College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition

Professional and Academic Positions  

Assistant Professor (Food Microbiology): Michigan State University, East Lansing, (August 2024 - present) 
Senior Research Associate B-H: The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA (Feb 2022–August 2024) 
Postdoctoral Researcher: The Ohio State University–Columbus, USA (March 2018– Feb 2022) 
Principal research Investigator (PI) and Lecturer: Faculty of Science, Benha University, Egypt (2016–2018) 
Exchange PhD Candidate: University of Guelph–Canada (2013–2015) 

Degrees 

PhD (Microbiology):   Joint supervision scholarship, University of Guelph, Canada and Benha University, Egypt, 2015 
MSc (Microbiology): Faculty of Science, Benha University, Egypt, 2011. 
BSc (Microbiology and Chemistry) degree with honour: Faculty of Science, Benha University, Egypt, 2008.  

Research Interests 

With the evolving dynamics of food microbiology, my research program aims to advance our understanding of microbial behavior and interactions within food systems, with a focus on their implications for food safety and human health. Here are the three main areas of research focus: 

1. Microbial Omics for food safety and human health: This research stream focuses on the detailed characterization of the microbiome in fermented, unprocessed or minimally foods. We aim to elucidate the functional and compositional dynamics of these microbial communities to construct synthetic communities that enhance food production and positively impact gut health. Our objective is to understand the (meta)genomic, phylogenetic, and functional properties of food microbiota within the food system and during their interactions in the host. 
2. Virulence and adaptive responses of foodborne pathogens: Our research investigates how various food matrices influence the virulence and survival strategies of pathogens like Salmonella. Our previous studies have shown that pathogens adapt differently, with some becoming more virulent in specific food products. This line of inquiry is crucial for developing targeted food processing strategies that mitigate pathogen virulence and enhance food safety. With the utility of transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches, integrated with microbial risk assessments, exploring these pathogen-food interactions is key to unlock new frontiers in food microbiology.  
3. Microbial biofilms: This area focuses on the development and metabolic assessment of bacterial biofilms to identify potential biomarkers and discover antibiofilm agents. Our research will employ several approaches including metabolomics to elucidate which metabolic pathways and metabolites can alter biofilm formation capabilities, offering new strategies to combat biofilm-associated risks on (in)animate surfaces. This cutting-edge approach aims to reprogram biofilm cells, potentially inhibiting or preventing their development. 

Selected Publications 

1. Abdelhamid AG, Wick M, Yousef AE. Production of Polyclonal Antibodies and Development of Competitive ELISA for Quantification of the Lantibiotic Paenibacillin. Fermentation, 2024; 10(5):232.  
2. Ahmed G. Abdelhamid; Ahmed E. Yousef (2024). Untargeted metabolomics unveiled the role of butanoate metabolism in the development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa hypoxic biofilm. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 14:1346813.  
3. Ahmed G. Abdelhamid; Ahmed E. Yousef (2023). Egg-associated Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis: Comparative genomics unveils phylogenetic links, virulence potential, and antimicrobial resistance traits. Frontiers in Microbiology, 14: 1278821 
4. Ahmed G. Abdelhamid; Ahmed E. Yousef (2023). Combating Bacterial Biofilms: Current and Emerging Antibiofilm Strategies for Treating Persistent Infections. Antibiotics, 12, 1005.  
5. Goksel Tirpanci Sivri, Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, David R. Kasler, and Ahmed E. Yousef (2023). Removal of Pseudomonas fluorescens biofilms from pilot-scale food processing equipment using ozone-assisted Cleaning-in-Place. Frontiers in Microbiology, 14: 1141907.  
6. Yumin Xu, Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, Anice Sabag-Daigle, Brian M.M. Ahmer, Ahmed E. Yousef (2022). Heating rate during shell egg thermal treatment elicits stress responses and alters virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, implications for shell egg pasteurization. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 88:e01140-22.  
7. Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, Julia N. Faraone, John P. Evans, Shan-Lu Liu, and Ahmed E. Yousef (2022). SARS-CoV-2 and Emerging Foodborne Pathogens: Intriguing Commonalities and Obvious Differences. Pathogens 11, no. 8: 837. 
8. Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, Emily Campbell, Zach Hawkins, Ahmed E. Yousef (2022). Efficient production of broad-spectrum antimicrobials by Paenibacillus polymyxa OSY-EC using acid whey-based medium and novel antimicrobial concentration approach. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2022, 10: 869778.  
9. Yumin Xu, Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, Anice Sabag-Daigle, Michael G. Sovic, Brian Ahmer, and Ahmed E. Yousef, (2022). The role of egg yolk in modulating the virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 572. 
10. Abdelhamid, A.G., Yousef, A.E. 2022. Carvacrol and Thymol Combat Desiccation Resistance Mechanisms in Salmonella enterica Serovar Tennessee. Microorganisms 2022, 10, 44.  
11. Yue Yi, Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, Yumin Xu, Ahmed E. Yousef. (2021). Characterization of broad-host lytic Salmonella phages isolated from livestock farms and application against Salmonella Enteritidis in liquid whole egg, LWT, 111269.   
12. Abdelhamid, Ahmed G., and Noha K. El-Dougdoug (2021). Comparative genomics of the gut commensal Bifidobacterium bifidum reveals adaptation to carbohydrate utilization. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 547: 155-161.  
13. Abdelhamid AG, Yousef AE. (2021). Natural antimicrobials suitable for combating desiccation-resistant Salmonella enterica in milk powder. Microorganisms; 9(2):421.  
14. Abdelhamid, Ahmed G., and Ahmed E. Yousef (2020). Collateral adaptive responses induced by desiccation stress in Salmonella enterica. LWT 133: 110089.  
15. Walaa E. Hussein and Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, Diana Rocha-Mendoza, Israel García-Cano, and Ahmed E. Yousef (2020). Assessment of safety and probiotic traits of Enterococcus durans OSY-EGY, isolated from artisanal cheese, using comparative and phenotypic analyses. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11: 608314. 
16. Abdelhamid, Ahmed G., and Noha K. El-Dougdoug. Controlling foodborne pathogens with natural antimicrobials by biological control and antivirulence strategies. Heliyon 6.9 (2020): e05020. 
17. Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, Samar S. El-Masry, Noha K. El-Dougdoug (2019). Probiotic Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains possess safety characteristics, antiviral activities and host adherence factors revealed by genome mining. EPMA Journal, 10: pp 337–350. 
18. Abdelhamid, Ahmed G., and Ahmed E. Yousef (2019). The microbial lipopeptide paenibacterin disrupts desiccation resistance in Salmonella enterica serovars Tennessee and Eimsbuettel. Applied and environmental microbiology; AEM-00739.         
19. N. K. El-Dougdoug, S. Cucic, Ahmed G. Abdelhamid, L. Brovko, A. M. Kropinski, M. Griffiths, and H. Anany (2019). Control of Salmonella Newport on cherry tomato using a cocktail of lytic bacteriophages. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 293: 60-71.  
20. Amiri-Jami M, Abdelhamid A. G., Hazaa M, Kakuda Y, and Griffiths MW (2015). Recombinant production of Omega-3 fatty acids by probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917. FEMS Microbiology Letters, fnv166.