1. Presenter Information
Saeed A. Hayek. MS.
Doctoral student in the Energy and environmental Systems, PhD program
Graduate research assistant
Food Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory
North Carolina A & T State University
Greensboro, NC 27411-1064
336 334 7328 (O) 336-965-0632 (M)
safesaeed@yahoo.com or sahayek@ncat.edu
Saeed is a doctoral student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State
University in the department of Energy and Environmental Systems with the thrust of
Environmental Food Science and under the direction of Dr. Salam A. Ibrahim. Saeed is also a
graduate research assistant at the Food Microbiology and Biotechnology Laboratory. He received
his bachelor degree in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Jordan in 1995 and a
master degree from Northeastern Illinois University in 2004. During his doctoral studies, Saeed
earned several certificates and awards in addition to his scholarship from Kannapolis Scholar
Program. His food science backgrounds have given him interest in food development, food
safety and microbiology research. His research toward his PhD degree is in the area of food
fermentation to develop a medium for general cultivation of lactic acid bacteria using sweet
potato as basic component. During his participation in Kannapolis Scholars Program, Saeed
studied the impact of gut microbiota on the cancer preventive effect of black tea polyphenols. In
addition, Saeed has specific interest in finding natural antimicrobial products against foodborne
pathogens including Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in which he had presented in
several professional meetings. Saeed is a coauthor of several publications and one chapter book
and he is a member of several scientific organizations. Saeed is building more knowledge and
skills through his participation in professional meetings, conferences, workshops, scientific
webinars, and short courses.

2. Publications:
Hayek, S.A. and Ibrahim, S.A. Consumer acceptability of chocolate chip cookies using
applesauce as fat (butter) substitute. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture. Vol. 25, No
3 (2013). DOI: 10.9755/ejfa.v25i3.10828
Chen, H., Hayek, S., Guzman, J. R., Jobin, C., Gillitt, N. D., Ibrahim, S. A., Jobin, C., and
Shengmin Sang, S. The Microbiota is Essential for the Generation of Black Tea Theaflavins-
derived Metabolites. PLOS ONE. Vol. 7, No 12 (2012).
Song D., Ibrahim, S. and Hayek, S. Recent applications of probiotics in food and agricultural
science. Chapter 1, Probiotics. (2012).
Hayek, S.A., Ibrahim, S.A. Antimicrobial activity of xoconostle against Escherichia
coli O157:H7. International Journal of Microbiology. Vol. 2012 (2012). ID: 368472, 6 pages,
doi:10.1155/2012/368472.
Al-Khatib, K.A., Ibrahim, S.A., Hayek, S.A., and Daguri, M.H. 1996. Labanah
“concentrated yogurt”: A traditional fermentation Dairy product in Jordan. Dairy Food and
Environmental Sanitation. 16 (5): 296-298.
Hayek, S.A., Dabbas, M.B., Ibrahim, S.A., K.A., and Daguri, M.H. Natural antioxidants in
food. Al-Mohandes Al-Ziraie. 42: 19-24.
Submitted manuscripts:
Hayek, S.A., Shahbazi, A., Awaisheh S. S., Nagendra P. Shah, and Ibrahim, S.A. Using
sweet potato to develop a medium for cultivation of lactobacilli. Manuscript submitted to
Journal of Food Science for possible publication (Mar-2013).
Hayek, S.A., Shahbazi, A., and Ibrahim, S.A. Using sweet potato to develop a medium for
cultivation of lactic acid bacteria. Manuscript submitted to Journal of Milchwissenschaft for
possible publication (Feb-2013).
Hayek, S.A. and Ibrahim, S.A. Nutritional requirements and cultivation media of lactic acid
bacteria: A review. Manuscript submitted to International Journal of Dairy Technology for
possible publication (Dec-2012).

