Suresh D.

Pillai
Professor and TAES Faculty Fellow
Director, National Center for Electron Beam Food Research
Chair, Graduate Biotechnology Faculty
Food Safety & Environmental Microbiology Program
Poultry Science Department & Nutrition and Food Science Department
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
Email:spillai@poultry.tamu.edu
Tel: (979) 862-4935
Fax: (979)845-1921

EDUCATION
1989 Ph.D. Microbiology and Immunology, University of Arizona, Tucson.
1985 M.Sc. Industrial Microbiology, University of Madras, India.
1983 B.Sc. Botany, University of Madras, India.

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2004-now Professor and TAES Faculty Fellow, Food Safety & Environmental Microbiology
Program, Poultry Science & Nutrition & Food Science Departments, Texas A&M
University

2004-now Chair, Graduate Faculty of Biotechnology, Texas A&M University

2003-now Director, National Center for E-Beam Food Research, Texas A&M University

2000-2005 Associate Director, Institute of Food Science & Engineering, Texas A&M
University

2000-2004 Associate Professor & TAES Faculty Fellow -Food Safety and Environmental
Microbiology Program, Poultry Science Dept. Texas A&M University

2000-now Member of Graduate Faculties of Poultry Science, Food Science & Technology,
Biotechnology, Veterinary Pathobiology, Toxicology, Soil & Crop Sciences, and
Water Program at Texas A&M University.

1998-1999 Associate Professor, Texas A&M Univ. Research Center, El Paso, and Soil and
Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
also Member, Graduate Faculty, Biology Dept., New Mexico State University, Las
Cruces, New Mexico
Member, Graduate Faculty, Biology Dept., University of Texas at El Paso. TX

1992- 1998 Assistant Professor, Texas A&M Univ. Research Center, El Paso, and Soil and Crop
Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

1991-1992 Research Scientist - Accelerated Products Development Program, Naval Medical

Research Institute, Bethesda, MD.

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also Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Uniformed
Services University of the Health Sciences, National Naval Medical Center,
Bethesda, MD.

1989-1991 Assistant Research Scientist, Department of Soil & Water Science, University of
Arizona, Tucson.

1986-1989 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Microbiology & Immunology,

University of Arizona, Tucson.

HONORS & AWARDS

2008 President’s Travel Fund Award- Society for Applied Microbiology (SFAM)
2008-2009 Distinguished Lecturer, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
2007-2008 Distinguished Lecturer, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
2007 Texas Environmental Excellence Award (Team-member)
2006- Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Department of Homeland Security Center for
Advanced Microbial Risk Assessment (CAMRA)
2006-now Expert Panel Member, Govt. Accountability Office (GAO), Washington, DC.
2004- Elected Member, Council of Principal Investigators, Texas A&M University
2003-2007 Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Warnex, Inc.
2002 TAES Faculty Fellow, Agriculture Program, Texas A&M University
2001 Appointed Member, National Academy of Science/National Research Council
Committee on Toxicants and Pathogens in Biosolids.
2001 Nominee, Texas A&M University Faculty Fellows Program
2000 Member, Faculty Senate, Texas A&M University
1988 Graduate Tuition Scholarship, University of Arizona, Tucson.
1986 Graduate Academic Scholarship, University of Arizona, Tucson.
1988 University of Arizona Foundation Award as a Graduate Teaching Assistant
1986-1989 Kate C. Lewis Academic Scholarship, University of Arizona, Tucson.

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION

2009 Chair, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Expert Panel on the use of food
irradiation for immuno-compromised patients. Vienna, Austria. November
2009 Member, External Advisory Board, Department of Homeland Security Center for
Advanced Microbial Risk Assessment (CAMRA), Philadelphia, April
2009 Member, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Expert Panel on risks posed by BSL-
3 and BSL-4 laboratories in the United States, Washington DC, March
2008 Member, International Review Committee, Obihiro University of Agriculture and
Veterinary Medicine, Obhihiro, Japan, January
2007- Member International Advisory Committee, Kalasalingam University, India
2007 Member, International Organizing Committee, New Horizons in Biotechnology
Conference NHBT-2007, Trivandrum, India, November.
2007 Member, International Scientific Committee, International Food Irradiation Conferences,
New Delhi and Hyderabad, India, February
2006 Chair, International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) Professional Development
Group on Fruits and Vegetables. (August, 2006- July 2008)

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2006 Member, International Organizing Committee, 2nd International Congress on
Bioprocessing in Food Industries, Patras, Greece. June
2006 Invited Participant, USEPA Candidate Contaminant List Workshop, Washington DC.
June
2006 Invited Participant, USEPA Workshop on Large Sample Volume Concentration Methods,
Cincinnati, OH. April
2005 Invited Participant, USEPA Candidate Contaminant List Workshop, Washington DC,
Dec.
2005 Invited Participant, WERF Directed Research Program Workshop, Washington DC, Nov
2005 Invited Participant, US EPA Pathogen Equivalency Committee Retreat, Hueston Woods,
OH, September
2005 Invited Participant, DoD-DoE-EPA Molecular Biological Tools Workshop,
Charlottesville, VA, August
2005 Invited Participant, American Society for Microbiology’s Biodefense Research Meeting,
Baltimore, MD, March
2004 Invited Participant, USEPA Workshop on Virulence-Factor-Activity Relationships,
Baltimore, MD, October.
2004 Member, Board of Directors, National Alliance for Food Safety & Security
2004 Invited Participant, NASA-JPL Workshop on Microbial monitoring of the International
Space Station Drinking Water. June
2004 Invited Participant, USEPA International Workshop on coliphages. Washington DC.
April
2004 Organizer, International Workshop, “Food Irradiation: Discussing the International
Research and Policy Agenda”. College Station, Texas
2004 Invited Participant, NASA Workshop on developing a Research Roadmap for the
International Space Station, Kennedy Space Center.
2004 Vice Chairperson, Fruit and Vegetable Safety and Quality Professional Development
Group, International Association of Food Protection
2003 Reviewer, Korea Science Prize, Korea Science & Engineering Foundation
2003 Invited Participant, WERF-USEPA Biosolids Research Summit, VA. August
2003 Convener, IFT Symposium. “E-beam technology: where are we in terms of the science?”
2003 Member, Joint IAEA-FAO Coordinated Research Project on use of irradiation to ensure
quality/safety of fresh fruits and vegetables
2003 Member, USEPA expert panel on molecular detection of viruses in water
2003 Chair, Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) - Project Committee,
“Real-Time PCR detection of human viruses and indicators in water”
2003 Chair, Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) - Project Committee,
“Molecular alternatives to indicator and pathogen detection”
2003 Member, Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) –Project Advisory
Committee, “Biosolids Microbial Health Risk Investigations”
2000 Member, Scientific Organizing Committee for the “Microbiology of Composting”
conference in Innsbruck, Austria.
2000 Technical Expert - USAID/Kenan Institute-Asia to address pathogen contamination of
imported raw hide products.
2000 Member, National Water Research Institute (NWRI) panel to review studies related to
urban-runoff influencing beach closures in Southern California

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2000 Member, Expert panel for USEPA to discuss microbial pathogen exposure routes.
1999 Member-City of El Paso/FBI Task Force to prepare for Biological and Chemical Weapons
of Mass Destruction.
1999 Member- Expert panel for the USEPA to discuss the choice of microbial indicators in
groundwater for monitoring purposes for the Groundwater Rule.
1999- Member, American Water Works Research Foundation Research (AWWARF) Project
Advisory Committee. “Development of a molecular method to detect infective viruses”
1997 Member, Expert panel for the US-Mexico Foundation for Science meeting, “Environment
and Public Health along the Mexico/US border. Tijuana, Baja California
1996- Steering Committee Member- Clean Rivers Program. (Upper Rio Grande Basin) Texas
Natural Resources Conservation Commission.
1994 Co-Chair, Hazardous and Solid Waste Group. Rio Grande Council of Government's
Environmental Research Group
1994-present Panel Chair/Member/Reviewer- USDA, USEPA, AWWARF, NSF, BARD,
NMWRI, USGS, WERF

EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES
Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Food Protection, Indian Journal of Biotechnology
Co-Editor, Pre-harvest and Post-harvest Food Safety; Contemporary Issues and Future Directions.
Institute of Food Technologists/Iowa State University Press
Editor, Microbial Pathogens within Aquifer-Principles & Protocols. Springer- Verlag.
Editorial Board Member: Bioresource Technology (1995-2003)
Reviewer for :Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Canadian Journal of Microbiology,
Journal of Environmental Quality, Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, The
Quarterly Review of Biology, Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, The Journal of Water and Health,
Journal of the American Water Works Association, Emerging Infectious Diseases.

SERVICE AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

2009 Member, Research Park Advisory Committee
2008 Chair, Gastrointestinal Microbiologist Search Committee
2007-2008 Member, Poultry Science Department Head Search Committee
2006 Member, Search Committee for Systems Biologist, Poultry Science Department
2005-2006 Member, Implementation Team for the formation of the Nutrition and Food Science
Department
2006 Member, Search Committee for Molecular Nutritionist, Nutrition & Food Science
Dept.
2004-now Member, Council of Principal Investigators
2000-2006 Member, Faculty Senate

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP

American Society for Microbiology
International Association of Food Protection
Institute of Food Technologists
International Society for Microbial Ecology
American Water Works Association
American Association for the Advancement of Science

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Society for Applied Microbiology

PATENTS
2009 High energy electron beam for disinfection of municipal biosolids. Suresh D. Pillai and
Alexis Lazarine (US provisional patent)

2009 High energy electron beam irradiation for the production of immuno-modulators in poultry.
Jack McReynolds, Suresh D. Pillai, Palmy Jesudhasan and Martha Cepeda (US patent
pending)

2007 Removal of biological pathogens using surfactant-modified zeolites. Dirk Schulze-Makuch,

Robert S. Bowman and Suresh D. Pillai. U.S. Patent 7,311,839

PUBLICATIONS (* indicates Pillai’s research program member)

Books
R.C. Bier, S.D. Pillai, T.D. Phillips and R.L. Ziprin (Editors) (2004). Pre-harvest and Post-harvest
Food Safety; Contemporary Issues and Future Directions. Institute of Food Technologists/Iowa
State University Press

Pillai, S.D. (Editor) (1998) Microbial Pathogens within Aquifers-Principles &Protocols. Springer-
Verlag.

Book Chapters
Nair, C*., D. Prince*, C. Rambo*, and S.D. Pillai (2010). Contemporary Issues in Food Safety.
In:Food Biotechnology. A. Pandey, , C. Larroche, R. Soccol, E. Gnansounou, and P. Nigam (eds).
AsiaTech Publishers, New Delhi.

Pillai, S.D., D. H. D’Souza, G.D. Giovanni, A. Sharma, M. Patterson (2008). Microbiological

safety of foods: contemporary challenges and solutions. In: Biotechnology. A. Pandey, C. Larroche,
C. R. Soccol, and C-G Dussap, (eds) . AsiaTech Publishers

Jesudhasan, P.R*., K. Widmer*, K. Soni*, A. Vikram, and S.D. Pillai. (2007). Microbial cell
signaling and its potential applications in bioprocessing. In: Advances on Bioprocessing in Food
Industry. A.A.Koutinas and A. Pandey (eds)

Pillai, S.D., and L.A. Braby. (2007) Electronic pasteurization of foods. In: Advances in Thermal
and Non-Thermal Food Preservation. G.Tewari and V. Juneja (eds). Blackwell Publishing,
Ames, IA.

Pillai, S.D. L. Braby, and J. Maxim*. (2006). Technical Challenges and Research Directions in
Electronic Food Pasteurization. In: Food Irradiation Research and Technology. C.H. Sommers
and X. Fan (eds). Blackwell Publishing.

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Pillai, S.D. and E. Vega* (2007) Molecular Detection and Characterization Tools. In: Microbial
Source Tracking. P 65-91. (ed. J.W. Santo Domingo and M.J. Sadowsky) American Society for
Microbiology Press, Washington, DC

Beier, R.C., and S.D. Pillai (2007) Future directions in food safety. In: Foodborne Diseases, S.
Simjee (ed.). Humana Press, Totowa, NJ .

Pillai, S.D. (2006) Food Irradiation: A solution to combat worldwide food-borne illnesses. In:
Current Topics in Bioprocesses in Food Industries. Christian Larroche, Ashok Pandey, and
Claude-Gilles Dussap (eds). AsiaTechPublishers, Inc. New Delhi.

Pillai S.D. (2006) Bacteriophages as Indicators. In: Food Virology (ed. Sagar Goyal). Kluwer
Publishers.

Pillai, S.D. (2004) Molecular Methods for Microbial Detection. In: Pre-harvest and Post-harvest
Food Safety: Contemporary Issues and Future Directions. (eds. R.C.Bier, S.D. Pillai. T.D. Phillips,
and R.L. Ziprin). Institute of Food Technologists/Iowa State Press.

Pillai, S.D. (2004). Food Irradiation. In: Pre-harvest and Post-harvest Food Safety: Contemporary
Issues and Future Directions. (eds. R.C.Bier, S.D. Pillai. T.D. Phillips, and R.L. Ziprin). Institute of
Food Technologists/Iowa State Press. 375-387.

