Dr. Luyao Ma

Assistant Professor

Contact Information

Office Location
416 Sandels Building
luyao.ma@fsu.edu

Research Interests

Dr. Luyao Ma’s laboratory focuses on building the next generation of agri-food systems with higher safety, security, and sustainability. To achieve this goal, her research group utilizes multi-disciplinary techniques in microbiology, molecular biology, microfluidics, optical microscopy and spectroscopy, and artificial intelligence. Ma’s group has three main research directions:

 

  • Building smarter food safety monitoring and better food quality assessment platforms using artificial intelligence and advanced sensing techniques.
  • Understanding the persistence and antimicrobial resistance of foodborne pathogens in agri-food systems.
  • Developing sustainable processing and sanitation approaches to control spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms.

Ma’s laboratory welcomes motivated and enthusiastic students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting scholars to join the team!

 

Education

  • Ph.D., Food Science, The University of British Columbia
  • M.Sc., Food Science, The University of British Columbia
  • B.Eng., Food Science & Engineering, Zhejiang University

 

Professional Experience

Assistant Professor, Florida State University (Aug 2023 – present)

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Davis (Oct 2021 – Aug 2023)

 

Publications

View a full list of publications on Google Scholar.

Selected publications:

  • Ma, L., Yi, J., Wisuthiphaet, N., Earles, M., Nitin, N., 2023. Accelerating the Detection of Bacteria in Food Using Artificial Intelligence and Optical Imaging. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 89(1), e01828-22.
  • Kim, Y., Ma, L., Huang, K., Nitin, N., 2023. Bio-based antimicrobial compositions and sensing technologies to improve food safety. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 79, 102871.
  • Ma, L., Feng, J., Zhang, J., Lu, X., 2022. Campylobacter Microbiological Research, 264, 127149.
  • Ma, L., He, W., Petersen, M., Chou, K.C., Lu, X., 2021. Next-generation antimicrobial-resistance surveillance system based on internet-of-things and microfluidic technique, ACS Sensors, 6(9), 3477-3484. (Editor’s Choice)
  • Ma, L., Konkel, M.E., Lu, X., 2021. Antimicrobial-resistance gene transfer of Campylobacter jejuni in mono- and dual-species biofilms. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 87(15), e00659-21.
  • Ma, L., Chen, L., Chou, K. C., Lu, X., 2021. Determination of antimicrobial resistance profiles and mechanisms of Campylobacter jejuni using a Raman spectroscopy-based metabolomic approach. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 87(12), e003882.
  • Petersen, M., Ma, L., Lu, X., 2021. Rapid determination of viable but non-culturable Campylobacter jejuni in food products by loop-mediated isothermal amplification coupling propidium monoazide treatment. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 351, 109263-9.
  • Webb, L., Fleming, A., Ma, L., Lu, X., 2021. Uses of cellular agriculture in plant-based meat analogues. ACS Food Science & Technology, 1 (10), 1740-1747.
  • Ma, L., Petersen, M., Lu, X., 2020. Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Campylobacter using a microfluidic lab-on-a-chip device. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 86 (9), e00096-20.
  • Ma, L., Feng, S., de la Fuente, C., Hancock, R.E.W., Lu, X., Development of molecularly imprinted polymers to block quorum sensing and inhibit bacterial biofilm formation. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 10 (22), 18450–18457.
  • Ma, L., Nilghaz, A, Choi, J., Liu, X., Lu, X., 2018. Rapid detection of clenbuterol in milk using microfluidic paper-based ELISA. Food Chemistry, 246, 437-441.

Accomplishments

  • The research article “Accelerating the Detection of Bacteria in Food Using Artificial Intelligence and Optical Imaging” in which Dr. Ma was the leading author has been selected by the Editor in Chief of Applied and Environmental Microbiology (AEM) to be part of the New and Notable Applied and Environmental Science Collection. This feature highlights significant, popular articles related to basic and applied microbiology in environments published within 2022-2023.
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowship (2022-2023)
  • Withycombe-Charalambous Award for Excellence in Graduate Research, American Chemical Society (ACS) (2020)
  • International Doctoral Fellowship, The University of British Columbia (2017-2020)