(Stillwater, Okla. – Feb. 20, 2014) In conjunction with Oklahoma State University Research Week, the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center held its annual Research Symposium to highlight the scholarly research and accomplishments of students and faculty.

The Feb. 18 event, sponsored by FAPC, Institute of Food Technologists-Oklahoma section and Advance Food Co. – S.E. Gilliland Professorship in Microbial Food Safety, featured two keynote presentations, oral and poster presentations from OSU graduate students, and recognition of the top student presentations.

“The event provided an opportunity for graduate students to make presentations of their work and for researchers to network with others in the food and agricultural field and possibly foster future collaborations among colleagues,” said Peter Muriana, FAPC food microbiologist and chair of the symposium.

Student awards were presented in both the oral and poster presentation categories. The top student winners were Paul Priyesh Vijayakumar and Naveen Pessani in the oral and poster presentations, respectively. Both winners received $200 from the IFT-Oklahoma section.

This year’s symposium caught the attention and interest of more than 80 people as it offered two keynote speakers.

Dinesh Babu, assistant professor in the department of toxicology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, discussed emerging food safety issues and highlighted his research directions.

In addition, Kanika Bhargava, assistant professor in food science at the University of Central Oklahoma, discussed delivering lipophilic food antimicrobials in emulsions.

Muriana has ties to both speakers. Babu is a former student of Muriana and worked in Muriana’s Food Microbiology Laboratory, and Bhargava and Muriana are co-convening a symposium session during the IFT annual meeting in New Orleans, La., this summer.

“This year, we were fortunate to have two speaker presentations,” Muriana said. “We were excited to host these two new, young faculty members and colleagues in the food safety - food science curricula as they set examples to our current graduate students that they too can become faculty members themselves.”

Following the symposium, an industry luncheon was held with the keynote speakers.

“We were very excited to have both professionals discuss important industry related topics,” said Chuck Willoughby, FAPC manager of business and marketing relations. “The industry luncheon provided an opportunity for food and agricultural industry leaders to network with Dr. Babu and Dr. Bhargava.”

For more information about the Research Symposium or to view the presentations of each keynote speaker, visit http://www.fapc.biz/workshops/researchsymposium2014/researchsymposium.