Alejandra Ramirez is originally from Colombia. She is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences in the area of specialization of food microbiology and food safety at Texas Tech University. Her research focuses on the microbial bio-mapping, antimicrobial resistance profiling, and whole genome sequencing to assess the effect of antimicrobial interventions on pathogenic organisms associated with poultry processing operations. She has also been working on international research projects, conduction of food safety evaluations in poultry processing plants in Colombia.

​

During her Ph.D. program, she conducted a research internship for six months at the Processing Technology Center in Nestle-Gerber, working on the extension of holding times of low acid ingredients destinated for baby food preparations. Furthermore, she has worked on validation studies evaluating the efficacy of antimicrobial solutions to control foodborne pathogens on chicken parts under simulated commercial processing conditions.

​

She did a master of science in Food Sciences and Technology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research emphasis was the evaluation of non-digestible oligosaccharides to inhibit the adherence and invasion of human pathogens Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in tissue culture cells.

She also holds a bachelor of engineering in food processing engineering from the University of La Sabana in Colombia. Her undergraduate research project was in the evaluation of the physicochemical properties of freeze-drying concentration technique of coffee solutions.

 

As a short-term goal, she wants to work as a food safety scientist leading projects to improve food safety programs and to ensure safety and quality of food products, promoting human public health worldwide. 

​

Mail: alejandra.ramirez-hernandez@ttu.edu

Phone: +1 402-304-5727

Download the CV: click here.