Dr. Edward G. Dudley is a Professor of Food Science at Penn State University and Director of Penn State’s E. coli Reference Center, where scientists study bacteria that can affect the safety of our food and our health.
Dr. Dudley’s fascination with food microbiology began while he was a student at Penn State. He originally planned to pursue immunology, but after learning how microbiologists help keep food safe, prevent spoilage, and understand fermentation, he discovered the career he wanted to pursue.
Today, his research focuses on foodborne bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella. He studies how potentially harmful bacteria survive, cause illness, and spread, as well as how scientists can use modern tools such as genome sequencing to track pathogens during foodborne outbreaks.
Dr. Dudley’s work also explores CRISPR, the fascinating biological system found in bacteria that has become one of the most important areas of modern genetics and biotechnology. His research brings together microbiology, genetics, food science, technology, and public health.
He began his own college education at Penn State, earning a degree in microbiology, before receiving a master’s degree in Food Science and a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He later completed postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
When Dr. Dudley joins us, students will have the opportunity to learn how scientists investigate foodborne outbreaks, what E. coli really is, how DNA can help scientists track dangerous bacteria, what it is like to work in a microbiology laboratory, and how an interest in biology can lead to careers that help protect millions of people.
