Lawrence Goodridge

Lawrence Goodridge
Born
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Guelph
Scientific career
FieldsFood science
InstitutionsMcGill University, University of Guelph
External videos
video icon Interview with Lawrence Goodridge, Food Safety News, August 9, 2015
video icon Tales from the john: Here's a place where Covid can't hide, Toronto Sun, January 14, 2022

Lawrence Goodridge is a Canadian food scientist. He is the Leung Family Professor of Food Safety at the University of Guelph and Director of Guelph's Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety.[1] Goodridge studies detection of and protection from food- and water-borne pathogens such as escherichia coli, salmonella and listeria.[2] He uses wastewater testing to study the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases.[3][4]

Early life and education

Goodridge was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[5] He attended the University of Guelph, receiving his B.Sc. in Microbiology in 1995, his M.Sc. in Food Microbiology in 1997, and his Ph.D. in Food Microbiology in 2002. He studied Food Safety at the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety in 2003.[6] He then held a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Georgia[5] where he worked with Michael P. Doyle.[7]

Career

In 2003, Goodridge joined the faculty at the University of Wyoming. In 2006, he moved to Colorado State University.[5]

In 2013,[2] Goodridge became an Associate Professor and the Ian and Jayne Munro Chair in Food Safety in the Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry at McGill University.[5]

In January 2019 Goodridge became the Leung Family Professor of Food Safety at the University of Guelph, where he also holds the position of Director of Guelph's Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety.[2][1]

Research

Goodridge has studied salmonella and led a $10-million research project with the goal of mapping the genomes of all known Salmonella varieties. This would help scientists to better understand why only 20-25 of the known 2,500 serotypes of Salmonella normally cause human disease.[8] He is developing predictive models of the virulence of foodborne pathogens, using phenotypic and genotypic methods.[9]

Goodridge has warned that the incidence of food-related illnesses is increasing as temperatures rise and more extreme weather events occur due to climate change.[10] He also reports that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is using whole genome sequencing to identify and track the sources of contaminated food and to increase the safety of the Canadian food supply.[11]

Goodridge uses wastewater testing as a community-level indicator for monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases.[3] He combines data from wastewater analysis with social media syndromic analysis, which studies the social media usage of those who report online that they feel ill.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Bueckert, Kate (February 13, 2022). "Black scientists won't stay in Canada without equitable research funding, experts say". CBC News. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Food Safety professorship established at University of Guelph - Food In CanadaFood In Canada". Food in Canada. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Prof Makes Headlines with COVID Wastewater Project". U of G News. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  4. ^ Chattha, Simran (28 October 2020). "Researcher Receives Federal Funding to Track Outbreaks Using Wastewater". Water Canada. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "Lawrence Goodridge". McGill University. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Lawrence Goodridge : Food Science". University of Guelph. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Webinar - An Hour with Lawrence Goodridge". Canadian Institute of Food Science & Technology. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  8. ^ Andrews, James (11 August 2015). "IAFP 2015: Interview with Lawrence Goodridge, Professor and Salmonella Researcher". Food Safety News. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Lawrence Goodridge". The Conversation. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  10. ^ Burke, David (November 4, 2019). "Why climate change appears to be increasing the frequency of food-borne illnesses". CBC News. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  11. ^ Burke, David (September 21, 2019). "How Canadian investigators use DNA to track down contaminated food". CBC News. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  12. ^ Lev, Elianna (January 24, 2022). "Are more people getting COVID-19? The answer might be in our wastewater". ca.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 13 February 2022.