Affiliation: North Carolina A&T State University

Dr. Salam A. Ibrahim is a research professor in the Food and Nutritional Science Program at North Carolina A&T State University.  For the past 22 years at North Carolina A&T State University, Dr. Ibrahim's research, teaching, and outreach activities have been dedicated to addressing issues related to fermented dairy products and milk quality, with a focus on practical approaches to quality and safety of food products. More recently, his laboratory's work has focused on the viability and functionality of probiotic cultures in dairy products and probiotic supplements. His lab works with the dairy and nutritional supplements industries on practical methods to ensure high viability of probiotics in nutritional supplements. They have also studied the molecular characteristics of Lactobacillus strains grown under different environmental conditions and have developed a new technology that enhances the survival of probiotics during processing, as well as developing a new emulsion system to enhance the viability of probiotics in different food products. Furthermore, they have worked on a new cultivation system that allows for the production of high bacterial cell mass. Dr. Ibrahim's lab also has interest in research that focus on herbs and plants that have high concentrations of functional ingredients, such as essential oils and antioxidants. The Ibrahim laboratory has been working on the bioconversion process of these natural products into very potent functional and biological compounds. Dr. Ibrahim is a regular reviewer, member of different editorial boards and guest editor of several journals of microbiology and food sciences.