Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University, having been employed with the university for over 22 years. 

Dr. Jaykus received a Ph.D. (1993) in environmental sciences and engineering from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She previously earned B.Sc. (1979) and M.Sc. (1982) degrees in food science from Purdue University, as well as serving in industrial positions for seven years. Her research efforts are varied but she is best known for her work in food virology. She is currently serving as the scientific director of the USDA-NIFA Food Virology Collaborative. Also called NoroCORE, the Collaborative is a seven-year, $25 million project intended to reduce the burden of disease associated with enteric viruses, particularly noroviruses. Prevention and control of norovirus contamination and subsequent transmission is one of her particular passions. 

Dr. Jaykus’ professional activities have included membership on the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, on several Institute of Medicine-National Research Council consensus committees, and on the executive board of the International Association for Food Protection, for which she served as president in 2010-2011. Dr. Jaykus has also worked closely with the FDA Office of Foods in facilitating the implementation of risk-based food safety management systems. She has taught food microbiology/safety on the undergraduate and graduate levels, has mentored over 50 graduate students and post-doctoral research associates and authored or co-authored over 150 scientific publications.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, Lee-Ann discusses all things norovirus and NoroCORE. 

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