The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $649,950 Project Grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program to the University of Massachusetts (UMass) to develop and evaluate magnetic ionic liquids (MILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DES) for the rapid concentration of foodborne viruses from food and environmental samples. This 3-year project aims to create portable, cost-effective methods for detecting low...
This $849,680 project grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310) will fund research at the University of Georgia Research Foundation to mitigate foodborne pathogen risk in leafy greens. Working with sub-awardees The Pennsylvania State University, USDA Agricultural Research Service Pacific West Area, and Kanvas Biosciences, Inc., the researchers aim to spatially...
This $299,999 Project Grant from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310) will fund research and extension activities at Oregon State University to help produce industry better implement cleaning and sanitizing programs to meet Produce Safety Rule requirements. Specifically, the awardee will (1) engage produce industry to characterize existing food contact surfaces and...
This Project Grant award, totaling $998,051.00, was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program to North Carolina State University. The goal of this 4-year project is to develop a system to help farmers detect Downy Mildew (DM) disease early in their cucurbit (cucumber, squash) crop fields before it causes major losses. The key products to be delivered include: A portable rapid detection test for identifying DM spores A...
This federal Project Grant award, provided by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310), funds the development of a novel double-stage filter system to rapidly detect the presence of Salmonella bacteria in food products. The $299,999 award to Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) aims to engineer an anti-fouling stirred cell device that can filter and collect...
This $999,656 Project Grant awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) aims to develop an integrated field-to-report system for rapid and effective plant disease diagnostics. The key products and services to be delivered include: Capacity building to equip a National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN) laboratory for high-throughput molecular virus testing of large volumes of potato tuber samples (Objective...
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) received a $300,000 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program. Through this three-year award beginning May 1, 2023, UMass will conduct research and develop training tools to improve food safety practices and raise awareness of norovirus risks in food service environments. Specific activities...
This $600,000 Project Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (AFRI program, CFDA 10.310) aims to identify the specific antimicrobial molecules produced by the beneficial bacterium Pseudomonas protegens PBL3 and understand how they inhibit the growth of a pathogenic bacterium that causes a devastating disease in rice crops. The goal is to develop biologically-based solutions to control crop diseases and reduce losses, thereby alleviating...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $120,000 Project Grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) to Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) to develop a CRISPR-Cas14 G-quadruplex (CRISPR-G4) biosensor for on-site detection of norovirus (NOV) in leafy greens. The project aims to: 1) design a CRISPR-Cas14 system for NOV RNA detection, 2) develop the CRISPR-G4 system for a...
The Federal Project Grant was awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program (CFDA 10.310). The $591,500 grant will support the development of novel tools and pipelines to analyze and predict the presence and behavior of recurring, emerging, and persistent (REP) foodborne pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. The University of Maryland, College Park will leverage genomic, phenotypic, and...