Mengyi Dong

As Assistant Professor in Seafood Safety and Quality Engineering, Mengyi supports VSAREC's mission to deliver safe, high-quality products to Virginia's seafood processors and aquaculture producers. Her work focuses on developing molecular tools and data-driven controls to reduce pathogen and spoilage risks from farming through processing, offering guidance for industry, regulators and coastal communities. Mengyi also mentors graduate students, serves as a guest lecturer and develops public-facing programs to build workforce capacity in molecular microbiology, food safety and quality and controlled environment agriculture (CEA). 

• Postdoctoral Training, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, 2025
• Ph.D, Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2022
• M.S., Nutrition, George Mason University, 2015
• B.S., Food Safety and Quality, Huazhong Agricultural University, 2013

• Rapid pathogen surveillance: Develop and validate multiplex PCR and targeted sequencing assays for priority pathogens and indicators in water, biofilms, and seafood tissues; implement sampling plans and QA/QC; provide HACCP/FSMA-aligned SOPs and processor training.
• Microbiome & mycobiome insights for quality and safety: Profile bacterial and fungal communities to detect early spoilage, safety, and disease signatures; develop and evaluate protective cultures and clean-label antimicrobials to enhance product quality; translate results into practical guidance for industry.
• Data-driven process monitoring & decision tools: Combine sensors/spectroscopy with machine-learning models to monitor and optimize processes, and to predict shelf life and quality; deliver risk dashboards, decision trees, and cost-benefit tools to support adoption and compliance.
• eDNA & DNA-metabarcoding environmental observation: DevelopeDNA/metabarcoding surveys and environmental sampling approaches; provide dashboards, advisories, and best-practice guidance for biodiversity and invasive-species surveillance; establish and maintain a Virginia seafood DNA reference library to support authentication and public education.

1. Yildiz, G., Dong, M., & Feng, H. (2025). Hybrid Laser/Ultrasound Technology Enhances Morphometric, Phytochemical, and Techno-Functional Properties of Seeds, Sprouts, and Microgreens of Broccoli, Radish, and Kale. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 1-14.
2. Dong, M., Kavanaugh, Lee, C., M., & Feng, H (2024). Developing Double-Sided Polydimethylsiloxane Artificial Leafy-Greens Phylloplane for Microbe-Plant Interaction Studies. Food Research International, 184, 114252.
3. Dong, M., Lee, C., Kavanaugh, M., Stasiewicz, M.J. & Feng, H (2024). Machine Learning and Taguchi DOE Combined Optimization of Ultrasound-Assisted Fresh-Cut Leafy Green Sanitation. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 12(5), 1930-1940.
4. Dong, M., Holle, M. J., Miller, M. J., Banerjee, P., & Feng, H. (2024). Fates of attached E. coli o157: h7 on intact leaf surfaces revealed leafy green susceptibility. Food Microbiology, 119, 104432.
5. Dong, M., & Feng, H. (2022). Microbial Community Analysis and Food Safety Practice Survey-Based Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment for Controlled Environment Hydroponic/Aquaponic Farming Systems. Frontiers in microbiology, 13.
6. Dong, M., Park, H. K., Wang, Y., & Feng, H. (2022). Control Escherichia coli O157: H7 growth on sprouting Brassicaceae seeds with high acoustic power density (APD) ultrasound plus mild heat and calcium-oxide antimicrobial spray. Food Control, 132, 108482.
7. Tomaszewski, T., DeVries, R. S., Dong, M., Bhatia, G., Norsworthy, M. D., Zheng, X., & Caetano-Anollés, G. (2020). New Pathways of Mutational Change in SARS-CoV-2 Proteomes Involve Regions of Intrinsic Disorder Important for Virus Replication and Release. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 16, 1176934320965149.
8. Palma-Salgado, S., Ku, K. M., Dong, M., Nguyen, T. H., Juvik, J. A., & Feng, H. (2020). Adhesion and removal of E. coli K12 as affected by leafy green produce epicuticular wax composition, surface roughness, produce and bacterial surface hydrophobicity, and sanitizers. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 334, 108834.
9. Ding, J., Ulanov, A. V., Dong, M., Yang, T., Nemzer, B. V., Xiong, S., ... & Feng, H. (2018). Enhancement of gama-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and other health-related metabolites in germinated red rice (Oryza sativa L.) by ultrasonication. Ultrasonics sonochemistry, 40, 791-797.
10. Ding, J., Hou, G. G., Dong, M., Xiong, S., Zhao, S., & Feng, H. (2018). Physicochemical properties of germinated dehulled rice flour and energy requirement in germination as affected by ultrasound treatment. Ultrasonics sonochemistry, 41, 484-491.
11. Slavin, M., Dong, M., & Gewa, C. (2016). Effect of clove extract pretreatment and drying conditions on lipid oxidation and sensory discrimination of dried omena (Rastrineobola argentea) fish. International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 51(11), 2376-2385.
12. Ding, J., Yang, T., Feng, H., Dong, M., Slavin, M., Xiong, S. B., & Zhao, S. M. (2016). Enhancing Contents of Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) and Other Micronutrients in Dehulled Rice during Germination under Normoxic and Hypoxic Conditions. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.