Two Researchers to Present Seminars in the Department of Food Science

The Department of Food Science will host Sangeeta Khare and Aschalew Bekele at 3:05 p.m. today, Monday, Jan. 26. The seminars will be held in Room D-2 of the FDSC Building, 2650 N. Young Ave.

Khare, a research microbiologist for the National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, Arkansas, will present "New Paradigm of Toxicity Assessment: Intestinal Microbiota and Gut-Associated Immune Response."  Khare received her doctorate in microbiology and immunology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. She was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Saskatoon, Canada.

Khare's research focuses on the complex relationships and health consequences of exposures to dietary and environmental chemicals on the commensal bacteria populations of the gastrointestinal tract. Another aspect of her research is to assess the interaction of nanoparticles with the gastrointestinal tract. The outcome of this research will have a direct impact on the discovery of biomarkers, improved food safety and personalized treatment.

Bekele, an FDA Commissioner Fellow for National Center for Toxicological Research, will present "Evaluation of the antiviral activity of nano particles against enteric viruses." Bekele received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1998 from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and a doctorate in 2012 from Hokkaido University, Japan, with a focus on gut microbial ecology. Prior to his current position, he was a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota from March 2012 to October 2013.

His overall research interest is towards understanding the role of gut microbiome and virome in maintaining gut homeostasis and health. He has worked in projects that aimed at analyzing how the microbiota responds to diet induced changes as well as on molecular typing of specific bacterial enteric pathogens. Currently, Bekele is primarily involved in the assessment of antimicrobial and antiviral activities of nanoparticles and their potential risk to the gastrointestinal microbes.