IAFP Announces 2026 Student Travel Scholarship Recipients

Monday, May 4, 2026

Des Moines, Iowa – The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) will present Student Travel Scholarships to the following individuals at IAFP 2026, July 26–29, in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Sponsored by the IAFP Foundation, the Student Travel Scholarships provide travel funds to enable selected students to travel to and participate in IAFP 2026. 

Zoe Anderson is a Ph.D. candidate in Food Science at Washington State University in Pullman, based at the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser. Her current doctoral research focuses on postharvest water risk mitigation strategies, including intervention approaches for bacterial control in apple drencher systems; evaluation of essential oil coatings for nectarines and blueberries; and the application of structural equation modeling to predict the impact of water quality on microbial populations in flume water and fresh produce.

Charles Bakin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Bakin’s dissertation research addresses key knowledge gaps related to the effectiveness of preharvest interventions for controlling Salmonella in poultry in the U.S. through the application of Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA).

Rocio Barron-Montenegro is in her final year as a Ph.D. student in Biological and Medical Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago. Her doctoral research focuses on the development of bacteriophage-based strategies to control Salmonella Infantis in poultry production. Her work includes the design of targeted phage cocktails and edible antimicrobial coatings aimed at improving food safety and extending the shelflife of chicken meat.

Auja Bywater is a Ph.D. candidate with dual title in Food Science and International Agriculture and Development at The Pennsylvania State University in State College. Ms. Bywater’s research focuses on bacterial communities in controlled environment agriculture, investigating differences in bacterial load and diversity across five soilless farming systems and seasons. More recently, she conducted research at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany investigating Salmonella gene fitness during lettuce germination in rockwool cubes.

Chloe Castanon is an undergraduate student researcher at Chapman University in Orange, California.
Ms. Castanon’s current research is on quantifying gene expression in beef from different finishing diets to develop reliable methods for authenticating grass-finished beef. This work aims to improve transparency in food labeling and strengthen consumer confidence.

Bhaswati Chowdhury is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Food Science and Technology Department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. Ms. Chowdhury’s research focuses on understanding how Salmonella interacts within and outside the host environment. Her work integrates proteomics, genomic analysis of plasmid-associated genes, and evaluation of natural water bodies as reservoirs to identify key drivers of Salmonella persistence and transmission.

Yihong Deng is a Ph.D. student in the Milk Quality Improvement Program in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Ms. Deng’s research focuses on the characterization and subtyping of dairy-associated Microbacterium species to better understand their diversity and persistence in dairy processing environments. She also contributes to applied research, evaluating sampling approaches that support improved microbial monitoring in dairy production systems.

Shivaprasad Doddabematti Prakash is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Grain and Food Science at Kansas State University in Manhattan, specializing in food microbiology and the safety of low-moisture foods. Mr. Doddabematti Prakash’s dissertation research addresses critical global challenges associated with foodborne illnesses in grain-based products. His research explores the microbial ecology of grain-processing environments and investigates the inactivation kinetics and physiological responses of Salmonella to innovative non-thermal interventions, including pulsed light, cold plasma, and UV-C.

Natoavina Faliarizao is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Food Science and Biosystems Engineering at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Mr. Faliarizao’s research primarily focuses on the application of mathematical modeling to enhance the safety of dried foods and plant-based ingredients. He expanded his previous research on chili pepper drying and moved on to pathogen survival on low-moisture food during high temperature processes. He developed an innovative non-isothermal approach to predict Salmonella inactivation on plant-based low-moisture foods at high temperatures to advise industries on process parameters that ensure adequate pathogen control to meet regulatory requirements.

Julia Ai Fukuba is a Ph.D. candidate in Food Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Ms. Fukuba’s applied food safety research evaluates key process parameters in fermented foods to generate validation data that supports small and medium-scale processors in developing FSMA-compliant food safety plans. In parallel, she investigates the antiviral efficacy of peracetic acid and essential oil-based formulations, and studies the molecular dynamics of viral capsid protein for understanding how human norovirus surrogates may develop enhanced recalcitrance upon exposure to sub-fatal conditions created by improper sanitation practices.

Jean Paul Hategekimana is a Ph.D. student in the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the Universityof Rwanda in Kigali, where he also serves as a lecturer in the Department of Food Science and Technology. Mr. Hategekimana’s research focuses on food safety risk analysis, mycotoxin contamination, and strengthening food safety systems in developing countries. His current doctoral research investigates the prevalence of mycotoxins in the Rwandan maize value chain and aims to develop practical, scalable mitigation strategies to support safe maize production and handling, particularly among small- and medium-scale actors.

