Food and Public Health

Food and Public Health covers all aspects of food and public health in the form of review articles, original articles, case reports, short communications, letters to the editor, and book reviews. The International Editorial Board is dedicated to producing a high quality scientific journal of interest to researchers and practitioners from many disciplines.

Shirley Ann Micallef

Editorial Board Member of Food and Public Health

Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture Joint appointment with Center for Food Safety and Security Systems, USA

Research Areas

Food Safety Microbiology of Specialty Crops and Fresh Produce, Rhizosphere Microbiology, Phyllosphere Microbiology, Plant-Bacterial Interactions, Microbial Ecology, Environmental Microbiology

Education

2008-2011Post-doctoral trainingPublic Health Microbiology, Safety of Fresh Produce, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2008Ph.D Microbial Ecology, Plant-Microbe Interactions, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston MA
1996M.ScPlant Biology, Plant Ecology, University of Malta, Malta
1991B.ScBiology and Chemistry Major, Dissertation in Plant Biology, University of Malta, Malta

Experience

2011-presentAssistant Professor, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, and joint appointment with the Center for Food Safety and Security Systems, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2008-2011Research Associate, Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2005-2007National Science Foundation (NSF)-Boston Science Partnership Fellow, Boston Community Leadership Academy, Brighton MA
2000-2005Teaching and Research Assistant, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston MA
1994-2000Environmental Biologist, Malta University Services Ltd., Msida, Malta

Academic Achievement

1993 Community of Mediterranean Universities Scholarship
1996 Graduated cum laude, University of Malta.
2008 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Molecular, Cellular and Organismal Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston
2005-2007 National Science Foundation (NSF)-Boston Science Partnership Fellow

Membership

2004-present Member, American Society for Microbiology
2011 Peer reviewer for the EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship applications

Publications: Conferences/Workshops/Symposiums/Journals/Books

[1]  Micallef S.A., Shiaris M.P. and Colón-Carmona A. 2009. Influence of Arabidopsis thaliana accessions on rhizobacterial communities and natural variation in root exudates. Journal of Experimental Botany 60(6): 1729-1742. PMID: 19342429. Selected for special review within the journal. See: Biedzycki ML and Bais HP. (2009) Root secretions: from genes and molecules to microbial associations. J of Exp Bot, 60 (6):1533-4.
[2]  Micallef S.A., Channer S., Shiaris M.P. and Colón-Carmona A. 2009. Plant age and genotype impact the progression of bacterial community succession in the Arabidopsis rhizosphere. Plant Signaling and Behavior 4(8): 777-780. PMID: 19820328.