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

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

Sarah reveals that she learned of this award through her supervisor, Professor Marta Prado, who challenged her to show the world her doctoral project, entitled "Fast, affordable and multiplexed detection of food pathogens in miniaturized devices", which consists of a miniaturized system (AKA Lab-on-Chip) that is faster, cheaper and automated and simplifies the process of detecting pathogenic bacteria in food. In the project, several techniques were tested and evaluated for the detection of 3 of the most reported microorganisms causing food poisoning: Salmonella spp., E. coli O157 and L. monocytogenes. The analysis result time has been reduced from 7 days to only 9 hours. This system becomes even less variable, accessible to non-specialized people and does not require a laboratory, and its potential future application goes beyond food safety, and 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 of America, is an organization that brings together policy makers, industry and academia to establish standard methods of analysis to 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.