Finalists for the 2014 FDA Food Safety Challenge were announced on May 11. The finalists will each receive $20,000 and will now refine their concepts with coaching and mentorship from FDA experts in food safety and pathogen testing.

The Purdue team is led by Michael Ladisch, distinguished professor of biomedical engineering and distinguished professor of agricultural and biological engineering, and is made up of research scientist Eduardo Ximenes; senior research engineer Kirk Foster; graduate student Seockmo Ku; research assistant professor Amanda Deering; and laboratory technician Thomas Kreke.

The Purdue team was selected for its research to develop a method for concentrating salmonella to detectable levels using automated microfiltration. Ladisch also is a member of another team made up of researchers from Purdue and the University of Illinois to develop a portable system for detection of foodborne pathogens in microfluidic biochips. The other members are Rashid Bashir, a professor from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Purdue professor Arun Bunhia; and graduate student Carlos Duarte-Guevara and postdoctoral researcher Eric Salm, both from the University of Illinois. The teams will present their improved concepts to judges on July 7. The competition offers a total prize purse of $500,000.