Pillai, S.D.,and J. Totten* (2003). Molecular Methods for Microbial Detection and
Characterization. In: Concise Encyclopedia of Bioresource Technology (ed: A. Pandey). The
Harworth Press, Inc. NY.

Pillai, S.D., and N. Nwachuku (2002). Bacteriophage Methodologies. In: Encyclopedia of

Microbiology. G. Bitton (ed). Wiley & Sons 374-384

Pillai,S.D. (2002). Bioaerosols and Public Health. In: Microbiology of Composting. (eds H. Insam,
N. Riddech, and S. Klammer) Springer-Verlag. p 595-606

Pillai, S.D. ,and G. Di Giovanni (2003). Microbial Sampling. In: Encyclopedia of Water Science
(eds. B.A. Stewart and T.A. Howell) Marcel Dekker Press, Inc. NY.

Pillai, S.D., and D. Makuch. (2002) Subsurface hydrobiology. In Groundwater, edited by L.

Silveria, In: Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS) EOLSS Publishers, Oxford, U.K.

Pillai, S.D. (1998) Future advances in subsurface microbiology. In Microbial pathogens within
aquifers- Principles &Protocols. (ed. S.D. Pillai) p 133-136. Springer-Verlag.

Dowd, S.E*. and S.D. Pillai. (1998) Groundwater sampling for microbial analysis. In S.D. Pillai
(ed.) Ch. 2. Microbial pathogens within aquifers-Principles & Protocols. Springer-Verlag.

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Pepper, I.L., and S.D. Pillai. ( 1995) PCR Amplification of DNA from root nodules. In: J.T. Trevors
and J.D. Van Elsas (eds.) Ch.8. Nucleic Acids in the Environment: Methods and Applications.
Springer Verlag. pp141-151.

Pepper, I.L., and S.D. Pillai. (1994) Detection of specific sequences in environmental samples via
Polymerase Chain Reaction. In: R.W. Weaver, J.S. Angle and P.S. Bottomley (eds.) Ch. 43.
Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2: Microbiological and Biochemical properties. SSA Book series
No. 5 pp. 707-726.

Review Articles
Sobsey, M.D., and S.D. Pillai (2009) Where future emerging pathogens will come from and what
approaches can be used to find them besides VFARs Journal of Water and Health 7: S75-S 93

Pillai, S.D. (2009). Who are we? Are we just microbial scaffolding? Microbiologist (in press)

Pillai, S.D. and P. Jesudhasan* (2006) Quorum sensing: how bacteria communicate. Food
Technology. 60: 42-47.

Maciorowski, K.G., P. Herrera, F.T. Jones, S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke (2006). Cultural and
immunological methods for Salmonella spp in animal feeds. – a review. Veterinary Research
Communications 30: 127-137.

Pillai, S.D., L. A. Braby, and C. B. Lavergne. (2005). Electron beam technology for food
irradiation. International Review of Food Science and Technology 96-101

Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai, F.T. Jones and S.C. Ricke (2005) Polymerase chain reaction
detection of foodborne Salmonella spp. in animal feeds. Critical Reviews in Microbiology 31: 45-
53.

Smith, J.S., and S.D. Pillai (2004). Irradiation and Food Safety. Science Status Summary.
FoodTechnology 58: 48-55.

Maciorowski, K.G., F.T. Jones, S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke (2004) Incidence, sources and control of
food-borne Salmonella spp. in poultry feeds. World Poultry Science Journal 60: 446-457.

Roe, M.T*., and S.D. Pillai. (2003) Monitoring and identifying antibiotic resistance mechanisms in
bacteria. Poultry Science (suppl). 82: 622-626

Pillai, S.D., and S.C. Ricke (2002) Bioaerosols from municipal and animal wastes: background and
contemporary issues. Canadian Journal of Microbiology. 48: 681-696.

Ricke, S.C., S.D. Pillai, R.A. Norton, K.G. Maciorowski, and F.T. Jones. (1998) Applicability of
rapid methods for detection of Salmonella spp. in poultry feeds: a review Journal of Rapid Methods
and Automation in Microbiology 6: 239-258

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Ricke, S.C., and S.D. Pillai. (1999) Conventional and molecular methods for understanding
probiotic bacteria functionality in gastrointestinal tracts. CRC Critical Reviews in Microbiology
(25)(1): 19-38.

Pillai, S.D. (1997) Molecular detection of microbial pathogens: breakthroughs and challenges.
Archives in Virology (suppl). 13: 67-82.

Pillai, S.D., and S.C. Ricke. (1995) Strategies to improve the applicability of gene amplification
protocols for pathogen detection in meat and meat products. CRC Critical Reviews in Microbiology
21(4): 239-261.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (* indicates Pillai’s research program member/visiting scientist)

Vikram, A., G.K. Jayaprakasha, P. Jesudhasan*, S. D. Pillai, and B. Patil (2010). Suppression of
bacterial cell-cell signaling, biofilm formation and type III secretion system by citrus flavonoids.
Journal of Applied Microbiology (in review)

Pillai, S.D., A. Smitherman, C.Call, M. Cepeda*, C. Schwartz and M. Grunlan (2010). E-Beam
Sterilization of Aerospace Materials: Microbiological & Mechanical Property Evaluations.
Proceedings of the IEEE Aerospace Conference (accepted)

Jesudhasan, P.R*., M.L. Cepeda*, K. Widmer*, S.E. Dowd, K.A. Soni*, M.E. Hume, J. Zhu, and
S.D. Pillai (2009) . Transcriptome Analysis of Genes Controlled by luxS/Autoinducer-2 in
Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease Nov 12. [Epub
ahead of print]

Ágoston, R*., K.A. Soni*, P. Jesudhasan*, W.Russell, C.M. Farkas, and S.D. Pillai (2009)
Differential Expression of Proteins in Listeria monocytogenes under Thermo Tolerance-Inducing,
Heat Shock, and Prolonged Heat Shock Conditions. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 6: 1133-
1140.

Ágoston, R*, C.M. Farkas and S.D. Pillai (2009) Exposure to sub-lethal temperatures induces
enhanced heat resistance in Listeria monocytogenes. Acta Alimentaria (in press)

Brahmakshatriya, V., B. Lupiani, J.L. Brinlee, M. Cepeda*, S.D. Pillai, and S.M. Reddy (2009)
Preliminary study for evaluation of avian influenza virus inactivation in contaminated poultry
products using electron beam irradiation. Avian Pathology. 2009 Jun;38(3):245-50

Ágoston, R*., K.A. Soni, K. McElhany, M.L. Cepeda, U. Zuckerman, S. Tzipori, C.M. Farkas, and
S.D. Pillai (2009) Rapid Concentration of Bacillus and Clostridium Spores from Large Volumes of
Milk using Continuous Flow Centrifugation. Journal of Food Protection72: 666-669

Girennavar B, Cepeda ML*, Soni KA*, Vikram A, Jesudhasan P*, Jayaprakasha GK, Pillai SD,
Patil BS. (2008). Grapefruit juice and its furocoumarins inhibits autoinducer signaling and
biofilm formation in bacteria. International Journal of Food Microbiology. 125:204-208.

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Alali WQ, Scott HM, Harvey RB, Norby B, Lawhorn DB, Pillai SD. 2008. Longitudinal study of
antimicrobial resistance among Escherichia coli isolates from integrated multisite cohorts of
humans and swine.Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 74: 3672-3681

Mackay, W.A., B. Pemberton, J. Maxim* and S.D. Pillai. (2008). Ionizing Irradiation Using E-
Beam to Control Importation of Biothreat Agents in Geranium Cuttings Inhibits Rooting.
HortScience 43:955-956.

Mena, K., and S.D. Pillai (2008). An Approach for Developing Quantitative Risk-based
Microbial Standards for Fresh Produce. Journal of Water Health 6: 359-364

Soni, K*., P.R. Jesudhasan*, M.L.Cepeda*, B. Williams, M. Hume, W.K. Russell, A.

Jayaraman, and S.D. Pillai. (2008). Autoinducer AI-2 is involved in regulating a variety of
cellular processes in Salmonella Typhimurium. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 5:147-153

Bansal, T., P. Jesudhasan*, S. Pillai*, T.K. Wood, and A. Jayaraman. (2008). Temporal
regulation of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli virulence mediated by autoinducer-2. Applied
Microbiology and Biotechnology 78: 811-819

Soni, K.A*., L. Lingeng*, P.R. Jesudhasan*, M.E. Hume and S.D. Pillai (2008). Influence of
Autoinducer-2 (AI-2) and Beef Sample Extracts on E. coli O157:H7 Survival and Gene
Expression of Virulence Genes yadK and hhA. Journal of Food Science 73: M135-139.

Vega, E*., J. Garland and S.D. Pillai (2008) . Electrostatic forces control non-specific
attachment of viruses to lettuce. Journal of Food Protection 71: 522-529.

Soni, K.A*., A.K. Balasubramanian, S.D. Pillai, and A.Beskok (2008). Zeta potentials of
environmentally relevant states of bacteria in drinking water. Current Microbiology 56: 93-97.

Olvera, M., A*.. Eguia, O. Rodriguez, E. Chong, S.D. Pillai, and I. Kuppusamy (2008).
Inactivation of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in water using ultrasonic treatment.
Bioresource Technology 99: 2046-2049

Soni KA*, Jesudhasan P*, Cepeda M*, Widmer K*, Jayaprakasha GK, Patil BS, Hume ME,
Pillai SD.2008. Identification of ground beef-derived fatty acid inhibitors of autoinducer-2-based
cell signaling. Journal of Food Protection. 71:134-138.

Balasubramanian, A.K., K. Soni*, A. Beskok and S.D. Pillai. (2007) A microfluidic device for
continuous capture and concentration of microorganisms from potable water. Lab on a Chip. 7:
1315-1321.

Soni, K*., P.R. Jesudhasan*, M.L.Cepeda*, B. Williams, M. Hume, W.K. Russell, A.

Jayaraman, and S.D. Pillai. (2007). Proteomic Analysis to Identify the Role of LuxS/AI-2
mediated Protein Expression in Escherichia coli O157:H7. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease
4:463-471

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Widmer, K.W*., K. Soni*, M. Hume, R.C. Beier, P. Jesudhasan* and S.D. Pillai. (2007).
Identification of Poultry Meat-derived Fatty Acids Functioning as Quorum Sensing Signal
Inhibitors to Autoinducer-2 (AI-2). Journal of Food Science (72: M363-368.

Balasubramanian, A.K., A. Beskok, and S.D. Pillai (2007). In situ analysis of bacterial capture in
a microfluidic channel. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. 17: 1467-1478.

Urgiles, E., J. Wilcox, O. Montes, S. Osman, K. Venkateswaran, M. Cepeda*, J. Maxim*, L.

Braby and S.D. Pillai (2007) Electron beam irradiation for microbial reduction on spacecraft
components. Proceedings of the IEEE Aerospace Conference.

Pillai, S.D. (2007) Bioaerosols from land-applied biosolids: issues and needs. Water Environment
Research 79: 270-278

Casarez, E.A., S.D. Pillai and G.DiGiovanni. (2007). Genotype diversity of Escherichia coli
isolates in natural waters determined by PFGE and ERIC-PCR. Water Research 41: 3643-3648.

Casarez, E., S.D. Pillai, J. Mott, M. Vargas, K. Den and G. DiGiovanni (2007). Direct
comparison of four bacterial source tracking methods and use of composite data sets. Journal of
Applied Microbiology 103: 350-364.

Ic, E*., B. Kottapalli, J. Maxim, and S.D. Pillai (2007). Electron beam irradiation of dried fruits
and nuts to reduce yeast and mold bioburden. Journal of Food Protection 70: 981-985

Widmer, K.W*., P. Jesudhasan*, S.E. Dowd and S.D. Pillai (2007). Virulence –Related Gene
Expression in a Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhimurium LuxS Mutant in Response to AI-2, and
a Poultry Meat -derived AI-2 Inhibitor using Microarray-based Analysis. Foodborne Pathogens and
Disease 4: 5-15.

Pillai, S.D., K. Venkateswaran, M. Cepeda*, K. Soni*, S. Mittasch*, J. Maxim, and S. Osman

(2006) High energy (10 MeV) electron beam ionizing irradiation to decontaminate spacecraft
components and materials for planetary protection. Proceedings of the IEEE Aerospace
Conference. March. 9 pp.

Corapcioglu, M.Y., J.R. Vogel, C.L. Munster, S.D. Pillai, S. Dowd*, and S.Wang. (2006) Virus
transport experiments in a sandy aquifer. Water, Air, Soil, Pollution 169: 47-65.

Vega, E., J. Smith, J. Garland, A. Matos and S.D. Pillai (2005). Variability of Virus Attachment
Patterns to Butterhead Lettuce. Journal of Food Protection. 68: 2112-2117

Lu, L*., M. Hume, and S.D. Pillai (2005) Autoinducer 2-like Activity on Vegetable Produce and
its Potential Involvement in Bacterial Biofilm Formation on Tomatoes. Foodborne Pathogens
and Disease 2: 242-249.

