June Sass is an undergraduate research assistant finishing receiving a B.S. public health with a biology minor. June has worked on the anti-fungal resistance pilot project studying Aspergillus resistance since June 2020. She is passionate about social justice, food, health and medicine, with a background in previous microbiological research at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Colorado College.
Michael Hughes is a Research Assistant at the ARAC. He received a B.S in Biology from Lincoln University, the nation's oldest HBCU. He received his M.S in Food Science from Delaware State University and his PhD in Food Science and Technology from Virginia Tech, where he studied the influence of garlic extracts on the gut microbiome and cardiovascular disease risk.
Members of ARAC's research team were co-authors of a new study "Transmission of Antimicrobial-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Clonal Complex 9 between Pigs and Humans" published in March 2021. In the study, researchers sequenced the DNA of bacteria found in pigs and people in rural eastern North Carolina, an area with concentrated industrial-scale pig-farming. Their findings suggest that multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains are spreading between pigs, farmworkers, their families and community residents, and represents an emerging public health threat.
Ariana is a Lab Assistant at ARAC and is currently a Sophomore in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. She is interested in pursuing a degree in Biological Anthropology and exploring her options for what to do in the future.
You Lian Weiner is an undergraduate research assistant at the ARAC. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a minor in Chinese Language and Literature at The George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. Previously, she has worked as a homecare worker and in GW's Cochlear Implant Communication Lab.
(January, 26, 2021, Washington, D.C.) Today, a coalition of animal welfare, consumer, public health, and environmental organizations called on grocery stores, restaurants and meat producers to reject the use of a misleading label scheme known as One Health CertifiedTM (OHC) and the standards behind it. The label was approved for use on chicken and turkey products in 2020 and is now being used by a handful of grocery store chains, including Aldi and BJ’s, and at least one restaurant chain.
In December 2020, Cindy Liu and Lance Price co-authored a paper in Nature Microbiology along with colleagues from the University of Luxembourg showing how molecular parasites – including bacterial viruses and plasmids – shape bacterial populations in wastewater treatment plants over time. You may be asking: Why would public health researchers care about bacteria in wastewater treatment plants? It turns out that bacteria are the biochemical engines of these essential sanitation systems. Bacterial populations and communities can evolve over time effecting the performance of the system.
Janet is an undergraduate research assistant at ARAC. She is currently a third-year student pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Biological Science with a concentration of Cellular and Molecular Biology and a minor in Public Health. She is interested in clinical research and hopes to pursue a career in medicine in the future, specifically in Pediatrics.
Tony is a research assistant at ARAC, working on numerous projects including characterizing the nasal microbiome. He received both his Bachelor’s in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as well as his Master’s in Biotechnology from Boston University. His previous research includes studying microbial communities important to the nitrogen cycle at MIT.
