Martin Wiedmann

About

Martin Wiedmann is the Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety at Cornell University, with a focus on developing and communicating scientific knowledge to prevent and control foodborne and zoonotic diseases caused by bacteria, as well as microbial food spoilage. His academic program emphasizes a comprehensive and interdisciplinary farm-to-table approach to food safety and quality, integrating microbiology, microbial genetics, population genetics, molecular biology, genomics, evolution, and modeling. Wiedmann's research aims to better understand the pathogenesis, ecology, evolution, and transmission of bacterial foodborne and zoonotic diseases, with particular attention to pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella, which cause significant human and animal health issues. He serves as co-director of the New York State Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence and collaborates across disciplines to study the ecology of infectious diseases, including bacterial adaptation and virulence gene expression under varying environmental conditions. His outreach efforts focus on food safety and dairy microbiology, supporting programs that promote the production of safe, high-quality dairy products and providing training and applied research for producers and processors. Wiedmann's teaching philosophy emphasizes active learning, critical thinking, lifelong learning skills, and current, relevant content for students.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Food science
• Genetics
• Computer Science
• Microbiology
• Biotechnology
• Engineering
• Computational biology
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Microbial food spoilage: impact, causative agents and control strategies

  Nature Reviews Microbiology · 2024 · 215 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Proposal of a Taxonomic Nomenclature for the Bacillus cereus Group Which Reconciles Genomic Definitions of Bacterial Species with Clinical and Industrial Phenotypes

  mBio · 2020 · 198 citations

  group as a model, a conceptual framework for the taxonomic delineation of prokaryotes which reconciles genomic definitions of species with clinically and industrially relevant phenotypes is presented. The nomenclatural framework outlined here serves as a model for genomics-based bacterial taxonomy that moves beyond arbitrarily set genomospecies thresholds while maintaining congruence with phenotypes and historically important species names.

  DOI

• Invited review: Controlling dairy product spoilage to reduce food loss and waste

  Journal of Dairy Science · 2020 · 126 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Food loss and waste is a major concern in the United States and globally, with dairy foods representing one of the top categories of food lost and wasted. Estimates indicate that in the United States, approximately a quarter of dairy products are lost at the production level or wasted at the retail or consumer level annually. Premature microbial spoilage of dairy products, including fluid milk, cheese, and cultured products, is a primary contributor to dairy food waste. Microbial contamination m…

  DOI

• A phage-encoded anti-CRISPR enables complete evasion of type VI-A CRISPR-Cas immunity

  Science · 2020 · 118 citations

  Using genetics, biochemistry, and structural biology, we found that AcrVIA1 interacts with the guide-exposed face of Cas13a, preventing access to the target RNA and the conformational changes required for nuclease activation. Unlike inhibitors of DNA-cleaving Cas nucleases, which cause limited immunosuppression and require multiple infections to bypass CRISPR defenses, a single dose of AcrVIA1 delivered by an individual virion completely dismantles type VI-A CRISPR-mediated immunity.

  DOI

• Alternative approaches to the risk management of Listeria monocytogenes in low risk foods

  Food Control · 2020 · 100 citations

  Listeria monocytogenes is an important foodborne pathogen, which is associated with high hospitalization and case-fatality rates. Outbreaks due to food contaminated with this pathogen continue to occur globally. In terms of risk management, major food trade associations have come together in a non-competitive manner to develop excellent guidance documents on the control of this pathogen. In addition, regulatory agencies responsible for food safety have made significant advances to help control L…

  DOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01HL060889

  NIH · $994k · 2004

• NIH Grant R01GM063259

  NIH · $1.2M · 2006

• NIH Grant R01GM050920

  NIH · $620k · 1999

Frequent coauthors

• Kathryn J. Boor

  129 shared

• Renato H. Orsi

  Cornell University

  94 shared

• Yrjo T. Gröhn

  89 shared

• Renata Ivanek

  New York State College of Veterinary Medicine

  73 shared

• N.H. Martin

  Indiana University Bloomington

  66 shared

• Lorin D. Warnick

  New York State College of Veterinary Medicine

  65 shared

• Laura M. Carroll

  Science for Life Laboratory

  63 shared

• Kevin J. Cummings

  Cornell University

  57 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Food Science

  Cornell University

  1996

• M.S., Food Science

  Cornell University

  1993

• B.S., Animal Science

  Cornell University

  1991

Awards & honors

• Fellow 2018 American Association for the Advancement of Scie…
• International Dairy Food Association (IDFA) Food Safety Lead…
• Fellow 2014 American Academy of Microbiology
• Fellow 2013 Institute of Food Technologist’s (IFT)
• International Academy of Food Science and Technology Divisio…

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• Joe Regensteinh-73