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Hume, M. E., L. Lu*, M. Burnham, R.L. Ziprin, J.L. McReynolds*, S.D. Pillai, and C.J.
Donskey (2005). Vancomycin-resistant Enerococcus faecium in broiler chickens during grow-
out. Antimicrob. Agents Chemo. 49:4382-4385.

Duffy, E.A. L. Cisneros-Zevallos, A. Castillo, S. D. Pillai, S. C. Ricke, and G. R. Acuff (2005).

Survival of Salmonella Transformed to Express Green Fluorescent Protein on Italian Parsley as
Affected by Processing and Storage. Journal of Food Protection 68: 87-95

Lu, L*., M. Hume, and S.D. Pillai (2005) Autoinducer 2-like activity in poultry-associated
enteric bacteria in response to subtherapeutic antibiotic exposure. Avian Diseases 2005 9(1):74-
80

E. A. Duffy, L. M. Lucia, J. M. Kells, A. Castillo, S. D. Pillai, and G. R. Acuff (2005).

Concentrations of E.coli and genetic diversity and antibiotic resistance profiling of Salmonella
Isolated from Irrigation Water, Packing Shed Equipment, and Fresh Produce in Texas. Journal of
Food Protection 68: 70-79.

Widmer, K.W*., D. Srikumar and S.D. Pillai (2005). Artificial Neural Networks to Accurately
Identify Cryptosporidium Oocysts and Giardia Cysts Images. Applied and Environmental
Microbiology. 71:80-84

Lu, L*., M.E. Hume, K.L. Sternes, and S.D. Pillai (2004) Genetic diversity of Escherichia coli
isolates in irrigation water and associated sediments: implications for source tracking. Water
Research. 38: 3899-3908.

Paul, S., P. K. Haan, M. D. Matlock, S. Mukhtar, and S. D. Pillai (2004). Analysis of the HSPF
water quality parameter uncertainty in predicting peak in-stream fecal coliform concentrations.
Transactions of the ASAE.47: 69-78.
Sobsey, M.D., M.V. Yates FC, Hsu, G, Lovelace, D. Battigelli, A. Margolin, , S.D. Pillai, and N.
Nwachuku (2004) Development and evaluation of methods to detect coliphages in large volumes
of water. Water Sci Technol. 50:211-217.
Shen, S., W. Berry, S. Jaques, S. Pillai, and J. Zhu. 2004. Differential expression of
iodothyronine deiodinase type 2 in growth plates of chickens divergently selected for incidence
of tibial dyschondroplasia. Animal Genetics 35:114-118.
Lu, L*., M.E. Hume and S.D. Pillai (2004) Autoinducer-2-like compounds and activity on selected
produce, processed foods, and food additives. Journal of Food Protection 67: 1457-1462

Makuch-Schulze, D., Bowman, R., Pillai, S.D., and Guan, H. (2003). Field evaluation of the
effectiveness of surfactant modified zeolites and iron-oxide coated sands for removing viruses
and bacteria from groundwater. Groundwater Monitoring and Remediation:23:68-75.

Guan, H., Schu1ze-Makuch, D., Schaffer, S., and Pillai, S.D. (2003). The effect of critical pH on
virus fate and transport in saturated porous medium. Groundwater. 41: 701-708.

11
Roe, M.T*., J.A. Byrd, D.P. Smith, and S.D. Pillai. 2003. Class 1 and Class 2 integron in poultry
carcasses from broiler houses and poultry processing environments. Journal of Food Protection.
66(8): 1426-1431

Roe, M.T.*, E. Vega* and S.D. Pillai. 2003. Antimicrobial resistance markers of Class1 and
Class 2 integron-bearing Escherichia coli from irrigation water and associated sediments.
Emerging Infectious Diseases 9 (7): 822-826.

Endley, S*., E. Johnson*, and S.D. Pillai. 2003. A simple method to screen cilantro and parsley
for fecal indicator viruses. Journal of Food Protection 66(8): 1506-1509

Nutt, J.D., S.D. Pillai, C.L. Woodward, K.L. Sternes, I.B. Zabala-Diaz, Y.M. Kwon and S.C.
Ricke. 2003. Use of a Salmonella Typhimurium hilA fusion strain to assess effects of
environmental fresh water sources on virulence gene expression. Water Research 37: 3319-3326.

Vega, E., B*. Lesikar and S.D. Pillai (2003). Transport and survival of bacterial and viral tracers
through submerged-flow constructed wetland and sand-filter system. Bioresources Technology.
89: 49-56

Schulze-Makuch, D., H. Guan and S.D. Pillai. (2003) Effects of pH and geological medium on
bacteriophages MS2 transport in a model aquifer. Geomicrobiology Journal. 20: 73-84

Endley, S,E*., E. Vega*, L. Lingeng*, M. Hume and S.D. Pillai (2003). Male-specific
coliphages as an additional fecal contamination indicator for screening fresh carrots. Journal of
Food Protection. 66: 88-93.

Espinosa, I. Y*., and S.D. Pillai. (2002). Impaction-based sampler for detecting male-specific
bacteriophages in bioaerosols. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology 10:
117-127

Nutt, J.D., K.L. Medvedev., C.L. Woodward, S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke. 2002. Assessment of
laboratory media controls for determining Salmonella virulence potential of poultry water
sources using HilA::lacZY fusion strain. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in
Microbiology 10: 173-184.

Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai, and S.C. Ricke. (2002). Polymerase chain reaction detection of
bacterial ribosomal genes from animal feeds. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 82:
1398-1404

Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke. (2002). Comparison of media and a liquid
extraction step on bacterial recovery from animal feeds. Journal of Environmental Science &
Health. B37(3): 255-264

Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai, and S.C. Ricke. (2002). Rapid assessment of poultry feed
microbial quality using polymerase chain reaction detection of microbial ribosomal gene
sequences. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology 10: 9-18

12
Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai, F.T. Jones, and S.C. Ricke. (2002). Low nutrient R2A culture
medium for bacterial enumeration from poultry feeds. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation
in Microbiology 10: 59-68

McGilloway*, R.W. Weaver, D.W Ming and S.D. Pillai. (2002). A PCR-MPN based
quantitative approach to enumerate nitrifying bacteria in zeoponic substrates. Journal of Rapid
Methods and Automation in Microbiology. 10:49-58

Schulze-Makuch, D., S.D. Pillai, H. Guan, R. Bowman, E. Couroux, F.Hielscher, S. Emmert, J.

Totten*, I. Y. Espinosa*, and T. Kretzchmar. (2002). Surfactant modified zeolite can protect
drinking water wells from viruses and bacteria. EOS-Transactions American Geophysical Union.
83: No.18.

Widmer, K.W*., K.H. Oshima, and S.D. Pillai (2002). Identification of C .parvum oocysts using
an artificial neural network approach. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 68: 1115-1121

McDaniel, J*., and S.D. Pillai. (2002). Gel Alignment and band scoring for DNA fingerprinting
purposes using Adobe Photoshop. Biotechniques 32: 120-123.

Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke (2002). Adaptation of nucleic acid extraction
methods for animal feeds. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology 9: 217-
227.

McElroy, W*., E. Cabello and S.D. Pillai. (2001). Efficacy of an immuno-magnetic system for
recovering Cryptosporidium oocyts from differently textured soils. Journal of Rapid Methods and
Automation in Microbiology 9: 63-70

Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke. (2001). Presence of bacteriophages in animal feed
as indicators of fecal contamination. Journal of Environmental Science and Health B36(5): 699-
708

Endley, S*., J. Pena*, S.C. Ricke, and S.D. Pillai. (2001) The applicability of hns and fimA primers
for detecting Salmonella spp. in bioaerosols associated with animal and municipal wastes. World
Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology.17:363-379

Schijven, J.F., S.M. Hassanizadeh, S.E. Dowd*, and S.D. Pillai. (2001). Modeling virus adsorption
in batch and column experiments. Quantitative Microbiology 2: 5-20

Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke. (2000). Efficacy of a commercial PCR-based assay
for detection of Salmonella spp. in animal feeds. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 89: 710-718.

Kwon, Y.M., C. L. Woodward, S.D. Pillai, J. Pena*, D.E. Corrier, J.A. Byrd, and S.C. Ricke.
(2000). Litter and aerosol sampling of chicken houses for rapid detection of Salmonella
typhimurium contamination using gene amplification. Journal of Industrial Microbiology &.
Biotechnology. 24: 379-382.

13
Kwon, Y.M., C.L. Woodward, D.E. Corrier, J.A. Byrd, S.D. Pillai, and S.C. Ricke. (2000).
Recovery of a marker strain of Salmonella typhimurium in litter and aerosols from isolation rooms
containing infected chickens. Journal of Environmental Science & Health. B35(4) 517:525.

Pillai, S.D., K.W. Widmer*, L.J. Ivey, K.C. Coker, E. Newman, S. Lingsweiler, D. Baca, M.
Kelley, D. S. Davis, N. J. Silvy, and L. G. Adams.(2000). Failure to identify non-bovine reservoirs
of Mycobacterium bovis in a region with a history of infected dairy-herds. Preventive Veterinary
Medicine 43:53-62.

Dowd, S.E*., C.P. Gerba, I.L. Pepper and S.D. Pillai. (2000). Bioaerosol transport modeling and
risk assessment in relation to the land placement of biosolids. Journal of Environmental Quality.
29:343-348

Kwon, Y.M., C.L. Woodward, J. Pena*, D.E. Corrier, S.D. Pillai, and S.C. Ricke. 1999.
Comparison of methods for processing litter and air filter matrices from poultry houses to optimize
polymerase chain reaction detection of Salmonella typhimurium. Journal of Rapid Methods and
Automation in Microbiology 7: 103-111.

Mazari-Hiriat, M., B. Torres-Beristain, E. Velazquez, J.J. Clava, and S.D. Pillai. 1999. Bacterial
and viral indicators of fecal pollution in Mexico City’s southern aquifer. Journal of Environmental
Science &. Health. A34(9): 1715-1735.

Bader, J.L*., G. Gonzalez*, P.C. Goodell, A.S. Ali, and S.D. Pillai.(1999) Aerobic reduction of
hexavalent chromium in soil by indigenous microorganisms. Bioremediation Journal. 3(3): 201-
211.

Dowd, S.E*. and S.D. Pillai. (1999) Identifying the sources of biosolid derived pathogen indicator
organisms in aerosols by ribosomal DNA fingerprinting. Journal of Environmental Science &
Health (34A):1061-1074.

Pena, J*. S.C. Ricke, C.L. Shermer, T. Gibbs, and S.D. Pillai. (1999) A gene amplification-
hybridization sensor based methodology to rapidly screen aerosol samples for specific bacterial
gene sequences. Journal of Environmental Science & Health. 34(A): 529-556.

Maciorowski, K.G., J. Pena, S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke. (1998) Application of gene amplification in
conjunction with a hybridization sensor for rapid detection of Salmonella typhimurium in animal
feeds. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology 6: 225-238.

Bader, J.L*., G. Gonzalez*, P.C. Goodell, A.S. Ali, and S.D. Pillai. (1999) Chromium-resistant
bacterial populations from a site heavily contaminated with hexavalent chromium. Water, Air and
Soil Pollution. 109: 263-276

Dowd, S.E*., S.D. Pillai, S. Wang, And Y.M. Corapcioglu. (1998) Delineating the specific
influence of viral isoelectric point and size on viral adsorption and transport through sandy soils.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 64: 405-410.

14
Dowd, S.E*. and S.D. Pillai. (1997) Survival and transport of selected bacterial pathogens and
indicator viruses under sandy aquifer conditions. Journal of Environmental Science & Health
32(A): 2245-2258

Dowd, S.E*., and S.D. Pillai. (1997) A rapid viability assay for Cryptosporidium oocysts and
Giardia cysts for use in conjunction with indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) detection. Canadian
Journal of Microbiol. 43: 658-662.

Pillai, S.D., K.W. Widmer*, K.G. Maciorowski, and S.C. Ricke. (1997) Antibiotic resistance
profilesof Escherichia coli isolated from rural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental
Science & Health. 32(A):1665-1657

Dowd, S.E*., K.W. Widmer*, and S. D. Pillai. (1997) Thermotolerant clostridia as an airborne
pathogen indicator during land application of biosolids. Journal of Environmental Quality. 26: 194-
199.

Pillai, S.D., E. Rubio, and S.C. Ricke. (1996) Prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistant Escherichia
coli in agricultural and municipal waste streams. Bioresources Technology. 58: 57-60.

Pillai, S.D., K.W. Widmer*, S, Dowd* and S.C. Ricke. (1996) Characterization of airborne
microbial populations during land application of sewage sludge on arid lands. Applied and
Environmental Microbiology.62: 296-299.

Pillai, S.D., and R.C. Mroz. (1995) Characterization of bacterial isolates from a shallow aquifer
suspected to be contaminated by urban wastes. Journal of Environmental Science & Health. 30(A):
2159-2184.

