Salina Parveen, Ph.D.
Salina Parveen is a microbiologist, food safety expert, and professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), where she teaches graduate-level microbiology courses and serves as Acting Associate Vice President for Research. Her work centers on food safety and water quality, with over 30 years of experience studying food- and waterborne pathogens, including their ecology, transmission, antimicrobial resistance, pathogenicity, genetic diversity, and control in foods and environmental systems.
She has developed a large, competitive research program supported by more than $23 million in funding, leading to a substantial scholarly record that includes more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and multiple book chapters. She has also presented more than 340 scientific talks globally, including over 90 invited presentations at regional, national, and international conferences and institutions.
In addition to her research and administrative roles, she has trained and mentored more than 265 students, scientists, educators, and regulators worldwide, including individuals from underrepresented groups through USAID, NSF and USDA-supported programs. Dr. Parveen supervised over 50 graduate students, many at the Ph.D. level, contributing to workforce development in food safety and microbiology. In addition, she received several awards for her outstanding efforts establishing a research and education programs at UMES.
Her professional service includes appointment to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF), founding president of the Bangladesh Association for Food Protection, and serving as an expert for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on antimicrobial resistance of Vibrio bacteria. She has served and continues to serve on numerous regional, national, and international scientific committees, grant review panels, and as an editor or editorial board member for several peer-reviewed journals.
Acting Associate Vice President of Research
Phone: 410-651-8339
Email: sparveen@umes.edu
Joseph Pitula, Ph.D.
Dr. Joe Pitula graduated from Rutgers University in 1989 with a B.S. in biology. He then worked 6 years as a lab technician in quality control at Nutrition International, a food testing laboratory. He went on to join the University at Buffalo, where he earned his Ph.D. in microbiology in 2001, focusing on pathogenic organisms. His field of emphasis was two RNA binding proteins from Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), and how these proteins regulate the formation of ribosomes. He continued his work in RNA binding proteins when he went on to post-doctoral studies in the Department of Nutrition at the University of Wisconsin. There he studied the role of phosphorylation on the binding activity of Iron Regulatory Protein-1 (IRP-1). IRP-1 also has enzymatic function, and went on to demonstrate that phosphorylation has a dramatic impact in controlling substrate preference during its enzymatic function as the cytosolic aconitase. In 2004 he joined the Department of Natural Sciences at UMES, where he has continued his research interests in both protist parasites and enzymology.
Dr. Pitula’s research interests focus on the application of molecular approaches to various ecological issues. Currently his lab is analyzing the environmental distribution of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” in both marine and terrestrial systems. Research studies are also being conducted to analyze how these chemical may influence the growth and molting patterns in both plants and arthropods. He has also devoted significant amount of his career to studying marine pathogens, primarily a protistan parasite (Hematodinium perezi). Finally, his lab continues to be interested in various microbial species that lead to various harmful algal blooms, and nutrients in the environment that may stimulate their proliferation.
Director of Research
Phone: 410-621-2980
Email: jspitula@umes.edu
Tysha R. Palmer, M.S.M.
Compliance & Award Specialist
Phone: 410-651-6714
Email: trpalmer@umes.edu
Mr. Josh L. Shockley
Contracts and Grants Associate
Phone: 410-651-8993
Email: jlshockley1@umes.edu
