Dr Irene Grant
Senior Lecturer in Microbiology and Food Safety
Postal Address:
Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use
Queen's University Belfast
Medical Biology Centre
97 Lisburn Road
Belfast BT9 7BL
Room: OG.421
Telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 2109
Fax: +44 (0)28 9097 5877
Email: i.grant@qub.ac.uk
Background
Irene obtained a BSc degree in Food Science in 1987 and a PhD in Food Microbiology in 1990 from the Queen's University of Belfast. She was employed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the Department of Food Science at Queen's University of Belfast from 1990 until February 2006 when she was appointed Lecturer in Food Safety (Microbiology) within the newly formed Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use (IAFLU) within the School of Biological Sciences at QUB.
Qualifications:
BSc (Hon) Food Science, 1987, Queen's University Belfast;PhD Food Microbiology, 1990, Queen's University Belfast;
Diploma in Food Safety Management, 2000, Queen's University Belfast;
Certificate in Higher Education Teaching, 2007, Queen's University Belfast.
Administrative Responsibilities:
Advisor of Studies for Food Quality, Safety and Nutrition students
Member of School Management Board
Module Coordinator ALU2001 Food Hygiene and Microbiology
Module Coordinator ALU3008 Food Product Development
Teaching Responsibilities:
Stage 1| Course Title | Academic Input: |
| MCB1006 Microorganisms | Group assignment tutorials, practical test |
Stage 2
| Course Title | Academic Input: |
| ALU2001 Food Hygiene and Microbiology | Lectures, practicals and tutorials |
| BBC2029 Environmental and Applied Microbiology | Lectures and practicals |
| ALU2007 Food Processing and Packaging | Tutorials |
Stage 3
| Course Title | Academic Input: |
| ALU3003 Food Quality and Safety | Lectures |
| ALU3009 Food Product Development | Lectures and practicals |
| ALU3031 Animal Health and Welfare | Lectures |
| ALU3039 Lectures and practical | Lectures and practical |
| Food Quality Safety and Nutrition Honours project | Several students supervised per year |
PhD Supervision:
| Student | Project title | Timescale |
| Stella Y.Y. Wong Nowotarska |
The potential of naturally occurring compounds to decrease the need for use of drugs in animal husbandry. |
Graduated July 2010 |
| Janette-Louise Brettell | Investigation of the performance of a constructed wetland for removal of minerals and microorganisms. |
Oct. 2006 - Sep. 2010 |
| Antonio C.G. Foddai | Development of improved methods for isolation, detection and enumeration of viable Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in foods. |
Graduated July 2010 |
| Sarah Broderick | Antibiotic-resistant and pathogenic Escherichia coli in cattle in Northern Ireland; determination of prevalence and an investigation oftheir genetic relatedness. |
Oct. 2007 - Sep. 2010 |
| Ricardo Santos | Diversity, stress responses and ecological behaviour of Mycobacterium species. | Part-time 2007 - |
| Claire Barry | Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis - the study of early immune responses in an experimental cattle model. |
Part-time 2008 - |
Research Activity
The main focus of Dr Grant's research to date has been to assess the impact of pasteurisation and other dairy processes on the inactivation of MAP (a bacterium that causes Johne's disease in cattle, sheep and goats, which may have some association with Crohn's disease in humans) in milk and to develop improved methods for its isolation/detection of MAP in milk and water.