Ricke, S.C., S.D. Pillai, K.W. Widmer* and S.D. Ha. (1995) Clinoptilolite compounds as a
retardant of bacterial pathogen survival in agricultural soils and water. Bioresources
Technology.53:1-6.

Ha, S.D., S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke. (1995) Growth response of Salmonella spp. to cycloheximide
amendment in media. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology. 4:77-85.

Ha, S.D., S.D. Pillai K.G. Macioroski, and S.C. Ricke. (1995) Cycloheximide as a media
amendment for enumerating bacterial populations in animal feeds. Journal of Rapid Methods and
Automation in Microbiology 4:95-105

Pillai, S.D., S.C. Ricke, D.J. Nisbet, D.E. Corrier and J.R. Deloach. (1994) A rapid method for
screening Salmonella spp. in a chicken cecal background using gene amplification. Avian Diseases
38: 598-604.

Mroz, R.C., and S.D. Pillai. (1994) Bacterial populations in the groundwater on the US-Mexico
border in El Paso County, Texas. Southern Medical Journal 102: 1214-1218.

15
Reif, T.C., M. Johns, S.D. Pillai, and M. Carl. (1994) Identification of virulent Bacillus anthracis
spores using the polymerase chain reaction and a novel dual probe hybridization format. Applied
and Environmental Microbiology. 60: 1622-1625.

Pillai, S.D., K.L. Josephson, and I.L. Pepper. (1994) Comparison of three probe labeling methods to
detect PCR amplification products. Journal of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology 2:
299-309.

Pepper, I.L., K.L . Josephson, R.L. Bailey, M.D. Burr, S.D. Pillai, D. Tolliver, and S. Pulido. (1994)
Measuring bacterial contaminants in ultrapure water: a rapid analytical method.
Microcontamination. 12: 52-57.

Way, J., K.L. Josephson, S.D. Pillai, M. Abbaszadegan, C.P. Gerba, and I.L. Pepper.(1993) Specific
detection of Salmonella by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Applied and Environmental
Microbiology. 59: 1473-1479.

Pillai, S.D., K.L. Josephson, R.L. Bailey and I.L. Pepper. (1992) Specific detection of rhizobia in
root nodules and soil using the polymerase chain reaction. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. 24: 885-
891.

Neilsen, J.W., K.L. Josephson, S.D. Pillai, and I.L. Pepper. (1992) Polymerase chain reaction and
gene probe detection of the 2,4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid degradation plasmid, pJP4. Applied
and Environmental Microbiology. 58: 1271-1275.

Josephson, K.L., S.D. Pillai, J. Way, C.P. Gerba, and I.L. Pepper. (1991) Fecal coliforms in soil
detected by polymerase chain reaction and DNA:DNA hybridizations. Soil Science of America
Journal 55: 1326-1332.

Pillai, S.D., K. L. Josephson, R.L. Bailey, C.P. Gerba, and I.L. Pepper. (1991) Rapid method for
processing soil samples for polymerase chain reaction amplification of specific gene sequences.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 57: 2283-2286.

Pillai, S.D., and I.L. Pepper. (1990) Transposon Tn5 as an identifiable marker in rhizobia: survival
and genetic stability of Tn5 mutant bean rhizobia under temperature stressed conditions in desert
soils. Microbial. Ecology. 21: 21-33.

Pillai, S.D., and I.L. Pepper. (1989) Survival of Tn5 mutant bean rhizobia in desert soils: phenotypic
expression of Tn5 under moisture stress. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. 22: 265-270.

Industry Targeted Journals

Pillai, S.D. (1994) Improving microbial detection in water treatment. Natl. Environ, J. 4: 62-63.

Selected Conference / Symposium Proceedings

2007 Kari B. Fitzmorris, Robert S. Reimers, Suresh D. Pillai, Jan A. Oleszkiewicz and James
E. Smith. . Production of safe biosolids from agricultural and municipal residuals:

16
 emerging physical-chemical processes. Moving Forward: Wastewater Biosolids
Sustainability. Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. June

2007 Robert S. Reimers, Kari B. Fitzmorris, Suresh D. Pillai, Jan A. Oleszkiewicz and James
E. Smith. Emerging Chemical Processes to produce Value-Added Products (VAPs) from
Manure and Municipal Residuals. Joint Residuals and Biosolids Management
Conference 2007, WEF, Denver, CO. April.

2006 Acquston, B.A., Reimers, R.S., Smith, J.E. and Pillai, S.D., 2006. “Factors Affecting
Disinfection and Stabilization of Sewage Sludge,” Symposium on Biosolids, WEFTEC,
Dallas, Texas, WEF, Alexandria, Virginia, CD-ROM

2005 Reimers, R.S., Pillai, S.D., Bowman, D.D., Fitzmorris, K.B. and Pratt, L.S. “Stressors
Influencing Disinfection in Residuals”. Disinfection 2005 – Sharing Disinfection
Technologies: Water, Wastewater, and Biosolids. Water Environment Federation,
Alexandria, VA, CD-ROM.

2005 Reimers, R.S., Sharma, V.K., Pillai, S.D., Reinhart, D.R., Boyd, G.G., and Fitzmorris,
K.B., “Application of Ferrates in Biosolids and Manures Management with respect to
Disinfection and Stabilization,” Joint Residuals and Biosolids Management Conference
2005 – Advancing the State of Technology, Water Environment Federation, Alexandria,
VA, CD-ROM.

2003 Pillai, S.D. Drinking Water and Infectious Diseases: Control Strategies. Food Protection
2003-International Conference. Lisbon, Portugal. May.

2002 Schulze-Makuch, D., Pillai, S.D., Bowman, R., Guan, H., Couroux, E., Hielscher, F.,
Totten, J., Espinosa, I.Y. and Kretzchmar, T.G. Virus removal using permeable barriers in a
constructed wetland. Conference Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Rio Bravo/Rio Grande
Environmental Conference. S. Padre Island, Texas. February, 2002

2001 Schulze-Makuch, D., Pillai, S.D., and Kretzschmar, T.G. Removal of viruses using
constructed wetlands. Conference of the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and
Policy; Mexicali, Mexico, Oct. 17-19, 2001

2000 Pillai, S.D. and N. Nwachuku (2000). Field testing of coliphage methods for screening
groundwater for fecal contamination. Proc. Am. Water Quality and Technology Conf. Salt
Lake City, UT.

1999 Pillai, S.D., and E. Vega. Pathogen removal with on-site wastewater treatment technologies.
Proceedings of the, “Alliance for environmental stewardship: a comprehensive approach”.

1998 Pillai, S.D., and J.L. Bader. Removal of hexavalent chromium from soil slurries under
aerobic conditions by indigenous soil microorganisms. NIEHS SuperFund Symposium on
Risk considerations for Environmental Health and Safety. Tucson, AZ. January.

17
1996 Vogel, J.R., S.E. Dowd, C.l. Munster, S.D. Pillai, and M.Y. Corapcioglu. Large scale virus
transport through a sandy aquifer. ASCE Meetings.

1995 Pillai, S.D. Monitoring airborne microbial pathogens and indicators. “Effects of land
application of biosolids in arid and semi-arid environments, Colorado State University, Ft.
Collins, CO.

1994. Pillai, S.D. Recent Advances in DNA based detection of food borne pathogens. Texas
ASM Food Safety Symposium. College Station, December.

1994 Pillai, S.D., Microbiological research on transboundary water quality problems at El Paso.
Proceedings of the Workshop on Enviromental issues of the US-Mexico border region.
Sponsored by Texas Water Resources Institute.

1993 Pillai, S.D. The fate of microbial pathogens in soils and water. Proc. Primer
Minisimposium internacional sobre remocion de contaminantes de aguas y suelos. (eds.)
Kuppusamy I., and De Bazua, C.D. Mexico City. June.

1993 Pillai, S.D. Molecular techniques for the sanitary and environmental engineering
industries Proc. I Congreso Internacional de Aidis de Norte America Y Del Caribe. Mexico
City. October.

1993 Pepper I.L., K.L. Josephson, R.L. Bailey, M.D. Burr, S.D. Pillai, D. Tolliver, and S. Pulido.
A rapid and systematic analytical method for measuring bacterial contaminants in ultrapure
water. Proc. Microcont. Cont. Conf. p. 60-62. Santa Clara. March.

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

2009 Electron Beam Technology for the Development of Irradiated Vaccines for Animal
Protection. Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. December

2009 Development of sterilized foods for hospital patients. Experts panel meeting. IAEA, Vienna,
Nov

2009 Development of generic irradiation doses for quarantine treatment using E-Beam, X-rays
and Gamma Irradiation. IAEA Coordinated Research Project. Vienna, Austria. October

2009 Empowering Billions with Food Safety and Food Security. International Conference on
Peaceful uses of Atomic Energy. New Delhi Sept 29-Oct 1, 2009

2009 Electron Beam Irradiation Technology- A sustainable clean/green technology for

developing nations to ensure food safety and food security. International Conference on
Electron Beam Irradiation. New Delhi, India. July 30-31, 2009

18
2009 Technologies to Identify Potential Foodborne Pathogens: The Use of Metagenomics and
Pyrosequencing in Food Matrices. Annual Meetings of the International Association of
Food Protection. Grapevine, TX. July 12-15.

2009 Irradiation of Produce. Annual Meetings of the North East Food and Drug Officials
Association. Burlington, VT, May

2009 Foods, Microbial Metagenomics, and Human Health: Unraveling the Unknowns. IFT
Distinguished Lecture Series Baton Rouge, LA March

2008 Foods, microbial metagenomics and human health: unraveling the unknowns. Obihiro
University. Japan. December

2008 Developing a graduate program in food safety. Obihiro University. Japan, December

2008 Microbial cell-signaling and its implications in foods. Institute of Food Technologists
Distinguished Lecturer presentation. Portland Branch Meeting. Portland, OR December

2008 Microbial transport under riverbank filtration. Joint Annual Meeting of the SSA-GSA-CSA.
Houston, Texas October

2008 E-Beam disinfection and stabilization of municipal biosolids. Workshop on Selecting a

Class A Physical/Chemical Treatment for Biosolids. WEFTEC 2008. Chicago. October

2008 Microbiological quality of irrigation water: separating fantasies from realities. International
Association of Food Protection Annual Meetings. Columbus, OH. August

2008 Attachment and Survival of Viruses on Lettuce: Role of Physicochemical and Biotic factors
International Association of food Protection Meetings. Columbus, OH August

2008 Microbial cell signaling; Understanding the Structure-Activity-Function-Virulence-

Relationships (SAFVR). Corvinus University of Budapest. June

2008 Electronic Pasteurization of Foods. Institute of Food Technologists Distinguished Lecturer

presentation, New Jersey Branch Meeting. Princeton, NJ May.

2008 Bioaerosols and the transmission of pathogens. Institute of Food Technologists

Distinguished Lecturer presentation, Portland Branch Meeting. Portland, OR. February.

2008 Road-map for developing and sustaining international cooperation in science education and
training. Obihiro University. January

2007 A call to action for ensuring food safety and security. International Conference on New
Horizons in Biotechnology. Biotech Research Society of India and National Institute for
Interdisciplinary Science & Technology . Trivandrum, November.

19
2007 Monitoring Bioaerosols; Why can’t we get it right. WEFTEC. San Diego. CA October

2007 Molecular detection of pathogens. Jiangsu Center for Disease Control. Nanjing, China.
August 2007

2007 Electron Beam irradiation of foods and ingredients. Institute for Application of Atomic
Energy in Agriculture , Jiangsu Agricultural Science Academy. Nanjing, China August
2007

2007 Produce Safety: Peeling away the hysteria. American Society for Microbiology. Toronto,
Canada. June

2007 Addressing food safety and food security: technological and human resource needs. Obihiro
University of Agriculture & Veterinary Medicine. Obihiro, Japan. March

2007 A call to action for ensuring food safety and food security. International Conference of
Radiation Processing of Agro and Allied Products. New Delhi, India. February.

2007 Food safety and food irradiation: global necessities for the 21st century. International
Conference of Radiation Processing of Agro and Allied Products. Hyderabd, India. February

2007 Eavesdropping on microbial chatter: Understanding cell signaling in Salmonella.

International Conference on Recent Trends in Biotechnology. Kalasalingam University,
India. January.

2006 Factors influencing bioaerosol transport. Water Environment Research Foundation-

WebSeminar. August.

2006 Molecular detection and characterization of pathogenic microorganisms for a sustainable

environment. 4th IERC Workshop on Environment and Sustainable Development,
Gwangju, Korea, November .

