Microbial Biophysics and Residue Chemistry Research Unit

Dr. Shu-I Tu, Research Leader
Joanne Sullivan, Unit Secretary
Voice:  (215) 233-6466
Fax:  (215) 233-6581

Mission

The mission of the Research Unit is to facilitate the development of 1) sustainable agricultural practices friendly to the environment and 2) effective detection methods to assure food safety for consumers.  This is achieved through research on the use of soil fungi to enhance  mineral-nutrient uptake by crops and in the development of advanced techniques for the detection of pathogenic bacteria and chemical residues in food.  Research is focused on generating knowledge for creating 1) host-plant free culture systems to produce soil fungi that facilitate nutrient uptake by crops, 2) biosensor methods to rapidly, sensitively and specifically detect the presence of pathogenic bacteria in food and 3) efficient and effective laboratory-based and field-based approaches to analyze veterinary drug and pesticide residues in foods.