Food Safety Matters

Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University, having been employed with the university for over 22 years.  Dr. Jaykus received a Ph.D. (1993) in environmental sciences and engineering from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She previously earned B.Sc. (1979) and M.Sc. (1982) degrees in food science from Purdue University, as well as serving in industrial positions for seven years. Her research efforts are varied but she is best known for her work in food virology. She is currently serving as the scientific director of the USDA-NIFA Food Virology Collaborative. Also called NoroCORE (https://norocore.ncsu.edu/), the Collaborative is a seven-year, $25 million project intended to reduce the burden of disease associated with enteric viruses, particularly noroviruses. Prevention and control of norovirus contamination and subsequent transmission is