Joyjit Saha Receives Travel Scholarship for Food Protection Conference

By Rebekah Alford

Joyjit Saha, food science Ph.D. student, is developing food microbiology predictive models to help reduce costly experimentation in the food industry. He received a student travel scholarship to the International Association for Food Protection Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was invited to present this research at their annual meeting. The IAFP Student Travel Scholarship provides an industry or academic mentor based on research interest to help with networking.

“I was given an opportunity to be mentored by Leon Gorris, Director of Regulatory Affairs Global Food Safety & Capabilities, Unilever R&D, The Netherlands,” Joyjit said. “Dr. Gorris introduced me to the ‘Who is Who’ of the food industry, which has really been helpful to gain a foothold in this vast food industry.”

The scholarship also gave Saha an opportunity to be highlighted in a press release by IAFP and in the Journal of Food Protection Trends, which increases recognition among peers. Joyjit is a member of Microbial Modelling and Risk Analysis, a professional development group which helps individuals stay updated with current research.

“Joyjit is a self-starter when it comes to his research program,” said Clint Rusk, head of the OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences. “He has completed numerous research projects related to food microbiology during both his M.S. and Ph.D. graduate programs. So far, Joyjit has published eight refereed journal articles, 20 abstracts and two research articles in high-impact, refereed journals, food-related magazines, and conference proceedings.”

In 2018, Saha was also recognized by the Graduate College for his academic contributions and received the OSU Foundation Distinguished Graduate Fellowship.

Joyjit Saha (right)

Photo by IAFP

“I was fortunate to receive wonderful recommendations from Drs. Rusk, Carter, and Jaroni which helped me to achieve this fellowship,” Saha said. “This fellowship has helped me a lot to manage my fees over the semesters.”

Joyjit has also received recognition for an app he calls STEAK (Safe Temperature Estimator at a Klick). The app development business model earned second place in the accelerate 2018 OSU Business Plan Competition, which later helped Divya Jaroni, Ph.D., and Joyjit to receive a $3,000 travel grant from the National Science Foundation.

“Joyjit has worked to develop predictive models in food microbiology to reduce the cost of experimentation in the food industry,” said Rusk. “Joyjit’s main research interest is in risk-mitigation of biofilm-forming foodborne pathogens in the food production and processing industry. He has been studying various intervention strategies.”

Joyjit continues to work on the STEAK mobile-app and plans to eventually make it available for purchase to businesses who would benefit from a quick and low-cost way to calculate cooking times. Recently, Joyjit received the Stanley E. Gilliland Memorial Fellowship in Food Science from the OSU Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center. This award recognizes overall achievement in food science.

“My future career goals are aimed at the development of successful interdisciplinary research and training programs addressing the needs of the food industry,” Joyjit said. “Most importantly, I am passionate about research in food microbiology/safety and interested in opportunities that help me get involved in collaborative research with computer science.”

Joyjit recently accepted a position at the University of Florida where he will be serving the food industry as a produce safety extension specialist.