3. Professional meetings during the last two years:
Hayek, S.A., Shahbazi, A., Ibrahim, S.A. Use of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) to develop
a medium for cultivation of lactic acid bacteria. Poster presentation at North Carolina
American Society for Microbiology, Oct, 2012.
Saeed A. Hayek, Awfa Alazzeh, Abolghasem Shahbazi, and Salam A. Ibrahim.
Enhancement of a-and b-galactosidase activity in Lactobacillus reuteri by metal ions. Poster
presentation at American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers annual
international meeting. Jul 29 - Aug 1 2012.
Hayek, S.A., Ibrahim, S.A. Inhibitory Effect of Xoconostle (Opuntia matudae) on the
Growth of Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7. Poster presentation at International
Association for Food Protection (IAFP), Annual meeting. Jul- 22-25, 2012.
Y.W. Park1, J. Oglesby1, S. A. Hayek2, R. Gyawali2, and S. Ibrahim2. Effect of different
gums supplementation on textural properties of goat milk yogurts. Poster presentation at
American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) / American Society of Animal Science
(ASAS) Joint Conference at Phoenix, AZ, July 15-19, 2012.
S. Ibrahim1, S. A. Hayek1, R. Gyawali1, and Y.W. Park2. Viability of probiotics in goat milk
yogurt supplemented with different gums during 4 weeks refrigerated storage. Poster
presentation at Institute of Food Technology (IFT) Annual Meeting. Jun 25-28, 2012.
Hayek, S.A., Ibrahim, S.A. Development of Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) based medium
for the growth of Lactobacillus reuteri. Poster presentation at American Society of
Microbiology (ASM), Annual meeting. Jun- 16-19, 2012.
Saeed A. Hayek, Huadong Chen, Salam A. Ibrahim, and Shengmin Sang. The metabolism of
black tea theaflavins by human fecal microbiota. Poster presentation at Sigma Xi Annual
Meeting. Nov-10-13, 2011.
Hayek, S.A., Ibrahim, S.A. Antimicrobial activity of Xoconostle against Escherichia coli
O157:H7. Poster presentation at International Association for Food Protection (IAFP),
Annual meeting. Aug- 2011.
S. A. Aljaloud, S.A. Hayek, S. A. Ibrahim and R. Gyawali. Antimicrobial activity of selected
natural ingredients against Escherichia coli O157:H7. Poster presentation at Workshop on

4. Novel Sampling and Sensing for Improving Food Safety Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, June
16-17, 2011
Hayek, S.A., Ibrahim, S.A., Khouryieh, H. J. Substituting Applesauce for Fat (Butter) in
Chocolate Chips Cookie. Poster presentation at Association of Research Direction, Research
Symposium. Apr-2011.
Hayek, S.A., Ibrahim, S.A., Khouryieh, H. J. Substituting Applesauce for Fat (Butter) in
Chocolate Chips Cookie. Poster presentation at American Chemical Society, 241st National
Meeting. Mar-2011.
Membership:
Institute of Food Technologists Community, ift.org.
National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD).
International Association for Food Protection, foodprotection.org.
American Chemical Society, acs.org.
American Society of Microbiology, asm.org. Member since 2012.
Honored awards and certificates:
Scholarship from Kannapolis Scholar Program, from Jun-1-2011 to Jul-31-2012.
Dr. Wadaran L. Kennedy Scholars 4.0 award. April 5, 2012
Gamma Sigma Delta Honor award. April 9, 2012
Sigma Xi Annual Meeting. Award certificate. Nov 13, 2011
The North Carolina Food Safety & Defense Task Force. Completion certificate. May 3,
2012.
Workshop on Novel Sampling and Sensing for Improving Food Safety Georgia Tech,
Atlanta, GA, June 16-17, 2011.
Nanotechnology: Fundamentals, Applications, and Regulations in the Food Industry. Sajid
Alavi, Prabhat Kumar, Cristina M. Sabliov, K. P. Sandeep, Kelly R. Starosta, and Qixin
Zhong. Two days: May - 12 and 13 - 2011. North Carolina State University.
TD-NMR Applications in the Food Industry: Compositional Analysis, QC, R&F, and Safety.
Bruce Campbell, Supriyo Ghosh, Silvana Martni, Yong Pan, Roger Ruan, K. P. Sandeep,

5. Clint Stevenson, and Xenia Tombokan. Two days: May - 10 and 11 - 2011. North Carolina
State University.
Writing from the reader's perspective workshops, Dr. George Gopen. Four consecutive
Thursdays: Feb -3, 10, 17, and 24 – 2011.North Carolina Central University.