Ahmed E. Yousef

yousef.1@osu.edu

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Professor, Microbiology; Food Science and Technology
Bazler Food Safety Professor

Key words: Microbial safety of food; foodborne pathogens; antimicrobial peptides; mechanism of resistance.

RESEARCH

1. Quest for natural antimicrobial peptides suitable for food and other applications.

1. Discovery of novel and potent antimicrobial peptides to control foodborne pathogens.

2. A new lantibiotic was recently discovered; patenting and licensing are pending.

2. Applications of ozone as potent and environment-friendly sanitizer.

1. Comprehensive studies to use ozone, in lieu of chlorine, for production of safer fresh produce.

2. Developing ozone-based technology to produce Salmonella-free shell eggs. The technology has been patented and is currently in the implementation phase.

3. Evaluate and enhance the efficacy of ultra-high pressure, pulsed electric field, and other emerging food preservation technologies.

1. Improve the efficacy of these emerging technologies against processing-resistant pathogens.

2. Reveal the mechanism of inactivation of pathogens by the emerging technologies, particularly the ultra-high pressure treatment.

AWARDS

• Pomerence Departmental Teaching Excellence Award, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Science, 2007.

• Departmental Research Award, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Ohio State University. 2000.

• Outstanding Teaching Award, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Ohio State University. 1998.

• Departmental Research Team Award, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Ohio State University. 1996.

(Selected from over 130 publications)

Books

Sapers, G.  M. Gorny, J. R., and Yousef, A. E. 2006. Microbiology of fruits and vegetables.  CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

Yousef, A.E., and Carlstrom, C. 2006. Microbiologia de los alimentos: Manual de laboratorio.  Acribia, S.A., Espana.

Book Chapters

Waite, J.G., and Yousef, A.E.  2009.  Antimicrobial properties of hydroxyxanthenes, p. 79-98. In A. Laskin, G. Gadd, and S. Sariaslani (eds.), Advances in applied microbiology, v.  69. Elsevier Inc., Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Yousef, A.E. 2008. Detection of bacterial pathogens in different matrices: current practices and challenges, p. 31-48., In M. Zourob, S. Elwary, and A. Turner (eds.), Principles of bacterial detection- biosensors, recognition receptors and microsystems. Springer, New York, NY.

Lado, B. H. and Yousef, A. E. 2007. Characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes important to food processors, p. 157-213. In  E. T. Ryser and E.H. Marth (eds.), Listeria, listeriosis and food safety, 3rd ed. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York.

Review Articles

Sastry, S. K., Jun, S., Somavat, R., Samaranayake, C., Yousef, A. E., and Pandit, R. B. 2009. Heating and sterilization technology for long-duration space missions: transport processes in a reusable package. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1161:562-569.

Research Papers

Loghavi, L., Sastry, S. K., and Yousef, A. E. 2009. Effect of moderate electric field frequency and growth stage on the cell membrane permeability of Lactobacillus acidophilus. Biotechnol. Prog. 25:85-94.

Vurma, M. Pandit, R.B., Sastry, S.K., and Yousef, A.E. 2009. Inactivation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and natural microbiota on spinach leaves using gaseous ozone during vacuum cooling and simulated transportation. J. Food Prot. 72:1538-1546.

Waite, J.G., and Yousef, A.E. 2009. Food microbiology projects: Student ownership from topic selection and experimentation to presentation in 10 weeks. Microbelibrary, Curriculum Collection, Feb 2 {microbelibrary.org}.

He, Z., Yuan, C., Zhang, L., and Yousef, A. E. 2008. N-terminal acetylation in paenibacillin, a novel lantibiotic. FEBS Lett. 582:2787-2792.
Malone, A.S., Chung, Y-K. and Yousef, A.E. 2008. Proposed mechanism of inactivating Escherichia coli O157:H7 by ultra-high pressure in combination with tert-butylhydroquinone. J. Appl. Microbiol. (in press)

He, Z., Kisla, D., Zhang, L., Yuan, C., Green-Church, K. B., and Yousef, A. E. 2007. Isolation and identification of a Paenibacillus polymyxa strain that co-produces a novel lantibiotic and polymyxin. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73:168-178.

Patents

Yousef, A.E. and Rodriguez-Romo, L. 2009. Process for ozone-based decontamination of shell eggs. US Patent # 7,491,417 B2.

LINKS
http://fst.osu.edu/foodsafetylab/index.htm