Kavita Shripati Patil
Fayetteville,AR
Summary
Highly skilled professional with a strong background in analytical thinking, effective communication, and collaborative teamwork. Known for adapting quickly to new environments and excelling in challenging situations. Committed to contributing to team success and continuously developing professional skills. Approach work with a positive attitude and dedication to continuous learning and growth.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Sr. Graduate Research Assistant
University of Arkansas
03.2022 - Current
- Conducted in-depth food microbiological research on various projects, focusing on pathogen inactivation, quality control, and regulatory compliance in different food matrices
- Studied sous-vide cooking for beef, shelf-stable chicken fat, dried mushrooms, dairy powders, and low-moisture food's persistent bacterial populations
- Developed and validated methods for testing, assessed cleaning and sanitation processes, and developed products based on customer requirements
- Analyzed data and collaborated with team members to improve food safety
Graduate Teaching Assistant
University of Arkansas
08.2022 - Current
- Instructed and supervised undergraduate students in basic microbiology techniques, such as aseptic technique, dilutions, plating, and sampling, while overseeing their lab experiments
- Graded homework, quizzes, laboratory work, and exams for FDSC 4121L/5121L Food Microbiology
Section Head (Executive Microbiologist)
SGS India Pvt Ltd
07.2020 - 02.2022
- Plan, organize and control operations of Microbiology laboratories and manage all technical functions in accordance with ISO 17025 and GLP Standards
- Manage regulatory, MNC Customer and audits schedule and supervise daily activity for microbiologists and assist QA Manager in failure investigation
- Handle the national, international, and customer audits, discussions and provide necessary support
- Conduct process validation for spices, herbs and nuts as per Almond Board of California for customers
- Prepare in-depth risk assessment for all new method development and provide Microbiology expert summary for Regulatory submission
- Provide technical assistance to external and internal customers regarding microbiological inquiries
- Performed plant audits related to chemical usage and applications and assessed their sustainability impacts
- Lead and participate in the development and improvement of processes for existing and new methods
- Analyze the sample by using NGS, ddPCR and RT-PCR for food authenticity
- Validation of NGS methods for fish, meat, and plant spp and ddPCR for allergens
- Identification of HALAL and Vegan food by RT-PCR
- Successfully completed national, international and customer audits; achieved ISO 17025:2017 accreditation for NGS-based species identification (plant, meat, and fish) and HALAL/Vegan detection via RT-PCR
- Coordinated multi-shift operations, including night teams, to ensure the timely completion of complex, multi-stage experiments
- Negotiated with current vendor to customize microbial media analysis product sizes, achieving annual savings of 200k Rupees per year as a part of LEAN project
Microbiologist
SGS India Pvt Ltd
07.2018 - 06.2020
- Perform microbiological analysis for various cooked, raw, ready to eat food, meat, sea food products, water, soil, fabric, leather, cosmetics and sanitizers testing as per various national/ international/ in-house methods and check for its compliance with different regulatory bodies
- Method development and validation of Legionella spp, Giardia and Cryptosporidium in water as per the standard
Trainee (Quality Assurance and Microbiology)
National Dairy Development Board
03.2016 - 03.2018
- Analysis of various food, feed, water samples according to ISO/IS/AOAC/FSSAI/APHA standards
- Preparation of SOPs/OIs/WIs for Microbiology Lab
- Perform Quality Checks for Microbiology media, reagents and sera's as per ISO 17025, ISO 11133 & NABL 102, Media preparation, quality check of water, pH and conductivity check used for media preparation
- Calculating measurement of uncertainty as per ISO 19036 for microbiology parameters
- Documentation of observations, analysis of experiments, interpretation of results and meeting deadlines for the timely completion of projects/assignments
- Verification of reports as per regulatory standards
- ISO 17025 implementation and documentation in laboratory
- Review & modification of quality manual, MSPs, SOPs
- Maintaining Master list of documents
- Preparation of application to obtain NABL, EIC, BIS and FSSAI accreditation, Facing the regulatory audit & CAPA closure
- Organizing PT/ILC programs for lab
- Handling of customer complaints, feedback and communication
- Conducting Internal audits, Vendor evaluation and preparation of their records and assisting QM in conducting Management review meeting (MRM) of Lab
- Preparation of MRM agenda and decisions
- Preparation of power point presentation for MRM, GFLP (Good Food Laboratory Practices) and Customer meet etc
- Preparation of training plan and conducting various internal trainings
Education
Ph.D. - Food safety and Microbiology
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR05.2025
Master of Science - Microbiology
University of Mumbai
India06.2015
Skills
- Food Safety & Microbiology – Risk assessment, pathogen control, NGS, ddPCR, RT-PCR, thermal inactivation, process validation, sanitation, Subject Matter Expert
- Lab Operations & Research – Method verification and validation, SOPs, ISO compliance, sample analysis (food, dairy, water, cosmetics, poultry, meat, fabric, sludge, seafood), product development
- Data Analysis & Technical Skills – R-Studio, JMP, Microsoft Office, experimental design, ERP, LIMS
- Quality Assurance & Compliance – HACCP, PCQI, FSMA, ISO/IEC 17025, GMP, regulatory audits, Internal and external audits, audit report, CAPA/RCA closure, vendor evaluation, 5S Lean, TQM
- Leadership & Training – Team management, mentoring, leading audits, training staff, internal auditing, process improvement, cross-functional team handling
Affiliations
- International Association of Food Protection (IAFP), Student Member, 2022-Present
- Arkansas Association for Food Protection, Student Member, 2022-Present
- International Association of Food Protection- North America (IAFPNA), 2022-Present
Professional Development
