Jasna Kovac

Lester Earl and Veronica Casida Career Development Professor of Food Safety; Associate Professor of Food Science

Jasna Kovac

Research Summary

Integrating epidemiological, microbiological, molecular and omics methods to better understand microbial pathogenic potential, antimicrobial resistance, and epidemiology of foodborne pathogens.

Huck Graduate Students

Huck Affiliations

Links

Most Recent Publications

Label-free rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing with machine-learning based dynamic holographic laser speckle imaging

Jinkai Yang, Keren Zhou, Chen Zhou, Pouya Soltan Khamsi, Olena Voloshchuk, Landon Hernandez, Jasna Kovac, Aida Ebrahimi, Zhiwen Liu, 2025, Biosensors and Bioelectronics

Pseudomonadaceae increased the tolerance of Listeria monocytogenes to sanitizers in multi-species biofilms

Olena Voloshchuk, M. Laura Rolon, Katelyn V. Bartlett, Marysabel Mendez Acevedo, Luke F. LaBorde, Jasna Kovac, 2025, Food Microbiology

Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria species and associated risk factors for contamination of milk and cottage cheese along the value chains in Ethiopia

Anwar Hassen, Abdi Keba, Mekya Seid Ebrai, Hassen Mamo, Tekalign Kejela Geleta, Tesfaye Sisay Tessema, Jessie Vipham, Jasna Kovac, Ashagrie Zewdu, 2025, International Journal of Food Microbiology

Ecology of prophage-like elements in Bacillus subtilis at global and local geographical scales

P Stefanic, E Stare, V Floccari, Jasna Kovac, R Hertel, U Rocha, Á Kovács, I Mandić-Mulec, M Strube, A Dragoš, 2025, Cell Reports on p. 17

Genomic Diversity and Potential Transmission and Persistence of Salmonella in the Cambodian Vegetable Supply Chain

A Salazar, N Sreng, C Peng, Y Fu, E Nawrocki, T Chung, J Vipham, Edward Dudley, Jasna Kovac, 2025, J.MILK.FOOD TECHNOL. on p. 100447

Impact of Improved Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures on Microbial Populations at Three Tree Fruit Packing Facilities

M. Laura Rolon, Marysabel Mendez Acevedo, Priscilla Sinclair, Dumitru Macarisin, Luke F. LaBorde, Jasna Kovac, 2025, J.MILK.FOOD TECHNOL.

Seasonal variation of Salmonella enterica prevalence in milk and cottage cheese along the dairy value chain in three regions of Ethiopia

Henok Nahusenay Admasu, Abdi Bedassa, Tesfaye Sisay Tessema, Jasna Kovac, Jessie L. Vipham, Ashagrie Zewdu Woldegiorgis, 2024, Food Safety and Risk

Salmonella sp. Tied to Multistate Outbreak Isolated from Wastewater, United States, 2022

Z Goldblum, N M'ikanatha, Nkuchia M. M’ikanatha, E Nawrocki, N Cesari, Jasna Kovac, Edward G. Dudley, 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases on p. 2695-2697

The choice of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis impacted characterization of highly variable surface microbiota in dairy processing environments

Sarah E. Daly, Jingzhang Feng, Devin Daeschel, Jasna Kovac, Abigail B. Snyder, 2024, mSystems

Outbreak-associated Salmonella Baildon found in wastewater demonstrates how sewage monitoring can supplement traditional disease surveillance

N M'ikanatha, Z Goldblum, N Cesari, E Nawrocki, Y Fu, Jasna Kovac, Edward G. Dudley, 2024, Journal of Clinical Microbiology on p. e0082524

Most-Cited Papers

Proposal of a taxonomic nomenclature for the bacillus cereus group which reconciles genomic definitions of bacterial species with clinical and industrial phenotypes

Laura M. Carroll, Martin Wiedmann, Jasna Kovac, 2020, mBio

Bacillus wiedmannii sp. nov., a psychrotolerant and cytotoxic bacillus cereus group species isolated from dairy foods and dairy environments

