News

Jul 27-28, 2026

CML graduate students showcased their research at the 2026 International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Jul 26, 2026

Congratulations to Bhaswati Chowdhury on receiving the 2026 International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Student Travel Scholarship! This award supported her attendance at the IAFP 2026 Annual Meeting, held July 26-29, 2026, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Jun 21-26, 2026

Our graduate students Diego Fredes-Garcia, Rakib Eshan, and Bhaswati Chowdhury had a great time hosting secondary school teachers during the 2026 Professional Development for Agricultural Literacy (PDAL) conference, a program that equips educators with hands-on experiences and classroom resources in agriculture and food systems. Their interactive workshop, The Hidden Science of Everyday Foods, explored food chemistry, microbiology, proteins, and other everyday food science concepts through engaging activities.

Apr 13, 2026

Congratulations to Bhaswati Chowdhury on receiving the 2026 CeZAP ID-IGEP Graduate Student Mini-Grant! The $4,500 award will support her Summer I 2026 research focused on "Comparative analysis of host-associated variation in fimbrial gene clusters and tip adhesin polymorphisms in Salmonella."

Oct 17, 2025

The CML graduate students showcased their research at the 2025 CeZAP Infectious Disease Symposium! Hosted by Virginia Tech's Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens (CeZAP), the annual symposium highlights interdisciplinary research addressing emerging infectious diseases.

July 30, 2025

Camryn recently presented her research on characterizing lactic acid bacteria across different sourdough starter compositions at the Summer Research Conference. Her work focused on microbial diversity profiling through 16S rRNA gene analysis, providing insights into how starter composition shapes bacterial communities.

May 27, 2025

Welcome, Camryn!

We are excited to welcome Camryn Hardin to the Cheng Micro Lab as part of her Multicultural Academic Opportunities Program (MOAP) research experience! We look forward to supporting her research journey this summer!

May 23, 2025

Congratulations to Caroline Yates on the publication of her M.S. research in the Journal of Food Protection!

Her article, “Temporal, Seasonal, and Patient Demographic Trends Among Culture-Confirmed Human Salmonellosis Cases Identify Regional Differences in Salmonella Serotypes Reported in Virginia, USA From 2012 through 2022,” highlights regional trends in Salmonella incidence across Virginia.

This work contributes to an improved understanding of public health risks and supports the development of more effective surveillance strategies.

Access the article here.

May 15, 2025

Congratulations to Olivia Allison on being named the Outstanding Senior for the Department of Food Science and Technology as part of the Spring 2025 CALS Commencement Awards!

August 10, 2022

Today is the first day of the Cheng Micro Lab! We are excited to start our research journey in the Food Science and Technology Department.

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