Emily E. Jackson

Summary

Dr. Jackson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Genetic biology and Microbiology at Purdue University in 2006 and a Master of Science degree in Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. She then worked as an ORISE Fellow with United States Food and Drug Administration in Bedford Park, IL. While there, Dr. Jackson conducted research on bacterial pathogens in raw milk and quality indicating organisms in leafy green wash water. She was also a member of the Proficiency Testing and Method Validation group and prepared artificially inoculated food samples for analysis in laboratories across the country. This work earned Dr. Jackson an FDA Honor Award for Development and Multi-laboratory Validation of a Rapid Molecular Method for Detection of Viruses in Foods.

In 2013, Dr. Jackson moved to Nottingham, UK to begin work on her Ph.D. at Nottingham Trent University. Her research there focused on the characterization of Cronobacter species, which can cause rare, but severe infections in infants and neonates. Significant accomplishments during this time include the re-evaluation of a suspected Cronobacter sakazakii outbreak in Mexico, the identification of the novel species Siccibacter colletis, and genomic analysis of the cellulose gene cluster in Cronobacter sakazakii. Additionally, Dr. Jackson received the International Association of Food Protection European Symposium Student Travel Award in 2015. Her research was also recognized with the with the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2016. Dr. Jackson completed her Ph.D. in 2016.

Research interests

Dr. Jackson’s research interests include food microbiology, with a focus on genomic analysis of Cronobacter species. She joined the Department of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2017 and currently teaches General Microbiology.

Courses taught

• BIOL 251 - General microbiology
• BIOL 190A - Introduction to cell and molecular biology (honors)
• BIOL 189A - Fundamentals of life science
• BIOL 450 - Special topics: Microbiology of food pathogens

Education

• Ph.D. in Microbiology, Nottingham Trent University, 2016
• M.S. in Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2007
• B.S. in Genetic biology and Microbiology, Purdue University, 2006

Selected publications

• Jackson, E. E., Gnanou Besse, N., Bennour Miled, R., Ells, T.C., Laurentie, M., Meheut, T., Forsythe, S. J. (2023) Lack of correlation between growth rate and sequence type among Cronobacter sakazakii. Food Microbiol., 111, 104191.
• Parra-Flores, J., Aguirre, J., Juneja, V., Jackson, E. E., Cruz-Córdova, A., Silva-Sanchez, J., & Forsythe, S. (2018). Virulence and antibiotic resistance profiles of Cronobacter sakazakii and Enterobacter spp. involved in the diarrheic hemorrhagic outbreak in Mexico. Front. Microbiol., 9, 2206.
• Bennour Hennekinne, R., Guillier, L., Fazeuilh, L., Ells, T., Forsythe, S., Jackson, E., Meheut, T. & Gnanou Besse, N. (2018). Survival of Cronobacter in powdered infant formula and their variation in biofilm formation. Lett. Appl. Microbiol., 66(6), 496-505.
• Brandãoa, M. L. L., Umeda N. S., Jackson E., Forsythe S. J., and de Filippis, I. (2017). Isolation, molecular and phenotypic characterization, and antibiotic susceptibility of Cronobacter spp. in Brazil retail foods. Food Microbiol. 63: 129-138.
• D’Agostino, M., Robles, S., Hansen, F, Ikonomopoulos, J., Kokkinos, P., Alvarez-Ordonez, A., de Medici, D., Kukier, E., Petrovic, T, Lazaro, D. R., Jackson E. E., Forsythe S. J., O'Brien, L., and Cook, N. (2016). Validation of a Loop-Mediated Amplification/ISO 6579-Based Method for Analysing Animal Feed for the Presence of Salmonella. Food Anal. Method. 9(11):2979-2985
• Jackson, E. E. & Forsythe, S. J. (2016). Comparative study of Cronobacter identification according to phenotyping methods. BMC Microbiol. 16:146.
• Jackson, E. E., Ogrodzki, P., Pascoe, B., Sheppard, S. K., & Forsythe, S. J. (2016). Draft genome sequence of an Enterobacter species associated with illnesses and powdered infant formula. Genome Announc. 4(1), e01479-15.
• Jackson, E. E., Flores, J. P., Fernández-Escartín, E., & Forsythe, S. J. (2015) Re-evaluation of a suspected Cronobacter sakazakii outbreak in Mexico. J. Food Protect. 78: 1191-1196.
• Jackson, E. E., Masood, N., Ibrahim, K., Urvoy, N., Hariri, S., & Forsythe, S. J. (2015) Description of Siccibacter colletis sp. nov., a new Siccibacter species isolated from plant material and emended description of Siccibacter turicensis. Int. J. Sys. Evol. Microbiol. 65: 1335-1341.
• Flores, J. P., Vega, L. O., Sepúlved, F. R., Fernández, A. R., Jackson, E., & Forsythe, S. (2015) Risk of Cronobacter sakazakii in powdered milk for infant nutrition. Rev. Chil. Nutr.. 42: 83-89.
• Jackson, E. E., Sonbol, H., Masood, N., & Forsythe, S. J. (2014). Genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of Cronobacter species, with particular attention to the newly reclassified species Cronobacter helveticus, Cronobacter pulveris, and Cronobacter zurichensis. Food Microbiol. 44: 226-235.
• Masood, N., Jackson, E., Moore, K., Farbos, A., Paszkiewicz, K., Dickins, B., McNally, A. & Forsythe, S. (2014). Draft genome sequence of “Candidatus Cronobacter colletis” NCTC 14934T, a new species in the genus Cronobacter. Genome Announc., 2.