Development of rapid and sensitive detection assay for pathogens and biological toxins in foods is critical for food safety, bio-security and clinical diagnosis. Dr. Ahn’s research interest is to develop rapid, inexpensive and simple assays for simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens in foods or in the environment. For the development of these assays, Ishe utilizes various techniques, including immunomagnetic separation, ELISA, multiplex PCR, lateral flow assays, bead-based sensors and microarray. She is particularly interested in building a small, portable microfluidic platform, which will be ideal for field assays. Current research projects include: (1) development of bead-based suspension microarrays for simultaneous detection and characterization of multiple foodborne pathogens, (2) development of immunofluorescence assay for simultaneous detection of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7, and (3) Study of STEC prevalence in small-sized cattle farms.