2006 Molecular detection and characterization of microorganisms. 2006 Int’l Symposium and
Annual Meeting of the Korean Society for Applied Biological and Environmental
Chemistry. Gyeongju, Korea, October

2006 Solving global food safety issues using electronic pasteurization. 50th Anniversary meeting
of the Mexico Institute of Food Technologists. Mexico City. September

2006 Microbial cell signaling. Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary, June

2006 Microbial Cell Signaling and its Potential Applications in Bioprocesses. International
Congress on Bioprocesses in the Food Industries. Patras, Greece. June

2006 Microbial chatter to forward contamination: microbiology in the 21st century. Poultry
Science Department-USDA-ARS Seminar Series, Texas A&M University, February

20
2006 Food safety and food irradiation: global necessities for the 21st century. Bhabha Atomic
Research Center, Mumbai, India. February

2006 Food safety and food irradiation: global necessities for the 21st century. Kerala Agricultural
University, Kerala, India

2005 Ultrasonic technology for waste water disinfection. Texas A&M University-Conacyt
Research Symposium. Mexico City. October

2005 Microbial detection methods: Can we move from fantasy to reality? USEPA – Pathogen
Equivalency Committee Retreat, Hueston Woods, OH, September

2005 Molecular methods for microbial detection and characterization. DoD-DoE-EPA

(SERDP/ESTCP) Molecular Biological Tools Workshop. Charlotesville, August

2005 Protecting humans from microbial pathogens. USEPA. Office of Water, Washington DC.
August.

2005 Microbiology of Food Irradiation. Where do we go from here? Biotechnology Conference.

Dallas. August .

2005 Eavesdropping on microbial chatter. Institute of Food Technologists annual Meetings, New
Orleans, LA, July

2005 Crop and pre-harvest threats to food security. American Society for Microbiology
Conference on Biodefense Research. Baltimore, MD. March

2005 Food safety and environmental biotechnology opportunities. Tecnologico de Monterrey,

(ITESM), Mexico City. March

2005 Eavesdropping into microbial chatter: Institute of Food Technologists. Longhorn Chapter
meeting. February

2004 Bacterial Quorum Sensing: Shouldn’t we harness it for biotechnological applications?

Biotechnology Division, Center of Scientific and Industrial Research, Trivandrum, India,
November.

2004 Bacterial quorum sensing. University of Madras, India, November

2004 Bacterial populations in and around poultry processing plants. National Poultry Waste
Management Symposium. Memphis, TN. October

2004 Microbiology of food Irradiation. International Congress of Food Safety-2004. Reynosa

(Mexico). October

21
2004 Microbial detection methods: Can we move from fantasy to reality? Pathogen Workshop.
WEFTEC, New Orleans, LA. October

2004 Microbial quorum sensing on foods: interpreting language from noise. Annual Meetings of
the International Association of Food Protection. Phoeniz, AZ. August

2004 Antibiotic resistant organisms in food, environment and poultry. Annual Meetings of the
Poultry Science Association Meetings. St. Louis, MO. July

2004 Critical factors affecting the dairy industry development: supply chain food safety and
quality assurance systems. Harbin Institute of Technology. China, July.

2004 Food Irradiation: a solution to combat worldwide food-borne illnesses. International

Congress of Bioprocessing in the Food Industry. Clermont-Ferrand, France, July

2004 Detection of viruses in bioaerosols: sampling, sample processing and detection strategies.
Microbial monitoring of the International Space Station Drinking Water Workshop. NASA-
JPL. Pasadena, June

2004 Molecular methods for microbial detection and characterization. Kansas State University.
February

2004 Bacterial quorum sensing and its role in antibiotic resistance development. University of
Minnesota. November.

2003 Viral contamination of drinking water: detection and control strategies. Food Protection-
International Conference. Lisbon, Portugal. May

2003 Surfactant –modified zeolites as microbial barriers. Bangalore, India. May

2003 E-beam inactivation of viruses. Research Coordination Meeting. FAO-IAEA. Belfast, UK.
April

2003 Stability of viral nucleic acids in natural and man-made conditions. USEPA Expert Panel
Workshop on Genetic Methods. Cincinnati, OH. January.

2002 Microbial Pathogens and Drinking Water- USEPA Quality Assurance Workshop.
Dallas. September.

2002 E-beam based inactivation of viruses- Innovative Approaches to Ground Water

Disinfection: Coliforms, Pathogens, and Contaminants. National Ground Water Associaton.
September.

2002 Monitoring and Identifying antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in bacteria. Annual

Meetings of the Poultry Science Society of America. Delaware, August

22
2002 Detection of E. coli 0157:H7 from environmental and food samples. Jiangsu
Province Center for Disease Prevention and Control. China. July

2002 Molecular pathogen detection tools. Jiangsu Province Center for Disease Prevention
and Control. China. July

2002 Microbial Source Tracking. Shanghai Medical University. China. July

2002 Microbial pathogens and the aging municipal water infrastructure. International
Food Safety Conference, Lisbon, Portugal. Feburary.

2002 Bioaerosols from biosolids: the knowns and the unknowns. Environmental Air quality
Workshop. Manhattan, Kansas. January

2001 Microbial pathogens and the aging municipal water infrastructure. Food Microbiology
Research Conference XVIII. Chicago, Ill. November

2001 Microbiology of fruits and vegetables. Fresh Produce Food Safety Conference. Weslaco,
February.

2007 Rapid Detection Methodologies. Texas Poultry Processesors Workshop. Nacogdoches,

Texas. April.

2000 Removal and fate of specific microbial pathogens within onsite sewage systems. Texas On-
site Wastewater Treatment Research Council. Waco, Texas. February.

2000 Diarrhea, probes and integrons. Texas Science Partnership Program, Institute for Food
Science & Engineering. Texas A&M University. October

1999 Microbial pathogens. The environment conference. Ansan city, S. Korea. November.

1999 Structural integrity of naked viral RNA molecules: environmental and biological
significance. Dept. of Soil, Water, and Climate. University of Minnesota, St. Paul. January

1998 Virus transport in the subsurface: an elusive puzzle. Department of Geological Sciences.
University of Texas at El Paso. September.

1998 Removal of hexavalent chromium from soil slurries under aerobic conditions by indigenous
soil microorganisms. NIEHS SuperFund Symposium on Risk considerations for
Environmental Health and Safety. Tucson, AZ. January.

1997 The fate and transport of microbial pathogens in the subsurface. Dept. of Soil Chemistry &
Plant Nutrition. The Volcani Center. Bet-Dagan, Israel. August.

1997 Microbial Pathogens in the Environment. Southern Region Water Quality Conference-
Tulsa, Oklahoma, April

23
1997 New (?) Threats to Drinking Water Quality. Southern Region Water Quality Conference-
Tulsa, Oklahoma, April

1996 Molecular detection of microbial pathogens:breakthroughs and challenges. 9th Munich

Symposium. Viral zoonoses and foods of animal origin-a reevaluation of public health
implications. Munich, Germany. September.

1996 Molecular detection of microbial pathogens in the environment. Centro de Ecologia.

Universidad Nacional de Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City. August.

1996 The utility of molecular assays for understanding microbial gene expression in gastro-
intestinal tracts. International Association of Milk, Food and Environmental Sanitation
(IAMFES) Symposium, Seattle, July

1996 Microbial contamination along the border: separating facts from fiction. Quality of Life on
the Border Conference. El Paso, March.

1996 Field Experiments and modeling of virus transport in the groundwater. NWRI-EPA
Symposium. Washington, DC. March

1995 New Mexico Border Health Office. Las Cruces, September

1995 Microbial pathogens and environmental pollution along the Rio Grande. Old Questions
needing new answers? Dept. of Soil and Water and Environmental Science. University of
Arizona, Tucson. September

1995 Monitoring airborne microbial pathogens and indicators. EPA Sponsored Symposium
“Effects of land application of biosolids in arid and semi-arid environments. Ft. Collins,CO.
May.

1994 Recent Advances in DNA based detection of food borne pathogens. Texas Branch ASM-
Food Safety Symposium. College Station, TX. December.

1994 Microbiological research on transboundary water quality problems at El Paso. Workshop on

Enviromental issues of the US-Mexico border region. Sponsored by Texas Water
Resources Institute.

1994 Improving microbial risk assessment using molecular methodologies. Environmental

Toxicology Seminar Series, Biology Dept., Univ. of Texas at El Paso. September.

1994 Amplification and detection of specific gene sequences associated with microbial
pollution. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Weslaco. July.

1993 Understanding the microbiology of bioremediation. Sigma Xi Seminar Series.

University of Texas at El Paso. October.

24
1993 Gene amplification and gene probe detection of specific and conserved genetic sequences in
environmental samples. Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso. Sept.

1993 Molecular approaches to study microbial distribution and function in the environment. Dept.
of Geological Sciences. University of Texas at El Paso. August.

1993 Microbial biomarkers and their role in bioremediation studies. Faculty of Toxicology
Seminar Series. Texas A&M University, College Station. July.

1993 The fate of microbial pathogens in soils and water. Primer minisimposio internacional sobre
remocion de contaminantes de aguas y suelos. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico,
Mexico City. June.

1993 Monitoring microbial pathogens in the environment. New Mexico State Univ. Mol. Biol.
Seminar Series, Las Cruces, NM. Feb.

SELECTED ABSTRACTS

2008 Pillai, S.D. Interactions between Food Matrices and Microbial Gene and Protein. FoodMicro
2008, Aberdeen, Scotland. September

2008 Agoston, R., K. Soni, P. Jesudhasan, C.Farkas, S.D. Pillai. Proteomic analyses of the
differential expression of proteins in Listeria monocytogenes during 48C heat shock and
60C temperature exposure. FoodMicro 2008, Aberdeen, Scotland. September

2008 Pillai, S.D. Food matrices and microbial responses: the importance of delineating the
substract-activity-function-virulence relationships (SAFVR) of food-associated
microorganisms. 2008 Annual Meetings of the International Society for Microbial Ecology,
Cairns, Australia. August

2008 Lingeng, L., R. Bowman, J. Totten and S. D. Pillai. Surfactant-modified zeolites (SMZ)
as a low-cost microbial pathogen barrier technology. Summer conference of the Society
for Applied Microbiology. Belfast, UK July

2008 Widmer, K.W., P.R. Jesudhasan, T.A. Hans, M.L. Cepeda, S.D. Pillai. Influence of
autoinducer-2 (AI-2) and poultry meat-derived fatty acids on the on the growth and
virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Annual Meetings of the
International Association of Food Protection. Columbus, Ohio. July

2008 Lingeng, L., and S.D. Pillai. Cell signaling molecule AI-2 influences the transfer of
tetracycline resistance gene in E. coli during sub-therapeutic antibiotic resistance
exposure. ASM Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in Zoonotic Bacteria and
Foodborne Pathogens. Copenhagen, Denmark. June

25
2007 Agoston, R., K.Soni, K. Mcelhany, M.L. Cepeda, U. Zuckerman, S.Tzipori and S.D.
Pillai. Continuous Flow Centrifugation (CFC) Technology for Pre-Analytical Sample
Processing to Separate and Concentrate Bio-Threat Agents from Large Volumes of Milk.
Texas branch meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Hunstville. November

2007 Davidson, M., M.L. Cepeda, P.R. Jesudhasan, J.L. McReynolds and S.D. Pillai. 2007.
Utilization of High Energy Electron-beam Irradiation for the Production of Immuno-
Modulators against Salmonella Enteritidis in Commercial Poultry. Texas branch meeting
of the American Society for Microbiology. Hunstville. November

2007 Cepeda, M.L., K.A. Soni, P.R. Jesudhasan, B. Williams, M.E. Hume, W.K. Russell, A.
Jayaraman, S.D. Pillai. Proteomic analysis of luxS/AI-2 mediated cellular response in
Salmonella Typhimurium. ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication in Bacteria.
Austin. October

2007 Jesudhasan, P.R., M.L. Cepeda, K.W. Widmer, S.E. Dowd, K.A. Soni, M.E. Hume, J. Zhu
and S.D. Pillai. Autoinducer-2 controls virulence of Salmonella enteric serovar
Typhimurium ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication in Bacteria. Austin. October

2007 Jesudhasan, P.R., M.L. Cepeda, K.W. Widmer, S.E. Dowd, K.A. Soni, M.E. Hume, J. Zhu
and S.D. Pillai. DNA microarray analysis reveals crosstalk of Salmonella enteric serovar
Typhimurium with AI-2 of Escherichia coli. ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication
in Bacteria. Austin. October.

