Abstract: The increasing incidence of infectious outbreaks imposes a global burden for food safety, creating a market demand for on-site, disposable, easy-to-use and cost-efficient devices. This work aims to provide a cost-efficient, reliable and repeatable approach, for the detection of foodborne pathogens in real samples. We propose for the first time an optimized ink-jet printing platform, using a controlled nano-patterning of novel carboxyl-functionalized aptameric ink on nitrocellulose substrate for the highly efficient detection of E. coli O157:H7 (25 CFU ml^-1 in pure culture and 233 CFU ml^-1 in ground beef). This technology demonstrates the ability to control the variation within +/-1SD for at least 75% for data collected even at very low concentrations.  We reported on the lowest LOD of the state-of-the art for paper-based optical detection of E. coli O157:H7, with enough evidence (p > 0.05) to prove its high specificity at genus, specie, strain and serotype level.

Bio: Lia A. Stanciu, Ph.D. is a Professor and Associate Head in the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University.

She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemistry from University of Bucharest in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Dr. Stanciu received a Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from University of California Davis in 2003.

Dr. Stanciu’s research interests are highly interdisciplinary and include: Biomaterials, Biosensors and Biofuel Cells, Chemical Sensors, Processing of Ceramics, Battery Materials, and Electron Microscopy. Currently, her research is focused three main areas: i. understanding the relationship between degradation rate and biocompatibility of bioresorbable metals for transient implants; ii. Rational design of materials for sensors and biosensors with applications in the food and water safety and iii. Understanding the processing-microstructure-properties relationships in ceramics with energy applications.

She has published over 100 journal articles, as well as book chapters, patents and conference proceedings. She served as a Chair of one of the largest Materials Research Conferences, MRS Spring Meeting in 2015. She also serves as editor of Nature Scientific Reports and was named a Purdue University Faculty Scholar in 2014.

~BME Faculty Host: Jacqueline Linnes~

***Coffee and juice will be provided at West Lafayette***