Gerardo Manfreda is Full Professor at the Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna and head of the laboratories of Food Safety Unit at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences. He holds an MD in Veterinary Science and a PhD in Food Hygiene.
He has more than 20 years experience in food hygiene and environmental microbiology and more than 100 scientific publication in peer review journals (h-index 22 and 1622 total citations).
The research activity took into consideration various issues in the poultry and pig production sector, with particular regard to the following aspects:
- Risk assessment of food poisoning from Campylobacter, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes.
- Innovative methodologies to improve food safety.
- Problems related to the control of salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis in the poultry field.
- Use of traditional and molecular methods for the identification of Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes,
- Genetic characterization of toxin-infectious pathogens for epidemiological purposes and for the identification of the source of contamination (Source attribution)
- Characterization of antibiotic resistance
- Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of antibiotic resistance in Salmonella, Campylobacter spp., E. coli, Helicobacter pullorum and Listeria monocytogenes
- Effect of vitamin E on the immune response of poultry
He has been coordinator of a FP7 EU funded large scale integrated project on “selection and improving of fit-for-purpose sampling plans for specific foods and risks” BASELINE (Grant Agreement 222738).
He participated as responsible of UNIBO partner to other EU projects: CAMPYCHECK within Framework program 5; POULTRYFLORGUT and RESCAPE within Framework program 6; STARTEC within Framework program 7.
Actually as responsible of UNIBO is participating to EU project titled Collaborative Management Platform for Detection and Analyses of (Re-) emerging and foodborne outbreaks in Europe (COMPARE) within Horizon 2020.
He is scientific responsible for the University of Bologna within the European project entitled "Innovative Bio-interventions and Risk Modeling Approaches for Ensuring Microbial Safety and Quality of Mediterranean Artisanal Fermented Foods (ArtiSaneFood) (European Coordinator: Prof. U. G. Barron; Local Coordinator Prof. Gerardo Manfreda) (Call PRIMA Section 2 2018. Topic 1.3.2: Food safety in Local Chains.
He is a member of the local research unit within the following 3 European projects: 1) Controlling mIcRobiomes CircuLations for bEtter food Systems (CIRCLES) (European Coordinator Prof. M. Candela, Grant agreement ID: 818290; 2) Rethinking Of Antimicrobial Decision-systems in the Management of Animal Production (ROADMAP) (European Coordinator N. Fortané INRA Grant agreement ID: 817626); 3) Bioconversion of underutilized resources into next generation proteins for food and feed (NextGenProteins) (European coordinator G. Stefánsson, MATIS. Grant agreement ID: 862704)