Highlights of completed research include:
- Consistent demonstration of the presence of low numbers of viable Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in milk following both laboratory-simulated and commercial-scale HTST pasteurisation, and hence provision of evidence that cows' milk represents a potential vehicle of transmission of this bacterium from infected cattle to humans
- Successful development of an immunomagnetic separation (IMS) method to facilitate the selective separation and concentration of MAP from milk. This IMS method was subsequently combined with IS900 PCR to provide a rapid test to detect the presence of this particularly slow-growing bacterium in milk, faeces and water
- Development of an acid-fast viability stain involving tetrazolium reduction and auramine O staining which was used to demonstrate that viable MAP cells surviving after heat treatment were located within clumps
- Identification of factors adversely affecting the recovery of MAP from milk by cultural methods, e.g. use of chemical decontamination, testing immediately after heating, inclusion of antibiotics in recovery media, use of solid rather than liquid culture media
Current research topics
Dr Grant is continuing MAP research within IAFLU but is expanding her research interests and establishing new research on:
- Emerging microbiological food safety issues
- Assessment of novel antimicrobial compounds obtained from natural sources
- Development of improved diagnostic methods for foodborne pathogens
Further Information
Professional Qualifications:
- Member of the Higher Education Academy
- Membership of other Societies: Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM), American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and International Association for Paratuberculosis (IAP).
Major Prize: Winner of W.H. Pierce Memorial Prize from Society for Applied Microbiology 1998.
Research Funding
DEFRA Animal Health Programme, £264000, April 2010 - March 2012
Students into Work Grant, Society for Applied Microbiology, £2100, June - September 2009
safefood Food Safety Internship, £97,240, January 2009 - December 2011
InvestNI Proof of Concept programme, £78,361, January 2009 - December 2010
Students into Work Grant, Society for Applied Microbiology, £2100, May - July 2007
DEL/CAST award, Constructed Wetland Project, £23,700, October 2006 - October 2009
Students into Work Grant, Society for Applied Microbiology, £2000, June - August 2006
Measures of Esteem:
- Member of Editorial Board of Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2001 - present
- Ad-hoc invited reviewer for: Journal of Applied Microbiology, Letters in Applied Microbiology, Veterinary Microbiology, International Journal of Food Microbiology, Food Control, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, Veterinary Record
- Invited presentations at national and international scientific meetings
- Invited Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) expert for International Forum for Transmissible Animal Diseases and Food Safety (TAFS) 2007 - present
Selected publications (2001 to date):
Foddai, A., Elliott, C.T. and Grant, I.R. (2010). Rapid assessment of the viability of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis cells after heating using an optimized phage amplification assay. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76(6): 1777-1782. 
Foddai, A., Elliott, C.T. and Grant, I.R. (2009). Optimisation of a phage amplification assay to permit the accurate enumeration of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 75(12): 3896-3902.
Cashman, W., Buckley, J., Quigley, T., Fanning, S., More, S., Egan, J., Berry, D., Grant, I.R. and O'Farrell, K. (2008). Risk factors for the introduction and within-herd transmission of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) infection on 59 Irish dairy herds. Irish Veterinary Journal, 61: 464-467.
Wong, S.Y.Y., Grant, I.R., Friedman, M., Elliott, C.T. and Situ, C. (2008). Antibacterial activities of naturally occurring compounds against Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 74(9): 5986-5990.
Stephan, R., Schumacher, S., Tasara, T. and Grant, I.R. (2007). Prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Swiss raw milk cheeses collected at retail level. Journal of Dairy Science, 90: 3590-3595.
Altic, L.C., Rowe, M.T. and Grant, I.R. (2007). UV light inactivation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk assessed by FASTPlaqueTBTM phage assay and culture. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 73(11): 3728-3733.
Grant, I.R. (2006). Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Mitteilungen aus Lebensmitteluntersuchung und Hygiene, 97: 2-9.
Whan, L., Grant, I.R. and Rowe, M.T. (2006). Interaction between Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and environmental protozoa. BMC Microbiology, 6: 63.
Grant, I.R. (2006.) Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in foods: current evidence and potential consequences. International Journal of Dairy Technology, 59(2): 112-117.
Rowe, M.T., Grant, I.R. (2006). Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis and its potential survival tactics. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 42: 305-311.
Whan, L., Ball, H.J., Grant, I.R. and Rowe, M.T. (2005). Occurrence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in untreated water in Northern Ireland. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71(11): 7107-7112.