2007 Jesudhasan, P.R., M.L. Cepeda, K.W. Widmer, K.A. Soni, M.E. Hume, J. Zhu, J.M. Sturino
S.D. Pillai. Gene regulation of Salmonella enteric serovar Typhimurium as influenced by
LuxS/AI-2. ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication in Bacteria. Austin. October

2007 Widmer, K.W., P.R. Jesudhasan, T.A. Hans, M.L. Cepeda, S.D. Pillai. Influence of
autoinducer-2 (AI-2) on the growth and virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar
Typhimurium and modulation of these effects by poultry meat-derived fatty acids having
AI-2 inhibitory properties. ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication in Bacteria.
Austin. October

2007 Soni, K.A., P.R. Jesudhasan, M.L. Cepeda, B. Williams, M.E. Hume, W.K. Russell, A.
Jayaraman, S.D. Pillai. Proteomic analysis to identify the role of luxS/AI-2 mediated protein
expression in Escherichia coli O157:H7. ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication in
Bacteria. Austin. October

2007 K.A. Soni, P.R. Jesudhasan, M.L. Cepeda, K.W. Widmer, G.K. Jayaprakasha, B.S. Patil,
M.E. Hume, S.D. Pillai. Identification of ground beef-derived fatty acid inhibitors of
autoinducer-2 (AI-2) based cell signaling. ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication in
Bacteria. Austin. October

2007 Vikram, A., P.R. Jesudhasan P.R.,S.D. Pillai, G.K. Jayaprakasha, and B.S. Patil
Inhibition of Bacterial Cell-Cell Communication and Biofilm formation by Citrus

26
 Bioactive Compounds. Rio Grande Valley Hort. Society; 61st Annual Meeting January
30th at the University of Texas - Pan American, Edinburg

2006 Lu, L., M.E. Hume and S.D. Pillai. A Non-Indole-based Airborne Quorum Sensing
Molecule Can Confer Tetracycline Tolerance in Physically Separated Escherichia coli and
Salmonella Newport strains. International Conference on Food Bioprocessing. Patras,
Greece. June.

2006 Pillai, S.D. Microbial Cell Signaling and its Potential Applications in Bioprocesses.
International Congress on Bioprocesses in the Food Industries. Patras, Greece. June

2006 Pillai, S.D. Molecular detection and characterization of pathogenic microorganisms for a
sustainable environment. 4th IERC Workshop on Environment and Sustainable
Development, Gwangju, Korea, November .

2006 Pillai, S.D. Molecular detection and characterization of microorganisms. 2006 Int’l
Symposium and Annual Meeting of the Korean Society for Applied Biological and
Environmental Chemistry. Gyeongju, Korea, October

2006 Pillai, S.D. Factors affecting bioaerosols transport. . Annual Meetings of the American
Society for Microbiology. Orlando. May

2006 Widmer, K.W., P. Jesudhasan, S.E. Dowd, and S.D. Pillai. Gene expression in Salmonella
enterica serotype Typhimurium luxS mutant in response to quorum sensing signals and a
poultry meat-derived quorum sensing inhibitor using microarray based studies. . Annual
Meetings of the American Society for Microbiology. Orlando. May

2006 Venkateswaran, D., M.L. Cepeda, K. Soni and S.D. Pillai. Reliable detection of low levels
of Listeria monocytogenes and E.coli O157:H7 in Ready to Eat (RTE) food using the
Warnex molecular beacon assay. Annual Meetings of the American Society for
Microbiology. Orlando. May

2006 Cepeda, M., and S.D. Pillai. Detection of Listeria monocytogenes and E.coli O157:H7 in
wastewater effluent and aerobically digested sludges using the Warnex molecular beacon
based assay. Annual Meetings of the American Society for Microbiology. Orlando. May

2005 Balasubramaniam, A., K. Soni, K. Venkateswaran, A. Beskok and S.D. Pillai. Microfluidic
capture and concentration of bacteria from drinking water . Annual Meetings of the
American Society for Microbiology. Atlanta. June

2005 Beskok, A., and S.D. Pillai. Microfluidic capture and concentration of bacteria from
drinking water. Environmental Monitoring Conference. Baltimore. January

2004 Soni, K., P. Jesudhasan, L. Lu, M. Hume and S.D. Pillai 2005 AI-2 like activity mediated
gene expression of virulence genes in E.coli 0157:H7 on ground beef. Texas branch
meetings of the American Society for Microbiology, Houston, November.

27
2004 Pillai, S.D. Monitoring microbial pathogens using microfluidic devices: what are we
missing? TEX-MEMS meeting. College Station, October

2004 Singh, R., and S.D. Pillai. Survival, attachment, and internalization of Salmonella Gaminara
and Salmonella Agona on oranges. Annual Meetings, International Assn of Food Protection.
Phoenix, AZ. August

2004 Pillai, S.D., R. Langford., D. S-Makuch., A.A. Fattah, and K. Widmer Tracer tests to
understand microbial transport under riverbank filtration conditions. International Society
for Microbial Ecology. Cancun, Mexico

2004 Lu, L., M. Hume and S.D. Pillai. Role of AI-2 like activity on antibiotic resistance
development in E.coli under sub-therapeutic antibiotic exposure. International Society for
Microbial Ecology. Cancun, Mexico

2004 Widmer, KW., D. Srikumar, and S.D. Pillai. Artificial Neural Networks to detect
Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts and Giardia lamblia cysts. Annual Meetings, American
Society for Microbiology. New Orleans, May.

2003 Sobsey, M.D. S.D. Pillai, A. Margolin, D. Batigelli, S. Goyal, M.V. Yates, F-C, Hsu, , G.
Lovelace and N. Nwachuku. Development and evaluation of methods to detect coliphages
in large volumes of water. Int’l Assn of Water Quality meetings. Cape Town, S. Africa,
September

2003 Lu, L, M. Hume and S.D. Pillai. Quorum sensing in Escherichia coli in response to
subtherapeutic antibiotic exposure. Abstract. Annual Meetings of the American Society for
Microbiology. Washington, D.C. May

2003 Pillai, S.D. and I.Y. Espinosa. E-beam inactivation of RNA and DNA containing viruses.
Abstract. Annual Meetings of the American Society for Microbiology. Washington, D.C.
May

2003 Mena, K. D., and S.D. Pillai. Quantitative risk-based microbial standards for irrigation water
quality. Abstract. Annual Meetings of the American Society for Microbiology. Washington,
D.C. May

2003 Sternes, K.L., E. Sublasky and S.D. Pillai. Vancomycin resistant enterococci in irrigation
water and sediments. Abstract. Annual Meetings of the American Society for
Microbiology. Washington, D.C. May

2002 Sobsey, M., S.D. Pillai, A. Margolin, D. Battigelli, and N. Nwachuku. Optimization
of coliphages methods. Abstract. Annual Meetings of the American Society for
Microbiology. Salt Lake City, UT. May

28
2002 Espinosa, I.Y., and S.D. Pillai. Concentration and detection of bioaerosolized viruses.
Abstract. Annual Meetings of the American Society for Microbiology. Salt Lake City, UT.
May

2002 Endley, S.E. I.Y. Espinosa, and S.D. Pillai. Male specific coliphages as an indicator
of fecal contamination of cilantro and parsley. Abstract. Annual Meetings of the
American Society for Microbiology. Salt Lake City, UT. May

2002 Roe, M., C.M. Haas, and S.D. Pillai. Integron gene sequences on retail chicken
products. International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Atlanta, GA, March

2002 Lu, L., S. Endley, M. Hume, K. Williams, M. Garcia and S.D. Pillai. Genetic
diversity of Salmonella and E. coli in irrigation water and sediments along the Texas-
Mexico border. International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Atlanta,
GA, March

2002 Vega, E., M.T. Roe and S.D. Pillai. Irrigation water and sediments as a source of
integron-bearing bacteria. Abstract. International Conference of Emerging Infectious
Diseases. Atlanta, GA, March

2002 Espinosa, I.Y., S.D. Pillai. Concentration and detection of bioaerosolized viruses.
Abstract. Annual Meetings of the American Society for Microbiology, Texas Branch
Meetings. San Antonio, TX. February

2002 Haas, C.M., J. Totten, M. Lorenz, and S.D. Pillai. Specificity and sensitivity of a 5’
nuclease assay to detect Salmonella spp. Annual Meetings of the American Society
for Microbiology, Texas Branch meetings. San Antonio, TX. February

2001 Kempf, M.J., F. Chen, M.S. Quigley, S. Pillai, R. Kern and K. Venkateswaran. Developing
planetary protection technology: recurrence of hydrogen peroxide resistant microbes from
spacecraft assembly facilities. Am. Geophysical Union. Ann. Meetings. San Francisco, Nov
2001 McGilloway, R.L., R.W. Weaver and S.D. Pillai. A molecular approach to enumerate
nitrifying bacteria in ammonium saturated clinoptilolite. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs.
Orlando, FL, May.

2001 Roe, M., A. Byrd, D. Smith and S.D. Pillai. Integron gene sequences within poultry farms
and processing plants. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Orlando, FL, May.

2001 Rayburn, E.L., K.L. Sternes, R.P. Weidenfeld, and S.D. Pillai. Microbial pathogens in
irrigation canals and associated sediments. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Orlando, FL,
May.

2001 McDaniel, J.M., E.L. Rayburn, K.L. Sternes, R.P. Wiedenfeld and S.D. Pillai. Fecal
contamination and genetic relatedness of E.coli strains in irrigation canals and sediments.
Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Orlando, FL, May.

29
2001 Sublasky, E., S.D. Pillai, R.P. Wiedenfeld, and K.L. Sterne. Antibiotic resistant enterococci
in irrigation canals and sediments along the Rio Grande. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs.
Orlando, FL, May.

2001 Endley, S., K.L. Sternes, B. Wiedenfeld, and S.D. Pillai. The presence of male specific
coliphages in irrigation water along the Texas-Mexico border. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann.
Mtgs. Orlando, FL, May.

2001 McElroy, W.E., S. Pillai, E. Cabello, and S. Hernandez. Variations in pathogenic and
indicator organisms within drainage canals and the middle Rio GrandeRiver along the
United States-Mexico border. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Orlando, FL, May.

2000 McGilloway, R.L., R.W. Weaver, S.D. Pillai, and D.W. Ming. A molecular approach to
enumerate nitrifying bacteria in ammonium-saturated clinoptilolite. Soil Sci. Soc. Am.
Migs. Minneapolis, Nov

2000 Pillai, S.D., A. Herseim, A. Obenhaus, and A. Byrd. Male specific coliphages in poultry
litter and on chick box trayliners. Poultry Science Assn. Ann. Mtgs. Montreal, Canada

2000 Widmer, K.W., K. Oshima, R. Hartley and S.D. Pillai. An artificial neural network approach
to identify Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Los Angeles,
May.

2000 Vega, E., E. Cabello, S. Hernandez, B. Lesikar, and S.D. Pillai. On-site wastewater
treatment technologies to remove microbial pathogens. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Los
Angeles, May.

2000 McElroy, W.E., S.D. Pillai, E. Cabello, and S.Hernandez. Identifying the impact of drainage
canal water quality on the Middle Rio Grande river along the United States-Mexico border.
Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Los Angeles, May.

2000 Pillai, S.D., S.Y. Park, D.R. Jackson, S.G. Birkhold, and S.C. Ricke. Advantages and
limitations of a surface air system based sampler for monitoring and characterizing
bioaerosols. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Los Angeles, May.

1998 Pena, J., K.W Widmer, L. Ivey and S.D Pillai. Avian species as transmission agents of
Salmonella spp among dairy herds: genetic fingerprinting of Salmonella spp. isolates to
identify probable reservoirs. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Ann. Mtgs. Atlanta, May.

1998 Valenzuela, R.B., and S.D. Pillai. Persistence of naked viral RNA molecules in
groundwater.8th Intl symposium on Microbial Ecology. Nova Scotia. August.

1998 Valenzuela, R.B., and S.D. Pillai. Stability of naked viral RNA molecules under chlorine
disinfection conditions. Water Quality Int'l. Vancouver. June.

30
1997 Ficht, T.A., V.S. Perumaalla, L. G. Adams, F. Suárez, D. Baca, J. Hernandez, H. Whitford,
S. Pillai, K. Coker, E. Newman, N. Silvy, L. Ivey, D. Davis, and M. Kelley. RFLP Patterns
in Mycobacterium bovis isolates from Texas and Mexico Suggest a Broad and Active
Distribution. ASM Conference on Tuberculosis: Past, Present and Future. Copper
Mountain, CO, July.

1997 Dowd, S.E., C. Munster, M. Corapcioglu, J. Vogel and S.D. Pillai. Novel laboratory
approaches for delineating critical factors influencing subsurface viral transport. . Ann.
Meetings. Am. Soc. for Microbiol. Miami Beach, May.

1997 Pillai, S.D., S.C. Ricke, K. Borello, C.L. Shermer and T. Gibbs. Detection of pathogenic
bacterial genera in aerosols using gene amplification coupled to a novel dual probe
hybridization assay. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc. for Microbiol. Miami Beach, May.

1997 Dowd, S.E., F.C. Faries, F. Mitchell, L. Wickersham, A. Kinney and S.D. Pillai. The
occurrence and fate of Cryptosporidium sp and Giardia sp. around confined animal feeding
operations. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc. for Microbiol. Miami Beach, May.

1996 Dowd, S.E. and S.D. Pillai. Survival and transport of selected bacterial pathogens and
indicator viruses under sandy aquifer conditions. Int’l Assn of Water Quality Helath Related
Water Microbiology Symposium. Mallorca, Spain. October.

1996 Dowd, S.E., M.Y. Corapcioglu, C. Munster, and S.D. Pillai. Laboratory studies and
mathematical modeling of virus survival and transport in groundwater. Ann. Meetings. Am.
Soc. for Microbiol. New Orleans, May.

