Kerry K. Cooper Research Lab

Contact Info

Mailing Address:
ACBS Building
1117 E. Lowell St.
Tucson, AZ 85721
Lab location: ACBS Building Room 308

Dr. Kerry Cooper

School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Genomics, Pathogenesis and Epidemiology of Foodborne Pathogens

Email: kcooper@arizona.edu
Telephone: (520) 621-3342
Office: ACBS Building Room 306

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4541-1324

Link to Dr. Cooper's Google Scholar

The CDC currently estimates that there are 48 million foodborne illnesses in the United States annually, while globally there are an estimated 600 million cases per year leading to 420,000 deaths. Bacterial foodborne pathogens are a very diverse group that have evolved to survive and flourish in a wide range of environments, and current agricultural practices designed to meet global food demands have allowed these pathogens to thrive. While many people around the world have improved their diets by increasing their consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, it has led to an increase in fresh produce as an identifiable source for foodborne disease. Fresh produce can be particularly challenging because it is commonly consumed raw. Nonetheless, fresh produce is not the only source of foodborne outbreaks, and thus every food commodity has unique food safety challenges that need to be addressed to make the global food supply as safe as possible.

Cooper Lab Motto: Everybody eats, let's make it safer!