An international organization has recognized Jerry Kahu, a Ph.D. student and graduate research assistant at the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, for his innovative research to strengthen food allergen detection in processed food.
AOAC INTERNATIONAL, a nonprofit association focused on scientific advancement in food safety, has honored Kahu with the organization’s AOAC INTERNATIONAL/Eurofins Foundation “Testing for Life” Student Award. The honor recognizes student researchers advancing analytical or molecular testing for food safety and security.
Kahu is developing a mass spectrometry method to detect and quantify total protein from multiple tree nuts in processed foods. He uses this powerful analytical technique to identify distinctive fragments of those proteins that can serve as peptide markers for specific tree nut species.
The method is being designed to reliably determine whether allergenic tree-nut proteins are present and to quantify their levels. The work ultimately could give food manufacturers and regulators improved analytical tools for monitoring allergens and strengthening food safety practices.
Kahu’s research technically incorporates a bottom-up proteomics approach that combines discovery mass spectrometry using Data-Dependent Acquisition with targeted Parallel Reaction Monitoring to identify and select peptide markers for the multiplex detection and quantification of tree nut proteins.
Kahu is a doctoral student in the Department of Food Science and Technology, working under faculty members Melanie Downs and Philip Johnson.
Before pursuing his Ph.D., Kahu spent over a decade working at Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control as a regulatory officer and laboratory analyst. There, he analyzed food contaminants and additives such as pesticide residues, mycotoxins and preservatives.