1996 Dowd,S.E., K.W. Widmer, and S.D. Pillai. Use of Clostridium as an alternate pathogen
indicator for monitoring airborne bacterial pathogens. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc. for
Microbiol. New Orleans, May.

1996 Alvarez, M., M. Aguilar, E. Camacho, P. Davis, T. Nardin, R. Valenzuela, and S.D. Pillai.
Effect of pH on reversible inactivation of MS2 phage. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc. For
Microbiol. New Orleans, May.

1996 Gonzalez, G., J. Bader, P, Goodell, and S.D. Pillai. Relationship between chromium
resistant microbial populations and chromium bioreduction in a heavily contaminated
site.AAPG Southwest Section Meeting, El Paso, TX. March.

1996 Dowd, S.E., S.D. Pillai, and K.Widmer. The effects of commercial land application of
sewage sludge on the air quality of a neighboring population center. AAPG Southwest
Section Meeting, El Paso, TX. March.

1995 Widmer, S.C. Ricke and S.D. Pillai. Airborne microbial populations during land
application of municipal sewage sludge. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc. for Microbiol.
Washington, D.C. May.

31
1995 Pillai, S.D., K.W. Widmer, and S.Dowd. Adsorption, survival and viability of selected
microbial pathogens and indicators in aquifer material. Ann. Meetings. Soil Sci. Soc. Am.
St. Louis, Nov.

1995 Pillai, S.D. Genetic relatedness of bacterial isolates in a shallow aquifer on the US-Mexico
border as determined by ERIC-PCR analyses. Ann. Meetings Am. Soc for Microbiology.
Washington, D.C. May.

1995 Pillai, S.D. Determination of groundwater contamination sources via amplification of

conserved genetic sequences in aquifer microbial populations. Water for Texas Conference,
Austin, TX. Jan.

1995 Maciorowski, K.G., S.D. Pillai and S.C. Ricke. 1995. Cycloheximide as a fungicide for
Salmonella enumeration of poultry feeds on agar media. Ann. Meetings. Poultry Sci. Assn.
Edmonton. Aug.

1995 Bader, J.L., P.C. Goodell, G. Gonzalez, S.D. Pillai and A.S. Ali. Attempts to achieve
bioreduction of hexavalent chromium in batch cultures using contaminated soil from a
Superfund site. Ann. Meetings. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. St. Louis, Nov.

1995 Alvarez, M.E., M. Aguilar, R. Macias, R. Rodriguez, and S.D. Pillai. Inactivating factors
and reversible inactivation of MS2 bacteriophages in groundwater. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc
for Microbiology. Washington, D.C. May.

1994 Pillai, S.D., S.C. Ricke, D.J. Nisbet, D.E. Corrier, and J.R. Deloach. Rapid method for
screening chicken cecal samples to detect Salmonella typhimurium using gene
amplification. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc for Microbiology. Las Vegas, NV. May.

1994 Ha, S.D., S.C. Ricke, and S.D. Pillai. Use of cycloheximide as a fungal inhibitor for
bacterial enumeration of nonsterile poultry feeds under long term storage. Ann. Meetings.
Poultry Science Association. Starkville, MS. Aug.

1994 Bader, J.L., P.C. Goodell and S.D. Pillai. Bioreduction of chromium in contaminated soils
and potential application to the bioremediation of Cr (VI) contaminated sites. Ann. Mtgs.
American Geophysical Union. Dec.

1993 Widmer, K.W., R.C. Mroz, and S.D. Pillai. Microbial contamination of groundwater on the
US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas. Ann. Meetings. ASA-CSSA-SSA. Cincinnati, OH.
Nov.

1993 T. Reif, S.D. Pillai, and M. Carl. 1993. A polymerase chain reaction assay for identifying
the capB gene of Bacillus anthracis. In: ASM Abstr. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc. Microbiol.
Atlanta, GA. May.

32
1993 Pillai, S.D. Molecular techniques for the sanitary and environmental engineering industries.
Ist. Congreso Internacional de Aidis de Norte America Y Del Caribe. Mexico City.
October.

1993 Pepper I.L., K.L. Josephson, R.L. Bailey, M.D. Burr, S.D. Pillai, D. Tolliver, and S. Pulido.
A rapid and systematic analytical method for measuring bacterial contaminants in ultrapure
water. Microcontamination Control Conference. Santa Clara. March.

1991 S.D. Pillai et al. Evaluation of three types of gene probes for detection of PCR amplified
products. In: ASM Abstr. Ann. Meetings. Am. Soc. Microbiol. Dallas, TX. May.

1990 S.D. Pillai and I.L. Pepper. Application of polymerase chain reaction using Tn5 to study
plant-microbe interactions. In: 5th Intl. Symp. on the Molecular Genetics of Plant-Microbe
Interactions. Interlaken, Switzerland. Sept.

1990 D.W. Sammons et al. Separation and detection of organisms in soil and waste streams. In:
NASA Symp. on waste processing in space for advanced life support. NASA Ames
Research Center, CA. Sept.

1988 S.D. Pillai and I.L. Pepper. The survival of Tn5 mutant bean rhizobia in desert soils. First
Intl. Conf. on the release of Genetically Engineered Microorganisms. Wales, U.K.

1987 I.L. Pepper et al. Use of molecular biology to improve biological nitrogen fixation in
Latin Amercia. In: Southwest Consortium of Plant & Water Resources. Tucson, AZ.
May.

1990 S.D. Pillai and I.L. Pepper. Detection of bacteria in sewage sludge and soil. ASM
Conference on Biotechnology, Chicago, IL. June.

GRANTS & CONTRACT FUNDING HISTORY (obtained over 10 million dollars in grants
and contracts as PI or Co-PI since 1992)

Current
Principal Investigator - Integrating Microbial Target Capture with Flow Field Fractionation for
Lab on a Chip Device for Food Matrices. Department of Homeland Security/ National Center for
Food Protection and Defense-University of Minnesota $154,030 (10/2009-9/2010)

Principal Investigator – Developing better indicators for pathogen presence in sewage sludges.
Water Environment Research Foundation. $ 99,700 (4/09-12/2010)

Principal Investigator - Concentrating bacterial spores from milk and juices using
dielectrophoresis based microfluidic capture systems. Department of Homeland Security/
National Center for Food Protection and Defense-University of Minnesota. (9/07-12/09)
$230,000

33
Principal Investigator - Disinfecting and Stabilizing Biosolids Using E-beam and Chemical
Oxidants. Principal Investigator. Water Environment Research Foundation. $ 183,903 (4/2007-
12/2009)
Co-Principal Investigator - State of Texas Emerging Technology Fund: Automated Pathogen
Detection System for Drinking Water Analysis $ 230,000

Principal Investigator Establishment of Manufacturing, Assembly, Packaging, Labeling and

Electronic Sterilization (MAPLES) facility Principal Investigator. NASA/Jacobs: $ 45,346

Principal Investigator National Center for Electron Beam Food Research-Food Safety. USDA-
CSREES (8/04-7/09) $ 608,080

Previous
Co-Principal Investigator - Effectiveness of Irradiation as a Post-harvest Quarantine Treatment
of Imported Cut-flowers $74,725 Ceniflores (Centro de Innovación de la Floricultura
Colombiana)

Collaborator - Development and Evaluation of Flat Panel X-ray Source - Advanced Technology
Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) -$2,000,000 (2/2007-
10/2009)

Principal Investigator - Electron Beam Pasteurization of Spinach, Lettuce, and Spring Mix to
Eliminate E.coli O157:H7 and Hepatitis A Virus Contamination. Principal Investigator. TAMU-
Conacyt Program $ 24,000 (9/07-8/08)

Co-Principal Investigator Prevention and control of Avian Influenza in the United States. Co-
Principal Investigator. USDA-CAP grants. $ 15,074 (1/07-1/08)

Principal Investigator - Characterizing the Role of Autoinducer Molecule AI-2 in the

Colonization and Virulence of S. Enteritidis in Chicken (9/07-12/07) $ 24,339

Electron beam sterilization of spacecraft components. Principal Investigator NASA (9/04-8/07)

$ 919,215

Quantifying health risks in Mexico associated with contaminated fruits and vegetables via
pathogens in irrigation water.. TAMU-Conacyt Program (9/05-9/06) $25,000: Principal
Investigator

Microfluidic device-based capture and concentration of microbial contaminants in recycled water

NASA Principal Investigator. (1/04-4/06) $ 89,223

Microfluidic system for capture and concentration of microbial contaminants in drinking water.
State of Texas-Advanced Technology Program. (1/04-8/06) Principal Investigator $ 126,550

34
Validation of ultrasonic technology to inactivate microbial pathogens in wastewater. Principal
Investigator.. TAMU-Conacyt Program. $25,000 (12/04-12/05)

Biotic factors controlling calicivirus attachment and persistence on lettuce- Graduate Student
Fellowship Research Program. Principal Investigator. NASA.( 2002- 2006) $72,000

Improve growth of sow-reared piglets by enhancing arginine synthesis. Collaborator. USDA-

NRI. 9/03- 8/06 $281,000

Improving the safety of fruits and vegetables: a tri-state consortium proposal. Project Director
USDA/CSREES (10/00- 8/05) $4,100,000

Water Quality Assessment and Library Development for Lake Waco and Lake Belton and
tributaries of Bosque and Leo Rivers. Co-PI. ( 9/02- 3/05) $ 639,742.

Field testing the effectiveness of riverbank filtration in an arid environment. Co-PI. USEPA
(9/01-2/05) $ 437,418

Bioaerosol monitoring of space vehicle assembly facilities . JPL/NASA (4/03) $2400

Hypothyroidism and broiler health. Collaborator. USDA-Formula Animal Health Funding

(6/03-6/04) $ 44,082

Efficacy of antimicrobial steels. AKSteel (6/02-11/02) $ 8,000

Development of rapid pathogen detection and characterization methods for assessing poultry
house bioaerosols impact on worker exposure and environment. PI Applied Biosystems and
MesoSystems, Inc $ 15,000 (1/2001-12/2002) (in kind support).

Efficacy of E-beam irradiation to inactivate enteric viruses and protozoa. SureBeam Corp. (10/01
- 9/02) PI. $24,037

Transport and removal of viruses. Co-PI. SCERP/EPA. (8/00-12/02) $75,000

Coliphage method optimization and field testing. PI. EPA/Gram (1/2001- 9/2002) $80,000

Bioaerosol monitoring of space vehicle assembly facilities . JPL/NASA (10/02) $2400

Differentiating human and non-human sources of fecal contamination. PI. Faculty Mini-grant
program TAMU (9/00-8/01). $1,000

Genosensor based approaches for characterizing microbial populations and identifying horizontal
gene transfer events in natural and man-made environments. PI. Texas Water Resources Institute
( 8/00-8/01) $15,000

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Occurrence of microbial pathogens and antibiotic resistant microbial populations in irrigation
waters and vegetables along the US-Mexico border. PI. ATP/ARP program (1/00-12/01)
$233,000

Fecal Indicator study along the US/Mexico border for the US EPA. PI. EPA/GRAM (10/99-
12/99) $ 18,381

Potential aerosolization of microbial pathogens and fecal indicator organisms from biosolid
application on agricultural lands. PI (2/99-3/99) El Paso Water Utilities.. $15,000

Survivability and retention of microbial pathogens and indicator organisms within on-site wastewter
treatment systems. PI. (8/98-7/99). Texas On-site Wastewater Treatment Research Council $58,800

A neural network based expert system for the identification of Giardia spp. and Cryptosporidium
spp. in environmental samples. TAES-FRD Program. PI. (9/96-6/99) $45,070

Bioaerosol screening for Salmonella spp. in and around poultry houses. State of Texas-Advanced
Technology Program. Co-PI (1/98-12/99)$109,346

Reversible inactivation of viruses in groundwater. Co-PI. USEPA (9/96-12/98)$176,000

Three dimensional field experiments and modeling of viral transport in groundwater. Co-PI
NWRI/USEPA (5/95 -12/97)$174,000

Fate of microbial pathogens during land application of waste effluents. Co-PI. Texas Dept. of
Agriculture-Texas-IsraelExchange Program.(9/95-8/99) $48,148

Epidemiologic biosurvey for reservoirs of Mycobacterium bovis in El Paso County chronic

tuberculosis affected dairy herds. Co-PI. Texas Animal Health Commission. (2/96-2/98)$40,000

Assessing and controlling the impacts of confined animal feeding operations (CAFO’s) on
infectious Cryptosporidium spp. loading to watersheds. Co-PI Texas Agricultural Experiemnt
Station.-Research Enhancement Program. (1/96-8/97)$ 42,200

Reliable and rapid detection system for Salmonella. Co-PI. Texas Agricultural Experiemnt Station.-
Research Enhancement Program. (1/96-8/97)$ 36,400

Virus Sampling and Microbial Analysis at the US/Mexico border. PI. USEPA/CADMUS. (1/97-
8/97)$16,265

Dual probe hybridization assay to confirm nucleotide sequence of amplicons. PI. Molecular Devices
Corp. (6/96-12/98) $50,000(in kind as equipment loan and reagents)

Lateral gene transfer of fluoroquinolone resistance determinants in the natural environment. PI.
USDA Research Apprenticeship Program. PI (5/95-8/95) $2,500

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Bioremediation of chromium in contaminated soils and potential application to the bioremediation
of Cr(VI) contaminated soils Co-PI. CERM/UTEP-EPA. (8/94-7/95) $75,504

Monitoring airborne microbial populations generated during land application of sewage sludge
under significant wind conditions. PI. Merco Joint Venture.(7/94-8/95) $40,723

Clinoptilolite compounds as a retardant of Salmonella sp. survival in agricultural soils and water. PI.
Environmental Friendly Products, Houston, Texas. (9/93-12/93).$2,000

Enumeration and description of microbial biofilm components. PI. El Paso Water Utilities, El Paso,
Texas. PI (2/94).$2,433

Development of standard operating procedures for the detection of Giardia spp. and
Cryptosporidium spp. as part of monitoring requirements. PI. El Paso Water Utilities, El Paso,
Texas. PI (3/94-7/94).$5,800

TEACHING Percentage Budgeted Time: 50%

Formal Courses Taught at Texas A&M University
Microbiology of Food Irradiation (POSC 489/689- FSTC 489/689).
Spring Semester - Credits: 3 (Undergradaute/graduate-level course)
To provide students with a working knowledge of the microbiology principles underlying
irradiation based destruction of microorganisms and practical experience with dosimetry. The
course will also provide the students hands-on experience in using e-beam irradiation to irradiate
foods. This course will be a lecture and laboratory course

Molecular Methods for Microbial Characterization (POSC 689/FSTC619/AGRO619).

