- Enjoy participating in endurance sports (running, cycling, triathlon) for overall physical and mental well-being
Catharine Carlin, Ph.D.
Chicago
Summary
Accomplished food safety professional with over 20 years of extensive experience in the food industry, specializing in regulatory compliance and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements. Expertise includes pathogen detection, rapid method development and validation, traceback and root cause analysis, next-generation sequencing (NGS), good manufacturing practices (GMP), product sampling plans, and environmental monitoring programs (EMP). Proven track record in laboratory management adhering to ISO 17025 standards, auditing, good laboratory practices (GLP), and troubleshooting laboratory contamination issues. Significant contributions to the development of numerous food safety-themed workshops and webinars demonstrate a commitment to advancing industry knowledge and practices.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Director of Microbiology Innovation
Mérieux NutriSciences – Silliker Food Science Center
01.2022 - 12.2025
- AOAC Expert Laboratory leader for the validation of microbiological methods according to AOAC Appendix J and/or ISO 16140.
- Provides consultation to rapid method developers regarding industry and end-user expectations.
- Provides consulting to food manufactures to resolve pathogen and spoilage contamination issues and build robust product testing and environmental monitoring programs.
- Leads research projects aimed at improving foodborne pathogen detection, identification, and typing, with a focus on Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli EHEC, and Cronobacter.
- Supports the development and implementation of advanced NGS-based methods (e.g., metagenomics, serotyping by sequencing).
- Served as the Responsible Official (RO) for the Select Agent Program.
- Continuous promotion of company scientific expertise through journal publications, participation in scientific committees (e.g., ISO, AOAC) speaking engagements, blog posts, workshop development/instruction, poster presentations, and round tables.
Microbiology Technical Director
Mérieux NutriSciences – North American Headquarters
07.2015 - 01.2022
- Lead a team of regional technical managers charged with monitoring and improving microbiology capabilities including cost reduction and data integrity across North America (US, Mexico, and Canada).
- Developed a laboratory contamination risk assessment and investigation template that led to the overall reduction in contamination events.
- Reviewed and revised customer and A2LA audit reports.
- Oversaw the auditing for over 20 locations.
- Worked with a global team to support auditing and harmonized procedures across the global network.
- Performed gap analyses and led the integration of newly acquired laboratories in South America and Canada.
- Provided consulting to customers regarding test methods and result interpretation.
- Served as expert witness for laboratory results.
- Provided quarterly updates to the executive committee on Key Quality Indicators (KQI).
Microbiology Operations Manager
Mérieux NutriSciences – Pennsylvania Laboratory
12.2006 - 08.2012
- Managed a 24-hour microbiology laboratory with more than 40 employees, processing of over 2,000 tests per day while meeting strict time-to-result requirements. This location served as the center of excellence (COE) for Cronobacter, Vibrio, and Shigella analyses.
- Responsible for the laboratory’s P&L monthly statement.
- Served as the key contact during customer, regulatory, and accreditation audits.
- Conducted onsite product sampling at food facilities.
Education
Ph.D. - Food Science (Minors in Food Microbiology and Epidemiology)
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY01.2022
Bachelor of Science - Biology
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH05-2001
Skills
- Technical writing and journal publication
- Environmental monitoring programs
- Product sampling plans
- Root cause analysis
- Comprehension of FDA, USDA, and ISO guidelines
- Statistical analyses using R
- Laboratory auditing - ISO 17025
- Rapid identification (MALDI-TOF, biochemical)
- Method validation guidelines
- Process improvement
- Compliance with GMP and GLP standards
- NGS sequence analyses
- Metagenomics, metabarcoding
- Microbiology methods (eg, molecular, immunoassays, cultural)
- Public speaking
Affiliations
- AOAC Expert Performance Tested Methods (PTM) Program method expert reviewer.
- Co-chair, AOAC International Expert Review Panel (ERP) for Microbiology Methods. 2022-present.
- Co-chair, AOAC International Working Group for the development of standard method performance requirements for analytical confirmation. 2025-present.
- International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) member, including participation in the Peer Development Groups (PDGs) for (1) Applied Methods, (2) Advanced Molecular Analytics, and (3) Dairy Quality and Safety.
- AOAC International member.
- ISO TC 34/SC 9/WG 32 Expert Member for the revision of the ISO 11290 standard for detection of L. monocytogenes and Listeria spp. 2022-present.
- ISO TC 34/SC 9/WG 33 Convener leading the revision of the ISO 22964 standard for the detection of Cronobacter spp. 2023-present.
- MicroVal Technical Committee Expert Member.
- Meat Institute Advanced Listeria Workshop Instructor, Speaker, and Content Developer. 2022-present.
Certification
- HACCP – 2019
- AOAC International - Validation Training Course (2022)
- PCQI - 2022
Interests
Timeline
Director of Microbiology Innovation
Mérieux NutriSciences – Silliker Food Science Center
01.2022 - 12.2025
Microbiology Technical Director
Mérieux NutriSciences – North American Headquarters
07.2015 - 01.2022
Microbiology Operations Manager
Mérieux NutriSciences – Pennsylvania Laboratory
12.2006 - 08.2012
Ph.D. - Food Science (Minors in Food Microbiology and Epidemiology)
Cornell University
Bachelor of Science - Biology
The Ohio State University
Publications
- Carlin CR, Lau SS, Cheng RA, Buehler AJ, Kassaify Z, Wiedmann M. Validation using diverse, difficult-to-detect Salmonella strains and a dark chocolate matrix highlights the critical role of strain selection for evaluation of simplified, rapid PCR-based methods offering next-day time to results. Journal of Food Protection. 2020 Aug 1; 83(8):1374–86.
