FCT grant holder wins AOAC/Eurofins Foundation "Testing for Life" Student Award

Sarah Azinheiro, an FCT Research Fellow doing her PhD at INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, won the "Testing for Life" Student Award from the AOAC/Eurofins Foundation. In her words, this award "is more than recognition of my work as a researcher, it's proof that I'm on the right track and that international quality research can also be carried out in Portugal".

Sarah reveals that she found out about this award through her supervisor, Professor Marta Prado, who challenged her to show the world her PhD project, entitled "Fast, affordable and multiplexed food pathogen detection in miniaturized devices", which consists of a miniaturized system (AKA Lab-on-Chip) that is faster, cheaper and more automated and simplifies the process of detecting pathogenic bacteria in food. The project tested and evaluated various techniques for detecting three of the most commonly reported microorganisms that cause food poisoning: Salmonella spp., E. coli O157 and L. monocytogenes. The analysis result time has been reduced from 7 days to just 9 hours. This system becomes even less variable, accessible to non-specialized people and does not require a laboratory, and its potential for future application goes beyond food safety, as there is currently a great demand for similar solutions for the clinical (health) area.

In September, Sarah will defend her doctoral thesis at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

AOAC International, based in the United States, is an organization that brings together policymakers, industry and academia to establish standard methods of analysis that ensure the safety and integrity of food and other products that impact public health around the world. As a leader in analytical excellence, it promotes food safety, food integrity and public health by bringing together members, organizations and experts dedicated to developing and validating standards, methods and technologies of global relevance.