Dr. Achyut Adhikari

Dr. Adhikari earned his Ph.D. degree in Food Science with an emphasis on Food Microbiology from the Washington State University. Currently, he is leading his food safety research group at Louisiana State University.

 

Dr. Priyanka Gupta

Priyanka earned her Ph.D. in Industrial and Agricultural Technology from Iowa State University. Priyanka completed her master's degree in Food Safety and Quality Management from National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, India. After completing her master's, she worked as an Assistant Professor of food safety and food microbiology at Vignan University in India. Her Ph.D. research focused on developing mathematical models to evaluate complex agricultural supply chains and assessing the capability of these supply chains to accommodate segregated product streams. She joined Dr. Adhikari's research lab in fall 2021 as Post-Doc. Her work will focus on food safety research, extension and outreach activities, and educational training.

 

Juan Moreira

Juan earned his B.Sc in Food Science and Technology from Zamorano University, Honduras in 2017. Afterwards, he completed his M.Sc degree in Food Science and Technology from the Louisiana State University in 2019. His research during his Master´s was focused on die-off rates of pathogenic bacteria from the surface of fresh-cut and whole produce. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at Louisiana State University, with his research focused on mulch effectiveness in reducing risk of contamination to fresh produce from irrigation or biological soil amendments of animal origin.

 

Jyoti Aryal

Jyoti completed her B.Sc in Food Technology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2018. Following graduation, she interned at CG Foods, Pvt. Ltd, Nepal. She also volunteered as a lab assistant in the Food Research Division of Nepal Agricultural Research Council, assisting in product development and analysis of fresh produce and food products. Jyoti earned her M.Sc degree in Food Science and Technology from Louisiana State University in 2021. Her research was focused in determining the effect of contact time on antimicrobial efficacy when applied on fresh produce and food contact surfaces. Currently she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology at Louisiana State University, where she will be working on determining the effectiveness of nano-bubbles to increase surface contact area in between sanitizers and fresh produce in order to reduce pathogens.

 

Manish Thapaliya

Manish earned his M.Sc. in Microbiology with a Food Microbiology specialization from Tribhuvan University in 2007/08, Nepal. His research during his M.Sc. focused on antibiotic residue (Penicillin and Sulfonamide) in market milk. After completing his M.Sc. degree, he worked as instructor of food microbiology and food safety at different colleges. He also worked as National food quality and safety specialist in European Union funded Trade and Private Sector Development Project from 2015 to 2019 and as Senior Technical Specialist-Food for The Fleming Fund Country Grant Nepal from January 2021 to April 2021. He joined LSU in summer 2021 and is currently pursuing his PhD under Dr. Adhikari.

 

Ivannova Lituma

Ivannova earned her B.Sc in Food Science and Technology from Zamorano University, Honduras in 2020. She completed an internship in Dr. Adhikari´s lab during her senior year of undergraduate studies. In her internship, she worked on evaluating the effectiveness of air bubbles during washing to dislodge microorganisms from bell peppers and cucumbers. Additionally, she contributed in starting a farm worker hygene training provided in Spanish. Currently she is a Masters student in the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences at Louisiana State University.

 

Aakankshya Dhakal

Aakankshya earned her B.Tech in Biotechnology from VIT University, India in 2022. Her research during her undergrad was focused on Qualitative, quantitative, and microbial analysis of traditionally fermented food of Nepal. She is currently pursuing her M.Sc degree in Food Science and Technology at Louisiana State University.

 

Daniel Leiva

Daniel Leiva is a visiting scholar from Honduras. He is a senior student at Zamorano University, Honduras majoring in Food Science and Technology. He assists graduate students on their diverse research projects. Specifically, he is assisting on a research project evaluating the effect of UV-C light treatment on Listeria monocytogenes in hydroponic systems. Also, he assists in the different trainings offered by the Adhikari Food Safety Lab.