Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the united states has a complex…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the united states has a complex food system where our foods come from multiple production, processing, and packaging facilities. These create numerous potential entry points for foodborne pathogens and require stringent surveillance and disinfection protocols. However, some pathogens, such as listeria monocytogenes (listeria), survive even under extreme environmental conditions, including low PH and temperatures. Once entering high-risk individuals, listeria can cause infections with high mortality rates and hospitalization costs. Despite our best disinfection efforts, listeria outbreaks continue to take place. Costly food recalls as a result of potential listeria contamination are also frequent. These urgent issues can all be attributed to the ability of listeria to persist in the food production and processing facilities. In fact, listeria can adhere to surfaces and grow into a biofilm structure resistant to many disinfectants and sanitizers. This project aims to target and destroy listeria biofilm structures through nanotechnology by generating composite structures at the nanoscale responsive to external stimuli such as magnetic fields. More specifically, we plan to create and characterize innovative nanobioconjugates that contain cellulose-derived materials with magnetic nanoparticles linked to synthetic or natural disinfectants. We plan to investigate the effectiveness of these nanobioconjugates against listeria biofilm under magnetic fields. This collaborative and interdisciplinary effort will occur in two different institutions, one mid-size university and one minority- and hispanic-serving university. The project will involve undergraduate as well as graduate students. Ultimately, our findings will bring advanced nanotechnology to combat the presence and persistence of foodborne pathogens to promote food safety.