Lesley Duffy

Dr. Lesley Duffy is a Research Microbiologist and Team Leader for the Applied Microbiology team within the Microbial Food Systems Group at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). She leads research initiatives focused on food safety and microbial contamination issues across various food supply chains including red meat, poultry, and vegetable production systems.

Dr. Duffy holds a PhD from The University of Queensland (2019) and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Microbiology/Biochemistry from QUT (1988). Her extensive educational background has prepared her for leadership in food safety microbiology research.

Her research expertise spans foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157, Listeria, Salmonella and Campylobacter, with investigations into their ecology throughout the supply chain from farm to retail. She specializes in source tracking, transcriptomics to understand microbial stress responses, survival through processing, and microbiome changes from farm to fork. Dr. Duffy has conducted national benchmarking projects for the chicken industry and developed strong industry partnerships to address food safety challenges.

As a Project Leader, she engages with clients to design and conduct research addressing shelf life, challenge testing, contamination issues, through-chain understanding, risk assessment, and microbiome manipulation. She utilizes her commodity and microbial knowledge to contribute to broader project areas including sustainability, continuous assurance, and climate change.

• Designated shipper of class 6.2 dangerous goods
• Fire Warden
• AQIS Manager

Dr. Duffy works collaboratively with industry clients to investigate microbial contamination issues, solve food safety and quality problems, and develop shelf life extension solutions across multiple food sectors.