Nwadiuto (Diuto) Esiobu PhD: University of Louvain, Belgium; Post Doc. MIT Cambridge Associate Professor Contact information Department of Biological Sciences Florida Atlantic University 2912 College Avenue Davie, Florida 33314 Phone: 954-236-1128 (office)               954-236-1039 (lab) Fax:       954-236-1099 Email: nesiobu@fau.edu

Research Interests:
Work in my lab is in the area of applied microbiology.  There are projects in Environmental and Public Health microbiology, microbial ecology, antibiotic resistance, development of antimicrobial agents (drug discovery) and decontamination of surfaces.  The goal is two fold viz:  To understand the complex interactions and distribution of bacteria in the environment (land, water and air) to allow for risk assessments and protection of public health; and To apply cutting edge techniques in defining microbial communities especially in poorly characterized niches.  The molecular fingerprint of these communities can serve as early predictors of environmental disturbance or restoration.   Examples of projects include a) Microbiological quality of beach sand in Florida and health implications b) Characterization of marine bacterial community using DNA sequence analysis c) Decontamination protocols for endospore contaminated surfaces,  d) Development of rapid detection methods for bacteria in the environment and Foods  e) Tracking the sources of bacterial contamination using biochemical and whole genome restriction analysis etc.  My current project is to determine the mechanism and scope of action of recently patented novel antimicrobial agents.  Several of my former students have found careers as Quality Control Microbiologists in Beverage, Pharmaceutical and Biotech industries using skills acquired in my lab.  Others go on to become Laboratory managers and Research & Development Scientists, or well-grounded School teachers.  Students who work in my lab are involved in all aspects of the study – from planning to execution to data interpretation.  They learn a plethora of traditional microbiology techniques, molecular biotechnology techniques as well as research ethics.

Publications
Tonya D. Bonilla, Kara Nowosielski, Marie Cuvelier, Aaron Hartz, Melissa  Green, Nwadiuto Esiobu, Donald  McCorquodale, Jay M Fleisher, Andrew Rogerson (2007) Prevalence and distribution of fecal indicator organisms in South Florida beach sand and preliminary assessment of health effects associated with beach sand exposure.    Marine Pollution Bulletin 54 (9) p. 1472 – 1482. Sept 2007.

Esiobu N. (2006) Use of Peptide Nucleic Acid Probes for Rapid Detection and Enumeration of Viable Bacteria in Recreational Waters and Beach Sand. In: Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 345: Diagnostic Bacteriology Protocols, 2nd Ed. Edited by: L. O’Connor, Humana Press In. Totowa, NJ pp. 131 -140.

Bonilla T.D., K. Nowosielski, N. Esiobu, D. McCorquodale, A. Rogerson (2006) Species assemblages of Enterococcus indicate potential sources of fecal bacteria at south florida recreational beach.
Marine Pollution Bulletin 52 (2006) 807-810

Esiobu N., Echeverry A., Rogerson A, & McCorquodale D.  ().  PCR-Based Detection of Bacterial Pathogens Compared to Classical Counts of Indicator Bacteria in Sub-Tropical Beaches. ( In prep)

Moench I.A. and Esiobu N. (). Prevalence and Survival of several bacterial species on hospital surfaces.  J. Infection Control In prep.

Esiobu N. Mohammed R.  Echeverry A. Green M., Bonilla T., Hartz A., McCorquodale D. & Rogerson A.  (2004) The application of peptide nucleic acid probes for rapid detection and enumeration of  Eubacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in recreational beaches of S. Florida. Journal of Microbiol Methods 57 (2) 157 – 162

Esiobu N. and Hoosein N. (2003) An Assessment of the in vitro antimicrobial effects of two antiepileptic drugs – sodium valproate and phenytoin.  Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 83: 63 – 68

Esiobu N. and Yamazaki K. (2003) Analysis of Bacteria Associated with the Gut of Healthy Wild Penaeid Shrimps: A step towards effective probiotics in Aquaculture. J. Aqua. Trop., 18(4)275 – 286.

Esiobu N., Armenta, L. and Ike J.O. (2002) Antibiotic resistance in soil and water environments used for various activities.  Int. J. of Environ. And Health Research 12 (2):133 – 144.

Esiobu N., Echeverry A., Khan S. and Marcos D. (2002) Antibiotic resistance in bacteria
isolated from bean sprouts, lettuce and poultry in grocery stores.  International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health.

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