Rachel Cheng
Thematic Area: Zoonotic Diseases
Overview of Research: The overall objective of my research program is to reduce the burden of foodborne illness through an improved understanding of pathogen biology and genetic and phenotypic diversity for the foodborne pathogen Salmonella enterica. The three main focus areas of my research program are:
1. Characterizing and understanding the genetic and phenotypic diversity within Salmonella to inform risk-based control strategies and food safety regulations
2. Developing novel genetic and phenotypic assays and tools for predicting host-associations and infection outcome
3. Develop tailored approaches to reduce foodborne disease incidence through community interventions
Highlight Research relating to the specific thematic area: We are currently characterizing the surface proteome of Salmonella serovars commonly found in poultry to identify conserved proteins on the cell surface that could be used for developing a more broad-spectrum vaccine, or for developing novel rapid-detection methods. Previously, we used comparative genomics methods to identify loci associated with Salmonella serovar Cerro’s adaptation to cattle.
Recent Grants:
- CALS Strategic Plan Advancement Seed Grant
- USDA Postdoctoral Fellowship
Recent publications:
- Carroll LM, Piacenza N, Cheng RA, Wiedmann M, and C Guldimann. 2022. A multi-drug resistant Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium DT104 lineage circulating among humans and cattle in the United States lost the ability to produce pertussis-like toxin ArtAB in close temporal proximity to the global DT104 epidemic. Microbial Genom. (9):001050.
- Cohn AR, RH Orsi, LM Carroll, J Liao, M Wiedmann, RA Cheng. 2022. Salmonella enterica serovar Cerro displays a phylogenetic structure and genomic features consistent with virulence attenuation and adaptation to cattle. Front Microbiol. 13, 4725. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1005215
- Carroll LM, Matle I, Kovac J, Cheng RA, and M Wiedmann. Laboratory misidentifications resulting from taxonomic changes to Bacillus cereus group species, 2018-2022. Emerg Infect Dis. (9): 1877-81. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2809.220293.
- Cheng RA, Orsi RH, and M Wiedmann. 2022. The number and type of chaperone-usher fimbriae reflects phylogenetic clade, rather than host range in Salmonella. mSystems. 7 (3): e00115-22. https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00115-22
Overview of mentor activities (undergraduate, graduate, and/or professional students):
- 3 undergraduate students
- 2 graduate students (PhD student recently awarded USDA ORISE Food Safety Fellowship)
- 1 professional student (DVM/MPH)
Overview of CeZAP and/or ID-IGEP involvement:
- Mentored 2 ID-IGEP rotation students
- Presented 1 seminar at CeZAP Distinguished Speaker Lecture Series