Rachel A. Miller, Sarah M. Beno, David J. Kent, Laura M. Carroll, Nicole H. Martin, Kathryn J. Boor, Jasna Kovac, 2016, International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology on p. 4744-4753

Antibiotic resistance modulation and modes of action of (-)-α-Pinene in Campylobacter jejuni

Jasna Kovač, Katarina Šimunović, Zuowei Wu, Anja Klančnik, Franz Bucar, Qijing Zhang, Sonja Smole Možina, 2015, PLoS One on p. e0122871

Characterization of emetic and diarrheal Bacillus cereus strains from a 2016 foodborne outbreak using whole-genome sequencing: Addressing the microbiological, epidemiological, and bioinformatic challenges

Laura M. Carroll, Martin Wiedmann, Manjari Mukherjee, David C. Nicholas, Lisa A. Mingle, Nellie B. Dumas, Jocelyn A. Cole, Jasna Kovac, 2019, Frontiers in Microbiology

Keeping up with the Bacillus cereus group: taxonomy through the genomics era and beyond

Laura M. Carroll, Rachel A. Cheng, Martin Wiedmann, Jasna Kovac, 2021, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition on p. 1-26

Rapid, high-throughput identification of anthrax-causing and emetic Bacillus cereus group genome assemblies via BTyper, a computational tool for virulencebased classification of Bacillus cereus group isolates by using nucleotide sequencing data

Laura M. Carroll, Jasna Kovac, Rachel A. Miller, Martin Wiedmann, 2017, Applied and Environmental Microbiology

The occurrence of Listeria monocytogenes is associated with built environment microbiota in three tree fruit processing facilities

Xiaoqing Tan, Taejung Chung, Yi Chen, Dumitru Macarisin, Luke LaBorde, Jasna Kovac, 2019, Microbiome on p. 115

Precision food safety: A systems approach to food safety facilitated by genomics tools

Jasna Kovac, Henk den Bakker, Laura M. Carroll, Martin Wiedmann, 2017, TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry on p. 52-61

Intraclade variability in toxin production and cytotoxicity of Bacillus cereus group type strains and dairy-associated isolates

Rachel A. Miller, Jiahui Jian, Sarah M. Beno, Martin Wiedmann, Jasna Kovac, 2018, Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Review of the prevalence of foodborne pathogens in milk and dairy products in Ethiopia

Abdi Keba, M. Laura Rolon, Aynadis Tamene, Kindinew Dessie, Jessie Vipham, Jasna Kovac, Ashagrie Zewdu, 2020, International Dairy Journal

News Articles Featuring Jasna Kovac

Feb 10, 2025

Sustainable Labs Program increases participant engagement, welcomes new labs

Two upcoming virtual sessions will cover how labs can learn more and join next year’s cohort.

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Dec 09, 2024

The stories that defined 2024 for the One Health Microbiome Center at Penn State

The One Health Microbiome Center has grown, and 2024’s most popular articles below highlight the determination and innovative research by Center members in the gut microbiome, nutritional sciences, food science and agriculture, in addition to headlines featuring partnerships and internships paving the way for future success.

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Sep 25, 2024

Wastewater monitoring can detect foodborne illness, researchers find

A team of scientists from Penn State and the Pennsylvania Department of Health have shown that domestic sewage monitoring is useful for a foodborne pathogen as well.

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Sep 19, 2024

Wastewater monitoring can detect foodborne illness, researchers find

Results of a new study suggest sewage monitoring could provide early warning of foodborne disease outbreaks to public health authorities

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Sep 17, 2024

Food science researcher receives early career award

Jasna Kovac, associate professor and Lester Earl and Veronica Casida Career Development Professor of Food Safety in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has been selected to receive the 2025 Award for Early Career Environmental Research by the American Society for Microbiology.