Yihan He is a Ph.D. candidate in Food Science at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Ms. He’s research focuses on developing rapid, portable, and intelligent analytical tools for food safety applications. She is particularly interested in integrating microfluidics, molecular detection, and digital technologies to improve the speed, accessibility, and practicality of food hazard detection.

Zilfa Irakoze is currently a dual-title doctorial candidate in Food Science and International Agriculture & Development (INTAD) at The Pennsylvania State University in State College. Ms. Irakoze’s dissertation investigates the chemical signals used by beneficial Trichoderma molds to suppress aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus molds in food. Drawing on fungal ecology, metabolomics, and participatory community research, her work examines how Trichoderma’s volatile and non-volatile metabolites, environmental conditions, and traditional farmer practices collectively enhance biocontrol strategies for aflatoxin management.

Veeramani Karuppuchamy is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Food Science and Technology at The Ohio State University in Columbus. In his most recent M.S. research, Mr. Karuppuchamy worked on a USDA-funded collaborative research project titled “Transforming Sanitation Strategies in Dry Food Manufacturing Environments.” In his research, he evaluated the application of air impingement technology as a potential dry-cleaning method for low-moisture food products such as nonfat dry milk. He studied the influence of water activity, sample thickness, and conditional time after reaching equilibrium on the removal efficiency of deposits from stainless steel surfaces.

Dr. Praveen Kosuri recently completed his Ph.D. in Animal Science with a focus on Food Microbiology and Safety at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Dr. Kosuri’s doctoral research focused on developing comprehensive probiotic- and postbiotic-based strategies to control Salmonella Enteritidis across the broiler production continuum. His current research focuses on developing and evaluating novel antimicrobial strategies including probiotics, postbiotics, and aerated nanobubble water, to control foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and Listeria in poultry and food processing environments.  

Daniel Leiva Murcia is a Ph.D. student in the Food Safety & Microbiology Laboratory at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. A native of Honduras, Mr. Murcia’s research focuses on studying how microorganisms are introduced, survive, decline, and transfer within agricultural environments and what factors influence their behavior. He continues to develop practical, data-driven approaches to improve preharvest produce safety and better-informed risk management strategies. He is committed to translating research into action through extension and outreach activities.

Mallika Mahida is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Georgia in Athens. Ms. Mahida’s dissertation research focuses on evaluating the survival of foodborne pathogens (Salmonella and E. coli) in freeze-dried, ready-to-eat meat products, and developing predictive models to characterize microbial behavior during storage. Her research investigates the effectiveness of acid-based marinades and thermal interventions as pretreatment strategies to achieve microbial reductions prior to freeze-drying. By integrating experimental microbiology with predictive modeling, her work aims to generate research-based, consumer-relevant guidance and represents a paradigm shift in addressing emerging food safety risks associated with the rapidly growing practice of home freeze-drying.

Monica Osorio-Barahona is a Ph.D. student in Food Science and Technology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. Ms. Osorio-Barahona’s work focuses on fresh produce safety, with an emphasis on microbial risks across production and post-harvest systems. Her current research combines field-based and laboratory approaches to better understand contamination risks under real operating conditions. She also focuses on generating data that is relevant to industry and supports practical improvements in produce safety.

Richard Yaw Otwey is a doctoral student in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne. Mr. Otwey’s current research is on pet food safety and the role of pet foods as potential vehicles for foodborne pathogens in pets and humans. His current research investigates the prevalence of Salmonella across major pet food types and evaluates antimicrobial resistance profiles of the isolates. His work also examines pathogen behavior under different antimicrobial intervention strategies, including chemical antimicrobials and bacteriophage-based approaches, with an emphasis on microbial adaptation through molecular and phenotypic analyses.

Calvin Slaughter is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Mr. Slaughter’s graduate research primarily focuses on microbial food safety in low-moisture food environments, with an emphasis on risk trade-offs between wet and dry sanitation. He is currently developing a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA)-based framework for sanitation validation to evaluate both wet and dry sanitation methodologies and support risk-negotiation between the two approaches.

In addition, the Korea Association for Food Protection, IAFP's Affiliate, will support travel funding to IAFP 2026 for one student attending a university in Korea. This year's recipient is Sanyi Kim, a master’s candidate in Veterinary Public Health at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea. Ms. Kim’s current research centers on bovine mastitis and antimicrobial resistance, with an emphasis on understanding pathogen behavior and developing sustainable alternatives to antibiotics. Using next-generation sequencing and culture-based approaches, she investigates the microbiome and virulence characteristics of bacteria isolated from healthy and mastitis milk.