Lawrence Goodridge

Lawrence Goodridge is a Canadian food scientist. He is the Canada Research Chair in Foodborne Pathogen Dynamics at the University of Guelph and Director of Guelph's Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety.

Early life and education Goodridge was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He then held a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Georgia

Career

In 2003, Goodridge joined the faculty at the University of Wyoming. In 2006, he moved to Colorado State University.

In January 2019 Goodridge became the Leung Family Professor of Food Safety at the University of Guelph, where he also holds the position of Director of Guelph's Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety. In 2024, Goodridge was awarded the Canada Research Chair in Foodborne Pathogen Dynamics

Research Goodridge has studied Salmonella and led a $10-million research project with the goal of mapping the genomes of all known Salmonella varieties. This would help scientists to better understand why only 20-25 of the known 2,500 serotypes of Salmonella normally cause human disease. He is developing predictive models of the virulence of foodborne pathogens, using phenotypic and genotypic methods.

Goodridge has warned that the incidence of food-related illnesses is increasing as temperatures rise and more extreme weather events occur due to climate change. He also reports that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is using whole genome sequencing to identify and track the sources of contaminated food and to increase the safety of the Canadian food supply.

Goodridge uses wastewater testing as a community-level indicator for monitoring the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases. He combines data from wastewater analysis with social media syndromic analysis, which studies the social media usage of those who report online that they feel ill. Goodridge currently co-directs the $15-million INSPIRE project, which aims to further expand the use of wastewater surveillance to build resiliency into the Canadian biomanufacturing supply chain in preparation for the next pandemic.