Hudson College Faculty Member Receives USDA Funding for Innovative Food Safety Research

Changjie Cai, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Oklahoma Hudson College of Public Health, is part of an interdisciplinary research team awarded $292,496 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) to develop a faster, more sensitive method for detecting harmful bacteria that can threaten food safety and public health.

The collaborative project, funded through USDA-NIFA's Food Safety and Defense program, focuses on improving the detection of Listeria, a foodborne pathogen that can cause serious illness. Titled Developing a Facile Filter-Assisted Method for Rapid Detection of Listeria Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, the research will explore an innovative approach to identifying the bacteria in air and environmental surface samples.

Early and accurate detection of Listeria is an important part of preventing contamination and reducing the risk of foodborne illness. By developing a rapid, filter-assisted detection method, the research team hopes to improve how the pathogen is identified and provide new tools that could strengthen food safety monitoring and prevention efforts.

Led by Danhui Wang, Ph.D., of Texas Woman's University, the project brings together researchers from Texas Woman's University, the OU Harold Hamm Health Campus and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The interdisciplinary team combines expertise in environmental health, aerosol science and detection technologies to address challenges in identifying potential sources of contamination.

As Co-Principal Investigator and OU site lead, Cai will oversee the project's aerosol research, including designing aerosol chamber experiments, collecting airborne Listeria samples and evaluating sampling methods. His work will help determine how effectively the new approach can detect bacteria in airborne environments.

Additional Hudson College researchers will contribute their expertise to the project. Balaji Sadhasivam, Ph.D., of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, will lead viability testing to assess the biological characteristics of collected samples, while Ravi Gor, Ph.D., will contribute as a postdoctoral researcher.

The project reflects the Hudson College of Public Health's commitment to advancing research that addresses emerging environmental and public health challenges. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative detection technologies, Cai and his colleagues are working to strengthen food safety practices and support efforts to protect communities from foodborne illness.