Poonam Sharma

Poonam Sharma is a Research Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of the Diagnostic Assay Validation Network (DAVN) at Oklahoma State University's Institute for Biosecurity and Microbial Forensics (IBMF). She holds a PhD in Human Pathology from Aix Marseille University, France, and completed a USDA-ARS postdoc at the National Poultry Research Center. Her work focuses on diagnostic assay development, specifically Next-Gen sequencing for poultry viruses and antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens. She leads the National Diagnostic Assay Laboratory Network (DALN), coordinating plant disease diagnostic standards and assay validation protocols.

Education:

• PhD in Human Pathology (Infectious Disease), Aix Marseille University, France
• Postdoc, USDA-ARS National Poultry Research Center, GA

Research Interests:

• Diagnostic assay validation frameworks for plant pathogens
• Next-Gen sequencing applications in microbial forensics
• Antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens
• Plant disease diagnostic network coordination

Grant Funding:

• USDA-NIFA grant ($1M) for DAVN (2022-2026)

Labs/Teams:

Leads IBMF's efforts in the DALN and collaborates with USDA-ARS units on poultry virology and bacterial epidemiology. Active in developing standardized protocols for diagnostic assays in agriculture and food safety.