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Feb 15, 2024

What to Know About the Risk of Food Poisoning From Listeria

Important information about Listeria and the foods to watch out for

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Jan 25, 2024

Deadly Foodborne Bacteria Found To Hide From Sanitizers

A new study from Penn State University finds that Listeria bacteria may be able to evade sanitation protocols

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Jan 24, 2024

Food-borne pathogen Listeria may hide from sanitizers in biofilms

Penn State researchers may now better understand how the bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes, survive and persist in fruit-packing plants by evading and surviving sanitizers

Full Article

Jan 24, 2024

Foodborne-pathogen Listeria may hide from sanitizers in biofilms

An estimated 1,600 people in the U.S. contract a serious infection from Listeria bacteria in food each year. Penn State researchers may now better understand how the bacteria, called Listeria monocytogenes, survive and persist in fruit-packing plants by evading and surviving sanitizers.

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Dec 07, 2023

Penn State researchers announce new comprehensive -Omics database

A group of Penn State scientists have announced kmerDB, an extensive catalogue of sequence information representing all domains of life.

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Nov 21, 2023

College of Ag Sciences recognizes faculty, staff for research achievements

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences lauded outstanding accomplishments in research during the 2023 Research Awards Ceremony, held Nov. 1 at the Hintz Family Alumni Center on the University Park campus.

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Aug 23, 2023

Animal microbiome researcher awarded $1.3M to study pathogenic threats

Erika Ganda was recently awarded two grants totaling $1.3 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to lead teams of scientists in studies of pathogenic threats to livestock and people.

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Jun 12, 2023

Penn State announces tenure-line faculty promotions, effective July 1, 2023

The following is a list of academic promotions for tenured and tenure-line faculty members at Penn State, effective July 1, 2023.

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May 15, 2023

Penn State's renamed One Health Microbiome Center affirms broad expertise

The Microbiome Center in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State has announced its renaming to the One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC), the first center in the world to integrate "One Health" with the microbiome sciences.

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Apr 07, 2023

Penn State Global announces 2022-23 faculty, staff, student awards

Penn State Global has announced the 2022-23 recipients of its annual awards that recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals and academic programs at Penn State who have helped to advance the University’s global engagement goals.

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Feb 24, 2023

Processing, like fermentation and roasting, doesn’t cut cocoa’s health benefits

It is widely believed that when foods undergo processing, their health benefits are reduced. But that is not true for cocoa, according to a Penn State-led team of researchers, who conducted a new study using a mouse model.

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Dec 22, 2022

2022 Top 10 Most Popular Microbiome Center News Articles

The stories that made the year in 2022 for the Penn State Microbiome Center

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Nov 08, 2022

Faculty in College of Ag Sciences recognized for research achievements

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences lauded outstanding accomplishments in research during the college’s inaugural Research Awards Ceremony, held Oct. 25 at the Hintz Family Alumni Center on the University Park campus.

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Apr 29, 2022

Microbiologists get grant to study biofilms guarding foodborne pathogen Listeria

Microbiologists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences have received a $605,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study how microbial biofilms protect Listeria monocytogenes, the bacterium that causes the deadly foodborne illness listeriosis.

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Sep 24, 2020

Penn State Microbiome Center elects new executive committee

The Penn State Microbiome Center in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences recently elected six new members to join its executive committee. The new members, along with 11 others who remained on the committee, started their two-year term in July.

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Jun 03, 2020

Huck graduate students among NSF award recipients

Five graduate students in Huck programs or involved with Huck centers, advised by faculty members in the College of Agricultural Sciences, were recipients or honorable mentions of National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

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Aug 21, 2019

Foodborne pathogen sheltered by harmless bacteria that support biofilm formation

Pathogenic bacteria that stubbornly lurk in some apple-packing facilities may be sheltered and protected by harmless bacteria that are known for their ability to form biofilms, according to Penn State researchers, who suggest the discovery could lead to development of alternative foodborne-pathogen-control strategies.

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May 07, 2019

Institutes of Energy and the Environment announces seed grant recipients

Several Huck researchers are among the recipients of 2018-19 IEE seed grants.

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Apr 25, 2019

Food Scientist Kovac Receives Young Investigator Award

Jasna Kovac, assistant professor of food science in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, recently was named recipient of the Institut Merieux Young Investigator Award in Antimicrobial Resistance from the International Association for Food Protection.

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