Enhancing Competitiveness Of Agricultural Research Programs With Next Generation Droplet Pcr

The long-term goal over the next five years is to enhance both the research capabilities of my own program and lab as well as those of the University of Arkansas (UofA) Center for Food Safety and Division of Agriculture. Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) is the next generation in molecular detection technologies with respect to high throughput detection of microorganisms, genotyping, and gene expression, and assay validations. By acquiring ddPCR, my research program focusing on the fate and transport of pathogens in the environment and the impact of food safety--with a specific emphasis on foodborne viruses including human noroviruses (hNoV)--would be able to operate using the most sophisticated technologies allowing for increased confidence in project outcomes.