October 6, 2026 How UW-Madison chemical engineers can help prevent the next foodborne outbreak Written By: Claire Massey Departments: Chemical & Biological Engineering Categories: Faculty | Research In summer 2026, the United States saw the largest Cyclospora outbreak in its history. While experts say it’s probably safe to eat salad again, some people remain wary, not just of prepackaged lettuce, but the food system as well. The outbreak is a reminder of just how difficult it can be to keep food safe as it moves through an increasingly complex network of farms, processors, distributors and retailers. From irrigation, harvesting and distribution, fresh produce encounters numerous potential sources of contamination before it reaches your plate. It’s particularly vulnerable to contamination since we often eaten it raw without a cooking step that would kill harmful microorganisms and pathogens like E. coli, Listeria and of course, Cyclospora. Once the parasite entered the food supply chain this past summer, we faced even greater challenges. Cyclospora has a long incubation period which meant there was a significant gap between infection and illness—and that allowed the parasite to spread across multiple states before healthcare officials noticed the growing pattern. This gap also added additional complexity for investigators when reconstructing what people ate before becoming sick reports. An investigation into an outbreak isn’t simple. Organizations like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control need to trace and confirm illness and contamination. Cyclospora is not easily grown in a laboratory so it presents a barrier for investigators testing food samples and trying to identify the source. Preventing the next outbreak will require more than a single test or technological tool. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we strive to understand biological systems, develop better processes and materials, and make sense of the enormous amount of data generated in the food supply chain. With our research, we can develop creative solutions to keep food safe and protect public health. Targeting contaminants through biotech Chemical engineers have long worked at the intersection of chemistry, biology and manufacturing. Rather than simply working with biological materials, our bioengineering researchers are investigating new ways to design and control biological systems, including applications in the food industry. Many work in the field of synthetic biology, programming the DNA of living cells to perform specific tasks—among them detecting, transforming or controlling biological materials. For example, Karen and William Monfre Professor Brian Pfleger and his students use modern synthesis and biotechnology to engineer biological systems that can sustainably product chemicals from carbon dioxide and sunlight. Meanwhile, Hunt-Hougen Assistant Professor Quentin Dudley focuses on plant synthetic biology and cell-free synthesis techniques, including plant-based “living refineries.” “My group explores ways to program plants and bacteria to sense and respond to their environment,” says Dudley. “In this case, perhaps to create a signal cascade visible to the consumer, indicating that this food is contaminated, or to produce an antimicrobial compound that eliminates the contaminating pathogen entirely. With better understanding and control of biological systems, we can reshape the agriculture and food industry to respond to challenges in the 21st century.” In research that could target food sanitation systems, their colleague, Conway Assistant Professor Rahul Sujanani focuses on filtering chemicals. He’s developing advanced polymer membranes designed to selectively separate and remove contaminants such as PFAS. “My research targets an underlying challenge we encounter across many industries: finding or designing materials that can selectively control what passes through a system,” he says. With this creative mindset, researchers constantly develop new approaches for detecting, transforming or controlling biological materials, including transforming harmful biological material. April 7, 2025 “Super algae” could suck phosphorus out of manure and keep waterways healthy September 2, 2025 Focus on new faculty: Rahul Sujanani is developing smarter membranes November 3, 2023 Focus on new faculty: Quentin Dudley is engineering plants to produce medicine, fuels and more Harnessing data to design safer food systems Every time a fresh product travels from farm to table, it relies on a delicate web of machinery, transport networks and preservation systems. At every point along this journey, we generate a vast amount of complex data. While a human cannot sift through the data in a timely fashion, powerful computational tools, such as machine learning and predictive systems, can quickly identify subtle patterns, giving us a chance to resolve issues before products hit the store shelves. Rather than let this data go to waste, researchers like Baldovin-DaPra Professor Victor Zavala emphasize the importance of making data-driven decisions to build intelligent and resilient networks. “In order to mitigate extreme events such as outbreaks or epidemics, it is critical to have tools that enable fast detection of anomalies and help us understand how these events propagate throughout society,” says Zavala. “For example, we have used computer vision techniques to design sensors that can detect toxic bacteria and other dangerous contaminants such as PFAS in water.” Duane H. and Dorothy M. Bluemke Assistant Professor Styliana Avraamidou and her students are applying their expertise in process systems engineering to help farmers and distributors work around unexpected disruptions in the perishable supply chain. They are, for example, developing a dairy resilience hub to help the Wisconsin dairy industry adapt to crises and delays so milk stays fresh and ice cream remains frozen. “We hope that we will have user-friendly tools that policymakers and industry can use to figure out what changes are needed in the current supply chain,” says Avraamidou. “And then they can use them to predict future disruptions and how we can optimally address them.” These faculty members note that food safety is just one example of how chemical engineering extends beyond traditional manufacturing into applications that improve everyday life. The UW-Madison chemical engineering curriculum emphasizes broad systems thinking and provides students the tools and opportunities to make real-world impact. Learn more about how our students apply principles of biological engineering to contemporary societal issues, or explore our research and our undergraduate and graduate programs. May 27, 2026 With NSF CAREER award, Avraamidou is building a tool to help the Wisconsin dairy industry run smooth as butter January 26, 2017 Cheese, cows and manure: For all stakeholders, systems approach makes tough decisions easier to digest February 20, 2026 From engineering to everywhere: Network optimization tools used for analyzing curricula Featured image: Student volunteers wash off dirt from kale leaves as part of The People’s Farm student organization at the F.H. King garden at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Oct. 1, 2023. Credit: Bryce Richter