted her undergraduate thesis project in our lab on sourdough fermentation. She loves to bake in her spare time and when she needs to de-stress. She hopes to travel the world to try different kinds of cuisines.
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Alfred Ke BSc in Applied Biology, UBC, 2018 Alfred conducted his undergraduate thesis project on Salmonella and sprouts safety in our lab. From the science to the culinary arts, he wants to experience as many different aspects of food as possible.
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Zheqing (Ula) Zhu BSc in Food Science, UBC, 2018 Ula has started her bachelor’s degree in Vancouver since 2013. Her BSc thesis studies the biofilm-forming abilities of Listeria monocytogenes with different virulence gene profiles, with the focus mainly on the comparison of truncated Internalin A and full-length InlA in L. monocytogenes. |
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Gwendolyn Ge BSc in Food Science, UBC, 2018 Gwendolyn is working on her undergraduate thesis project in our lab, which is about exploring the bacteria species involved in spontaneous cassava sourdough fermentation. In her spare time she enjoy reading, cooking, traveling and music, as well as meeting new friends. |
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Brett LaBossiere BSc in Biochemistry, University of Victoria, expected in 2018 Brett was raised in the Cariboo region of central BC. He is a visiting co-op student from the University of Victoria, and is assisting Karen Fong in characterizing Salmonella phages. |
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Anna Cheng BSc in Food Science, UBC, 2013 Anna completed her BSc thesis in our lab in 2013, titled “Real-time PCR vs. Traditional methods on the detection of Salmonella enterica in chocolates”. Anna is currently working as a Quality Assurance professional in food industry. |
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Yining Mao BSc in Biochemistry, UBC, 2014 Yining worked with Karen in our lab from September 2013 to April 2014, when he was a 4th year Biochemistry student at UBC. |
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Hyun Soo Seo BSc in Food and Nutritional Sciences, UBC, 2015 Hyun Soo completed her BSc thesis in our lab in 2015, titled “Antimicrobial effect of crude MRP on Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium under acidic and thermal stress conditions”. Hyun Soo is currently pursuing her MSc in Food Microbiology at Seoul National University. |
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Jesline Rahardjo BSc in Food Science, UBC, 2016 Jesline investigated the antimicrobial effects of Millard Reaction products on Salmonella. She will continue to pursue a Master’s in Management at UBC. |
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Shinnie Zhou BSc in Food Science, UBC, 2016 Shinnie’s BSc thesis project is on isolation and characterization of Salmonella phages from the BC agricultural environment. She is currently working as a consultant in a Vancouver-based company. |
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Donna Lau BSc in Biology studies, UBC, 2016 As a summer work-learn student, Donna worked with Justin on the enumeration of E.coli/Coliform in irrigation water. |
| Visiting Scholars | |
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Monika Trząskowska, PhD Faculty of Human Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW, Poland Dr. Monika Trząskowska was a Dekaban Foundation Scholar. She investigated effective mitigation strategies for producing safety mung bean sprouts in our laboratory.
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