The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign $1 million to investigate antibiotic resistance (AMR) among bacteria on retail meats, poultry, and seafood.

The project will support the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) by expanding retail food AMR surveillance in Illinois. NARMS is a collaborative AMR surveillance effort between FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local health departments.

Pratik Banerjee, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition within the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences at University of Illinois (U of I), is the project’s principal investigator. Joining him as co-investigator is Gireesh Rajashekara, Ph.D., M.V.Sc., Professor and Associate Dean in the College of Veterinary Medicine at U of I.

The researchers will collect poultry, meat, and seafood samples twice monthly from selected retail outlets in Illinois and test them for major foodborne bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Vibrio, and Aeromonas.

Bacteria isolates will be subjected to serotyping, whole genome sequencing (WGS), and molecular analysis to identify AMR patterns. The data will then be used to create a model that can help predict and address AMR mitigation strategies.

The findings will help strengthen national AMR surveillance by identifying emerging risks from drug-resistant foodborne bacteria.