PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (February 8, 2023) – For American grocery shoppers, it doesn’t get much healthier than fresh fruits and vegetables. However, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with domestic and imported fresh fruits and vegetables have increased – spurring a new crop of research initiatives in microbial food safety at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU).
Javad Barouei, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences at PVAMU, is helping to develop the new microbial food safety research program. He has recently been awarded a $100,000 grant by Texas A&M AgriLife Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture (IHA) to initiate this research.
The award is a two-year subcontract with a postdoctoral researcher supported by IHA, meant to establish a new collaboration between PVAMU, and Texas A&M AgriLife Research to perform high-quality collaborative research on microbial food safety. Three PVAMU faculty members were selected to participate in this program in Ag Economy, Nutrition and Food safety.
“These three collaborations between the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences (CAHS) at PVAMU and the Institute of Advancing Health through Agriculture (IHA) at Texas A&M University (TAMU) provide our students and researchers with the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research with a tremendous impact on consumers nationwide,” said PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA.
Javad Barouei, Ph.D., associate professor, College of Agriculture and Human Sciences
Dr. Barouei will work alongside Matt Taylor, professor of food microbiology in the Department of Animal Science at TAMU.
“I am honored and excited that I am among those few to receive this grant. The project is a collaborative research work between PVAMU and TAMU AgriLife,” said Barouei. “I am excited that I will be working with my TAMU collaborator Dr. Matt Taylor – a nationally and internationally renowned researcher in the field of microbial food safety.”
The University’s partnership with TAMU will increase PVAMU research outputs and result in greater recognition of the institution at the national and international levels. The proposal objectives are expected to result in several research products (including scientific papers) and lead to follow-on federal grant programs such as the Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Foundational and Applied Science (USDA AFRI FAS) Program – competitive research program for the agricultural sciences focused on pressing agriculture-related issues.
For Barouei, this grant is an opportunity to help and support bigger research projects in this developing research area while magnifying the learning experience for undergraduate students and furthering PVAMU’s mission.
“With the focus on improving food safety practices in small-scale farms in Texas, this [project] is also in line with the historical PVAMU mission to advance underserved communities and serve limited-resource clientele,” said Barouei. “An important part of this project is providing opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research and co-curricular activities – training them through exposure to research activities. Undergraduate student exposure and interaction with collaborating research-intensive institution TAMU AgriLife will provide a strong foundation for matriculation into professional and advanced degree programs.”
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By Jenna Craig