Dr. Ronholm completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo earning a B.Sc. in Microbiology. She obtained her PhD in 2013 from the University of Ottawa, where she was supported by a CIHR Banting and Best CGS that enabled her to identify and characterize novel serological detection methods for Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes. During her Ph.D. work, she also held a visiting scientist position at the University of Hiroshima (Japan) where she worked on elucidating the biochemical activity of bacterial peptidoglycan hydrolyses. From 2013-2014, she was a post-doctoral fellow in the Canadian Astrobiology Training Program (NSERC-CREATE) in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University. Her research focused on using next generation sequencing to understand microbial communities in the Canadian high arctic. From 2014-2016, she was a Visiting Fellow in the Bureau of Microbial Hazards at Health Canada where she worked on developing next generation sequencing techniques and procedures for use in the monitoring and regulation of microbiological food safety in Canada. In 2017, she joined McGill University as an Assistant Professor where is is cross-appointed between the Department of Food Science and the Department of Animal Science. In 2023, she was granted tenure and became an Associate Professor. The same year, she was awarded the Principal’s Prize for Outstanding Emerging Researcher for developing pioneering strategies to eliminate antibiotic use in agriculture.
Dr. Jennifer Ronholm
Current Students
Zhiwei Li (Ph.D. Student 2019- )
My project aims to understand interactions between foodborne pathogens and host gut microbiome. I am mainly characterizing Salmonella enterica Type VI Secretion Systems to understand internal antagonistic behaviours between microorganisms, hoping to explore the possibilities of manipulating the microbiome of food-producing animals to prevent, or even cure bacterial infections.
Dongyun Jung (Ph.D. Student 2019- )
I am interested in understanding the genomics of mammary pathogenic Escherichia coli (MPEC), one of the most common bovine mastitis pathogens, and the microbiome in bovine udder. My PhD research project focuses on defining the genetic composition of MPEC capable of infecting bovine udder and defining which microbiome composition is resistant to MPEC colonization in the udder. I am also interested in CRISPR-Cas9 as an effective tool to manipulate bovine microbiome, and I am working on
conjugative CRISPR-Cas9 system to eliminate plasmid harbouring cat and blaCMY-2 resistance genes to provide the proof of principle that
CRISPR-Cas9 is an effective tool for bovine microbiome manipulation to prevent E. coli infection.
Zhixuan (Tiffany) Feng (Ph.D. Student 2019-)
I have an academic background in microbiology, biotechnology, and animal science. My current project focuses on isolating bacteria from the chicken gastrointestinal tract and using culturomic and metagenomic methods to identify novel probiotics.
Bridget O'Brien (Ph.D. Student 2021-)
My Ph.D. project investigates Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bovine mastitis pathogen, with the goal of finding antibiotic alternatives to be used in dairy farming.
Zhangbin Cai (Ph.D. Student 2022-)
My research aims to develop probiotics that would treat/prevent bovine mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus, and to understand the mechanism and active molecules involved in the inhibition of S. aureus by those probiotics.
Natalia Lorenc (Ph.D. Student 2022-)
My project focuses on antimicrobial resistance in Canadian aquaculture.
I am working on identifying antibiotic resistant bacteria in aquatic food production and investigating the transfer pathways of antibiotic resistant genes in the food supply chain. My research aims to develop intervention strategies to preserve the effectiveness of antimicrobials used in Canada.
Sang Ngoc (Sam) Nguyen (Ph.D. Student 2022- )
I am an Animal Science Ph.D. student working on bovine mastitis. My project aims to identify pathogenic and protective markers of the udder microbiota.
Yishuo Zhang (M.Sc. Student 2023- )
I am a Second year MSc Animal Science (Thesis) student working under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Ronholm. My research aims to enhance the quality and longevity of seafood products by investigating potential spoilage bacteria and developing treatment strategies.
Paul Glenn (M.Sc. Student 2023-)
I evaluate the effect of disinfectants on the transfer of antibiotic resistance from bacteria present on food to Salmonella enterica. I aim to test disinfectants and surface sanitizers that are commonly used in the food industry to guide the regulation of these compounds and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Jinha Suh (M.Sc. Student 2024-)
My project focuses on characterizing the missing microbiota in Canadian domesticated poultry relative to the wild red jungle fowl of Singapore. I aim to improve my understanding of the wild animal microbiome, and develop safer alternatives to the current antibiotics used in livestock.
Janina Ruffini (M.Sc. Student 2019- )
In my research, I am whole genome sequencing 180 bacterial isolates from clinical cases of bovine mastitis.