- Demystifying dry cleaning: understanding when, how, and why of dry-cleaning & sanitizing (disinfecting) workshop, 08/24
- Vice President – Indian association for food protection North America (IAFPNA), 08/24
- Student Liaison -International Association For Food Protection (IAFP), 07/23-Present
- ExCEL Leadership and Team Building Program, 06/23
- Tyson Beyond Fresh Meats Short Course, 03/23
- Hands on training of NGS and ddPCR conducted by Thermo Fisher Scientific and Stilla technologies., 05/21
- Attend and certify “Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI)” conducted by SGS., 04/20
- Training program on “Total Quality Management (TQM)” conducted by NDDB and SGS., 03/19
- Attend and certify” Laboratory Quality Management system as per ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and Internal auditing” conducted by SGS., 05/20
Papers Publications
- Dried and tested: Inoculation method impacts low-moisture food persistent bacterial populations., Adhikari, M., Patil, K., & Acuff, J. C., Journal of Food Protection, 100, 100457, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfp.2025.100457
- Evaluating the Safety of Sous-Vide Cooking for Beef Products Inoculated with Single Strains of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157., Patil, K., Adhikari, M., Rubinelli, P., Desiree, K., Vierck, K. R., & Acuff, J. C., Journal of food protection, 87, 5, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfp.2024.100252
- Mitigating mushroom risks: Evaluating cooking practices for Salmonella reduction in dried mushrooms., Patil, K., Desiree, K., Adhikari, M., Christmas, K., Rubinelli, P., & Acuff, J. C., Food Protection Trends, 44, 3, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1111/FPT-23-027
White Papers
- Controlling Legionella bacteria in water system, https://www.sgsgroup.in/en-gb/environment-health-and-safety/testing-services/product-types/legionella-testing
- Bifidobacterium in probiotic foods, https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/activity:6773467424063918080
Community Outreach
- Served as a judge in undergraduate research poster competition (Health Category) organized by UARK- Honors college, 04/24
- Served as a judge in graduate research poster competition (Food, Health and Nutrition Category) organized by UARK- GPSC, 04/24
- Delivered a guest lecture on the 'Indian Speaking from Abroad' series, covering 'Evaluating the safety of sous-vide for beef products' and inspiring students to pursue higher education., 10/23
- Served as a judge in Washington County 4-H youth (ages 9-18) compete in county food contest., 05/23
Awards
- Paliwal Club of 100 STEAM Scholars, 01/25
- Secured 3rd place at Arkansas Association for food protection poster competition, 09/24
- Graduate and Professional Student Congress travel award (GPSC), 05/24
- Graduate School and International Education (GSIE), 05/24
- George Roy Hayes, Jr. Endowed Scholarship Award, 04/24
- Secured 1st place at Arkansas Association for food protection poster competition, 09/23
- The poultry federation scholarship in food/agriculture science area, 06/23
- University of Arkansas doctoral student presentation travel award, 05/23
- University of Arkansas doctoral student international travel award, 05/23
- Successfully completed national and international regulatory audits NABL, EIC, BIS, FSSAI, Nestle audits, 2016-2022
- Received ISO 17025/2017 accreditation for identification of different plant, meat and fish spp. in food samples using next generation sequencing (NGS) and identification of HALAL and Vegan food by RT-PCR., 11/21
Research
- Determination of the Thermal Inactivation Kinetics of Salmonella and a Surrogate in Milk Powder as Impacted by Water Activity and Food Matrix., International Association for Food Protection, 07/23
- Evaluating the Safety of Sous-Vide Cooking for Beef Products Inoculated with Single Strains of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157., International Association for Food Protection, 07/23
- Evaluating the Safety of Sous-Vide Cooking for Beef Products Inoculated with Single Strains of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157., Arkansas Association for Food Protection, 09/22
- Lecture series on the “Indian speaking from abroad”, 03/22
- Mitigating mushroom risks: Evaluating cooking practices for Salmonella reduction in dried mushrooms., Arkansas Association for Food Protection, 09/23
- Mitigating mushroom risks: Evaluating cooking practices for Salmonella reduction in dried mushrooms., International Association for Food Protection, 07/24
- Identification of surrogate for Salmonella enterica for future studies and in-plant validations related to low moisture food persistent bacterial populations (LMF-PBP), International Association for Food Protection, 07/24
Certification
ISO/IEC 17025:2017
PCQI
Awards and Accomplishment
Paliwal Club of 100 STEAM Scholars Jan 2025
Secured 3rd place at Arkansas Association for food protection poster competition Sep 2024
Graduate and Professional Student Congress travel award (GPSC) May 2024
Graduate School and International Education (GSIE) May 2024
George Roy Hayes, Jr. Endowed Scholarship Award Apr 2024
Secured 1st place at Arkansas Association for food protection poster competition Sep 2023
The poultry federation scholarship in food/agriculture science area Jun 2023
University of Arkansas doctoral student presentation travel award May 2023
University of Arkansas doctoral student international travel award May 2023
Successfully completed national and international regulatory audits NABL, EIC, BIS, FSSAI, Nestle audits 2016-2022
Received ISO 17025/2017 accreditation for identification of different plant, meat and fish spp. in food samples Nov 2021
using next generation sequencing (NGS) and identification of HALAL and Vegan food by RT-PCR.
Timeline
Graduate Teaching Assistant
University of Arkansas
08.2022 - Current
Sr. Graduate Research Assistant
University of Arkansas
03.2022 - Current
Section Head (Executive Microbiologist)
SGS India Pvt Ltd
07.2020 - 02.2022
Microbiologist
SGS India Pvt Ltd
07.2018 - 06.2020
Trainee (Quality Assurance and Microbiology)
National Dairy Development Board
03.2016 - 03.2018
Ph.D. - Food safety and Microbiology
University of Arkansas
Master of Science - Microbiology
University of Mumbai
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