Fall Semester Credits: 3. (Graduate level course)
To provide students, the theory and laboratory experience in the molecular detection and
characterization of pathogens. The course emphasizes method application and date interpretation
and will cover pathogens and indicator organisms that are of relevance to food safety and
environmental microbiology. This was a lecture and laboratory course. Average class enrollment: 7
graduate students

Research Training Courses

My laboratory also serves undergraduates obtain hands-on experience in microbiology research.
Specifically, I offer research credits (485 credits) for independent research projects as part of their
undergraduate curriculum. These research credits are offered as part of the Poultry Science
Department, Microbiology, and the Genetics Program. Many of the undergraduates who are hired
in my laboratory have started out in these courses.

Post-Doctoral Scientists and Visiting Scientists

Dr. Bob Reimers – Jan 2005-Aug 2005 –visiting professor from Tulane University
Ms. Liliana Matimoto. Aug 2004-Dec 2004 (visiting student from Brazil)
Ms. Maria Elena-Olvera. June 2004. (visiting graduate student from Monterrey Tech, Mexico)
Dr. Palmy Jesudhasan. (post-doctoral research associate) February 2004 - present

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Dr. Erhan Ic: June 2002 – December 2002 (visiting scientist from Turkish Atomic Energy Agency
Dr. Seema Endley: May 2000- December 2002 (post-doctoral research associate)
Dr. Armando Varela : 1997-1999 (post-doctoral research associate)
Dr. Humberto Avila: 6/94- 8/94 (visiting scientist from Universidad del Estado de Durango,
Mexico)
Dr. Marisa Mazari: Nov 1995. (visiting scientist from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
Mexico, Mexico)

Direction of Graduate Students

Major Professor
Charlotte Rambo, Ph.D. student (Toxicology) 2009-
Chandni Nair, Ph.D. student (Toxicology) 2010-
Katherine Mcelhany, M.S. student (Food Science & Technology) 2008-
Grihalakshmi Kakani, Ph.D. student (Food Science & Technology)(co-chair) 2008-
Zhirui (Ray) Zeng, Ph.D. Student (Poultry Science) 2009-
David Prince, M.S. student (Food Science & Technology) 2008-
Chandni Nair, M.S. student (Poultry Science) 2008-2009
Kamlesh Soni, Ph.D. student FSTC 2005 -
Kamlesh Soni, M.S. student – FSTC. 2004 -2005
Ken Widmer: Ph.D. student-Food Science & Technology. 2002-2007 (currently at GIST, S. Korea)
Everardo Vega: Ph.D. student-Food Science & Technology. 2001-2006 (currently at CDC, Atlanta)
Reema Singh, M.S. student-FSTC 2002-2004 (currently employed at Tysons foods )
Lu Lingeng: Ph.D. student –Food Science & Technology. 2000-2004 (currently at Yale University)
Jack McReynolds; Ph.D. student - Poultry Science. (Co-chair). 2002 – 2003 (accepted position at
USDA)
Matthew Roe: M.S. student.- Food Science & Technology. Graduated 2002 (currently employed at
Texas Tech University as university bio-safety specialist)

Committee Member
Vasile Hrihorisan – Ph.D. student (TAMU –Nutrition) current
Sam Chiang – Ph.D. student (TAMU – Poultry Science ) current
Ashwin Balasubramaniam – Ph.D. student (TAMU – Mechanical Engg) current
Walid Alali – Ph.D. student (TAMU Epidemiology) current
Srinivas Neralla – MS student (TAMU Mechanical Engg) graduated 2005
Robyn McGilloway-Ph.D. student (TAMU, Soil & Crop Science) 2002
Angie Chang: M.S. student-Program Program in Biotechnology. TAMU 2001-2002
Ken G. Maciorowski-Ph.D. student (TAMU, Poultry Science) 2000
Young Min Kwon-Ph.D. student (TAMU,Poultry Science ) 2001
Srinivasan Neralla-Ph.D. (TAMU, Soil and Crop Sciences) 1999
Jason Vogel, MS (TAMU, Agricultural Engineering) 1997

Honors and Awards Received by my students since 2000

2008 Katherine McElhany (undergraduate student). 1st Prize. Research Week-Texas A&m
University
2007 Suneil Mohan (Ph.D. student) 2nd place. Research Week-Texas A&M University
2006 Ken Widmer (Ph.D. student) FSTC Travel Award. June

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2006 Everardo Vega (Ph.D. student) FSTC Travel Award. June
2006 Kamlesh Soni (Ph.D. student) FSTC Academic Excellence Scholarship. June
2006 Sara Mittasch (B.S. student). Awarded American Society for Microbiology Undergraduate
Research Fellowship for work on viable but unculturable E.coli.
2006 Nick Garcia (B.S. student): First place in the undergraduate student category for work on
irradiation of viruses on cantaloupes
2006 Sara Mittasch (B.S. student); Second place in the undergraduate student categeory for work
on inactivation of spores on space craft components using electron beam technology
2005 Kamlesh Soni (M.S. student): Student travel award by the Food Science & Technology
Faculty to present his work at the American Society for Microbiology meetings in Atlanta
2005 Alejandra Klauer (undergrad student) ; 2nd place (undergrad) Research Week –Texas A&M
University
2005 Ever Vega (Ph.D. student): 2nd place ( graduate student) Research Week - Texas A&M
University
2005 Ken Widmer (Ph.D student): 3nd place (graduate student) Research Week –Texas A&M
University
2004 Ken Widmer (Ph.D student): Student Travel Award by the Food Science & Technology
Faculty to present his work at the American Society for Microbiology meetings in New
Orleans
2004 Everardo Vega (Ph.D. student): Student Travel Award by the Food Science & Technology
Faculty to present his work at the American Society for Microbiology meetings in New
Orleans
2004 Robert Spence (undergraduate student): First place Award for Undergraduate Research
poster presentation. Texas A&M University Agriculture Program Conference. January
2004 Kenneth Widmer (Ph.D. student) Honorable Mention for Graduate Research Poster. . Texas
A&M University Agriculture Program Conference. January
2003 Lu Lingeng (Ph.D. student): Student Travel Award by the American Society for
Microbiology to present his work on bacterial quorum sensing and sub-therapeutic antibiotic
exposure at the Annual Meetings
2003 Lu Lingeng (Ph.D student): Awarded the Tom Slick Graduate Fellowship by the Texas
A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
2002 Isabel Espinosa (B.S student): Awarded 1st place among undergraduate students for her
poster presentation related to “Coliphages as indicators of the impact of poultry wastes on
the environment” during the Student Research Week at Texas A&M University
2002 Everardo Vega (Ph.D. student): Awarded a Graduate Student Research Fellowship by
NASA for his doctoral research on the “Factors controlling calicivirus attachment to lettuce”
2000 Erica Rayburn (B.S. student): Awarded 2nd place for her poster presentation related to the
microbiological quality of irrigation waters along the Texas-Mexico border at the Ag.
Program Conference at Texas A&M University

Direction of graduate students at University of Texas at El Paso

Wyndi McElroy: M.S. student (Biology-UT El Paso): graduated 2002: currently employed by the
FBI
Janet L. Bader, Ph.D. (Geol Sciences-UT El Paso).graduated 1997: currently working as a soil
scientist in Arizona

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Scot E. Dowd, M.S. (Biology-UT El Paso) graduated 1996: currently working as a USDA-ARS
scientist in Texas
Robert E. Nze, M.S. (Biology- UT El Paso) graduated 1996: currently working with the US Navy

Committee Member
Guan Huade: M.S. (UTEP) 2001
Ken Widmer: M.S. (NMSU): 2000

Direction of Undergraduate Students

Current
David Prince (spring semester, 2007)- Detection of Salmonella in peanut butter
Kelly Mueller (spring semester, 2007)- Detection of Salmonella in peanut butter

Previous
Whitney Brady (1/2004- 5/2004 and 9/2004-): Characterization of integron sequences in microbial
community DNA samples from poultry processing plants
Nick Garcia (9/2004-): Virus attachment to lettuce leaves
James Ripps (6/2004): Microfluidic device to capture and concentrate microorganisms
Jessica Cardenas (2003-2005 ): Biotic and abiotic factors influencing enteric virus attachment to
plant surfaces: Salmonella isolation method optimization
Robert Spence (2003-2004): Use of modified zeolites to improve drinking water quality in broiler
houses
Leroy Cortinas (2003): Antibiotic resistance development in broiler chicks during sub-therapeutic
antibiotic administration
Isabel Espinosa (2001-2003): Detection and characterization of bacteriophages in poultry house
related bioaerosols
Erin Johnson (2002-2003): Cell culture analysis for enteric viruses in groundwater samples
Humberto Villareal (2003): Groundwater transport of microbial pathogens.
Andrea Hoffman (2002-2003): She was involved in a variety of microbiology tasks in the
laboratory ranging from making media to performing hands-on plating experiments and serial
dilutions for samples.
Patrick Connelly (2002): Genetic characterization of integron sequences in enteric bacteria
Erica Rayburn: (2002) Occurrence of pathogens in irrigation water
Crystal Haas: (2002) Development of TaqMan probe based Salmonella detection in food and
environmental samples
Anne Lang: (2002) Comparison of chemical and biological indicators of fecal contamination
Suzette Seng: (2002) Antibiotic resistance patterns of Salmonella from vegetable growing areas
Catherine Santos (2001): Antibiotic resistance profiles of E.coli isolates from vegetable growing
areas.
Alison Smith: (2000-2001):
Wendy Watson (2000-2001)
Allyson Herseim: (2000-2001) Coliphage extraction and enumeration methods
Jeff McDaniel: (2000-2001) DNA fingerprinting of bacteria
Amy Obenhaus (spring 2000): Coliphages in poultry litter and tray box liners
Rodney Saenz (summer, 2000): Salmonella isolation and fingerprinting of isolates
Randy Valenzuela (spring 1997-1998). Molecular mechanisms of viral inactivation.

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Everardo Vega (1998-1999): Virus transport within constructed wetlands
Elisa Camacho (1997-1999): Stability of naked RNA molecules
Elissette Cabello (1997-1999): Cryptosporidium isolation and detection
Sandra Hernandez (1998-1999): Microbial transport and retention within onsite wastewater systems
Scot E. Dowd (fall, 1994) Detection of gene expression in viable but non culturable bacterial cells.
Gabriel Gonzalez (independent Study-Fall, 1995) Bioreduction of chromate using fungi isolated
from a SuperFund site.
Gus Zamora (Independent Study-Summer, 1997) Extraction and quantification of total RNA and
mRNA from low biomass soils.
David Lopez (Independent Study-Summer, 1997) Occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in the
Rio Grande

High School/Pre-College Student Mentoring

Mentor to high school student on a 12 month environmental research internship under the El Paso
Tech-Prep program
Presentation at the Summer School program-Indian Ridge Middle School, El Paso, Texas
Served as advisor to 3 local high school students for their Prize Winning microbiology project.
1994.
Elissette Cabello (El Paso Community College) -Summer 1997
Rebecca Paniagua (El Paso Community College) - Summer 1996
Alfonso Munoz (El Paso Community College) – Summer 1995
Melissa Torres (Hanks High School) –Summer 1997
Sandra Lugo (Del Valle high School) – summer 1995
Mentor to USDA High School Student Apprentice, 1995
Carlos Hernandez (Hanks High School) –Summer 1995
Edgar Rubio (Del Valle High School) – Summer 1994
Edgar Martinez (Del Valle high School) – summer 1993

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