Grant, I.R., Williams, A.G., Rowe, M.T. and Muir, D.D. (2005). Investigation of the impact of simulated commercial centrifugation and microfiltration conditions on levels of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk. International Journal of Dairy Technology, 58(3): 138-142.
Grant, I.R., Williams, A.G., Rowe, M.T. and Muir, D.D. (2005). Efficacy of various pasteurisation time/temperature conditions in combination with homogenisation on the inactivation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 71(6): 2853-2861.
Grant, I.R. (2005). Zoonotic potential of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis: the current position. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 98: 1282-1293.
Whan, L., Ball, H.J., Grant, I.R. and Rowe, M.T. (2005). Development of an IMS-PCR assay for the detection of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis in water. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 40: 269-273.
Grant, I.R. (2004). Inactivation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk during commercial HTST pasteurisation. Bulletin of the International Dairy Federation, 392: 62-67.
O'Reilly, C.E., O'Connor, L., Anderson, W., Harvey, P., Grant, I.R., Donaghy, J.A., Rowe, M.T. and O'Mahony, P. (2004). Surveillance of bulk raw and commercially pasteurised cows' milk from approved Irish liquid-milk pasteurisation plants to determine the incidence of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 70: 5138-5144.
Khare, S., Ficht, T.A., Santos, R.L., Romano, J., Ficht, A.R., Zhang, S., Grant, I.R., Libal, M., Hunter, D. and Adams, L.G. (2004). Rapid and sensitive detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in bovine milk and feces by a combination of immunomagnetic bead separation-conventional PCR and real-time PCR. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 42: 1075-1081.
Grant, I.R. and Rowe, M.T. (2004). Effect of chemical decontamination and refrigerated storage on the isolation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from milk. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 38: 283-288.
Grant, I.R. (2003). Mycobacterium paratuberculosis and milk. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, 44: 261-266.
Grant, I.R., Kirk, R.B., Hitchings, E. and Rowe, M.T. (2003). Comparative evaluation of the MGIT and BACTEC systems for the culture of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from milk. Proceedings of the Seventh International Colloquium on paratuberculosis, pp. 208-212.
Djonne, B., Jensen, M.R., Grant, I.R. and Holstad, G. (2003). Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk from dairy goats in Norway by immunomagnetic PCR. Veterinary Microbiology, 92: 135-143.
Grant, I.R., Ball, H.J. and Rowe, M.T. (2002). Incidence of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in bulk raw and commercially pasteurised cows' milk from approved dairy processing establishments in the United Kingdom. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68(5): 2428-2435.
Grant, I.R., Hitchings, E., McCartney, A., Ferguson, F. and Rowe, M.T. (2002). Effect of commercial scale HTST pasteurisation on the viability of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in naturally infected cows' milk. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68(2): 602-607.
Whan, L.B., Grant, I.R., Ball, H.J., Scott, R. and Rowe, M.T. (2001). Bactericidal effect of chlorine on Mycobacterium paratuberculosis in drinking water. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 33: 227-231.
Dundee, L., Grant, I.R., Ball, H.J. and Rowe, M.T. (2001). Comparative evaluation of four decontamination protocols for the isolation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from milk. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 33: 173-177.
Grant, I.R. and Rowe, M.T. (2001). Methods for detection and enumeration of viable Mycobacterium paratuberculosis from milk and milk products. Bulletin of the International Dairy Federation, 362: 41-52.
Grant, I.R., Rowe, M.T., Dundee, L. and Hitchings, E. (2001). Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis: its incidence, heat resistance and detection in milk and dairy products. International Journal of Dairy Technology, 54(1): 2-13.
Book chapters
Grant, I.R. and Rees, C.E.D. (2009). Chapter 17 Mycobacterium. In: Molecular Detection of Foodborne Pathogens, D. Liu (ed.), pp. 229-243. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Grant, I.R. (2010). Chapter 4. Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in animal-derived foods and the environment. In: Paratuberculosis: Organism, Disease, Control, M.A. Behr and D.M. Collins (eds), pp. 29-39. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
