Pacon
Oklahoma State University-PaCoN
Research programs available at IBMF
Bioinformatics, sequencing, and plant microbiome
This research program is led by Dr. Andres Espindola, a plant pathologist and bioinformatician specializing in developing methods that apply high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and bioinformatics to detect plant pathogens and microbes. His research program uses sequencers such as Illumina and the portable MinION to produce HTS data and develop computational models and pipelines to detect pathogens in plants, animals, and vectors effectively. Students are trained in DNA sequencing protocols for pathogen detection and data analysis.
Contact: Dr. Andres Espindola Espindola Research GroupFood Microbiology, High school and undergraduate internship program
This research program is led by Dr. Li Ma a food microbiologist who specializes in rapid detection, DNA fingerprinting, and molecular characterization of foodborne pathogens; Soil microbiomes in association with foodborne pathogens; Food decontamination technology-atmospheric cold plasma.
Contact: Dr. Li MaPlant virology, plant pathology & insect vectors of plant diseases
This research program is led by Dr. Ochoa-Corona, who is a forensic plant pathologist who specializing in developing and delivering reference diagnostics for exotic, naturalized, and indigenous plant viruses and other phytopathogens relevant to agricultural biosecurity and microbial forensics. His research program investigates plant and waterborne plant viruses, other taxa of phytopathogens, arthropods, and animal and human infecting viruses that are intercepted at borders or detected by general surveillance of field settings or within transitional facilities. Dr. Ochoa-Corona has more than 40 years of experience.
Contact: Dr. Francisco Ochoa-CoronaOSU Opportunities in Biosecurity
Who Can Apply
- US Citizens, Nationals and Permanent Residents
- Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (NHPI) and Tribal Native Americans (TNA) are encouraged to apply|
- Undergraduate/ Graduate students
Programs
- Fully funded
- Ph.D./ Two-Year M.S./One-Year M.S.
- Summer Internship and associate degree for undergraduates
- National & International Internships, and Networking