- Carlin CR, Liao J, Weller D, Guo X, Orsi R, Wiedmann M. Listeria cossartiae sp. nov., Listeria farberi sp. nov., Listeria immobilis sp. nov., Listeria portnoyi sp. nov. and Listeria rustica sp. nov., isolated from agricultural water and natural environments. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2021; 71(5).
- Carlin CR, Roof S, Wiedmann M. An assessment of reference method selective broths and plating media using 19 Listeria spp. highlights the importance of including diverse species in Listeria spp. method evaluations. Journal of Food Protection. 2021 Dec 2.
- Carlin CR, Liao J, Hudson LK, Peters TL, Denes TG, Orsi RH, Guo X, Wiedmann M. Soil collected in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park yielded a novel Listeria species, L. swaminathanii, effectively expanding the sensu stricto clade to ten species. Microbiology Spectrum. 2022 June 29.
- Hudson LK, Chaggar HK, Schamp CN, Claxtonb ML, Bryan DW, Peters TL, Song Y, Carlin CR, den Bakker HC, Dene TG. Phenotypical characterization and analysis of complete genomes of two distinct strains and proposed species “L. swaminathanii”. Scientific Reports. 2022 June 1.
- Carlin, Catharine R., Deann Akins-Lewenthal, Benjamin Bastin, Erin Crowley, Wendy McMahon, and Bradley Ziebell. "An Alternative Rapid Confirmation Method for Identifying Listeria monocytogenes from a Variety of 125 g Food Samples within Two Days of a PCR Presumptive Positive." Journal of Food Protection 87, no. 1 (2024): 100193.
- Orsi, Renato H., Jingqiu Liao, Catharine R. Carlin, and Martin Wiedmann. "Taxonomy, ecology, and relevance to food safety of the genus Listeria with a particular consideration of new Listeria species described between 2010 and 2022." mBio 15, no. 2 (2024): e00938-23.
- Carlin, Catharine R. and Hudson, Lauren K., Harleen K. Chaggar, Claire N. Schamp, Ahmed Gaballa, Renato H. Orsi, Martin Wiedmann, and Thomas G. Dene. “Proposal to validate Listeria swaminathanii as a novel species based on whole genome sequencing of UTK SX-0008.” Submitted Dec. 2025.
Speaking Engagements (2024-2025)
2025
- Jan 2025: Evaluating pathogen risk and potential controls. Private presentation for a food producer.
- April 2025: Whole-genome sequencing (WGS): What is it? How is it used? Private presentation for a food producer.
- April 2025. New Listeria spp. – taxonomy, relevance to food safety, and method inclusivity. AOAC ERP member meeting.
- This talk was also given at the European Union Reference Laboratory Annual Workshop and to the ISO TC 34/SC 9/WG 32 members – for the revision of the ISO 11290 standard for L. monocytogenes and Listeria spp. detection.
- May 2025: Environmental monitoring best practices: Listeria and L. monocytogenes analytical methods. Training workshop for the dairy industry hosted by bioMerieux.
- June 2025: Listeria testing challenges. LGC World Food Safety Day webinar.
- June and Oct 2025: (1)The art of monitoring for Listeria, and (2) Traceback and whole-genome sequencing. The Meat Institute’s Advance Listeria Intervention and Control Workshop offered twice/year.
- IAFP 2025 Annual Meeting: (1) Listeria testing – Making sense of non-confirming molecular positives. What do they really mean and how should you respond? Dairy Quality and Safety Professional Development Group (PDG) in-person meeting presentation, (2)Regulatory challenges of novel food method validation across different standards. Symposium – Novel foods, safety, shelf life, and rapid methods – Approaches to test method design, validation and application in plant-based products, (3) Round Table – What do you need from your validated microbiology methods?
- AOAC 2025 Annual Conference. Strain typing without WGS – Real-world experiences with an alternative typing method. Symposium: Bioinformatics in Foodborne Pathogen Genomics: From Sequence to Safety.
- Dec. 2025 – Infant botulism and testing for Clostridium spp., Sulfite-reducing bacteria, mesoanaerobic spores vs. Clostridium botulinum – Prepared for Powdered-Infant Formula (PIF) producers.
2024
- Jan 2024. Foodborne disease: detecting, understanding, preventing. IPPE 2024. Meat Institute’s Food Safety Equipment Design Principles Workshop opening presentation.
- April 2024. GLP training course presentation. Onsite training instruction.
- May 2024: L. monocytogenes – Understanding the risk for produce contamination. Private customer workshop.
- IAFP 2024 Annual Meeting: Advantages and limits of analytical confirmation in the control monitoring in production plants. Symposium – Analytical Challenges in Developing Successful Risk Management and Control Strategies.
- AOAC 2024 Annual Conference: (1) Round Table: Method Validation and End-User Perspective, and (2)Symposium convener and abstract developer – Looking to the future – alternative methods for improved foodborne pathogen confirmation.
- Sept 2024: Key considerations when implementing whole-genome sequencing. Private customer presentation.