Iowa State researcher honored for food safety work

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Dr. Zhang
Dr. Qijing Zhang

The American Association for the Advancement of Science recognized an investigator at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine for his contributions to the field of food safety and animal health. Earlier this year, Dr. Qijing Zhang was inducted as a fellow of the AAAS, the world's largest scientific society.

Dr. Zhang is associate dean of research and graduate studies for ISU's veterinary college and the Dr. Frank K. Ramsey Endowed Chair in Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine. He was honored for his research on deciphering antimicrobial resistance and pathogenic mechanisms for foodborne pathogens.

Specifically, Dr. Zhang's work focuses on understanding how bacterial pathogens infect animals and how they develop resistance to clinically important antimicrobials. His study is instrumental in discovering emerging antimicrobial-resistance threats and has provided critically needed information for risk assessment and development of control strategies, according to an ISU press release.

Dr. Zhang received his veterinary degree in 1983 from Shandong Agricultural University in China. He then earned his master's in veterinary microbiology in 1986 from the National Institute of Veterinary Biologics in China. In 1994, he attained a PhD in immunobiology from Iowa State, and he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular microbiology in 1997 from the University of Missouri.

He is an honorary diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists as well as a council member and president of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases.

The new class of AAAS fellows was announced in the Nov. 29 issue of the journal Science. Election as a fellow is an honor bestowed on association members by their peers. The association's fellowship program recognizes individuals whose efforts toward advancing science applications are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.

Related JAVMA content:

2018 elected AAAS fellows include veterinary faculty (Feb. 15, 2019)