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  1. Science & Research (NCTR)

Dan Buzatu Ph.D.

Associate Co-Director, Innovative Technology Staff — Division of Systems Biology

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Dan Buzatu, Ph.D.
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov  

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About  |  Publications  |  Lab Members

Background

Dr. Buzatu is a physical chemist with expertise in diverse scientific instrumental methods including flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography. This expertise is combined with an extensive proficiency in computational chemistry and pattern recognition methods. He has facilitated discovery and invention of novel technologies across multiple scientific disciplines. Collectively these technologies make up the Innovative Safety Technologies Branch at NCTR, which Dr. Buzatu co-directs.

Research Interests

Dr. Buzatu’s research interests include:

  • pathogen detection for food safety and clinical applications using flow cytometry
  • mass spectrometry characterization of pathogens and chemicals
  • advanced methods for sample clean-up in food and other complex biological matrices
  • nanomaterial synthesis and applications
  • mass spectrometry, flow cytometry; computational methods
  • novel intellectual property, patents
  • SDAR, RAPID-B, SpecID, and MRS commercialization for non-invasive diagnostics

 

Professional Societies/National and International Groups

International Union of Crystallography
Member
1994 – Present

Select Publications

Alignment-Independent Technique for 3D QSAR Analysis.
Wilkes J.G., Stoyanova-Slavova I.B., and Buzatu D.A.
J Computer-Aided Mole Design. e-published 2016 April 2.  

Level 2 Validation of a Flow Cytometric Method for Detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Raw Spinach.
Williams A.J., Cooper W.M., Summage-West C.V., Sims L.M., Woodruff R.S., Christman J.M., Moskal T.J., Ramsaroop S., Sutherland J.B., Alusta P.S., Wilkes J.G., and Buzatu D.A.
Int J Food Microbio. 2015, 1-6.  

Instrumental Improvements and Sample Preparations that Enable Reproducible, Reliable Acquisition of Mass Spectra from Whole Bacterial Cells.
Alusta P.S., Buzatu D.A., Williams A.J., Cooper W.M., Tarasenko O., Dorey R.C., Hall R., Parker W.R., and Wilkes J.G.
Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 2015, 29:1961-1968.  

Partial Least Squares and k-Nearest Neighbor Algorithms for Improved 3D Quantitative Spectral Data-Activity Relationship Consensus Modeling of Acute Toxicity.
Stoyanova-Slavova I.B., Slavov S.H., Pearce B.A., Buzatu D.A., Beger R.D., and Wilkes J.G.
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2014, 33(6): 1271-1282.  

An Integrated Flow Cytometry-Based System for Real-Time, High Sensitivity Bacterial Detection and Identification.
Buzatu D.A., Moskal T.J., Williams A.J., Cooper W.M., Mattes W.B., and Wilkes J.G.
PLOS One. 2014, PONE-D-14-03381R1 10.1371.  

Photobleaching with Phloxine B Sensitizer to Reduce Food Matrix Interference for Detection of Escherichia coli Serotype O157:H7 in Fresh Spinach by Flow Cytometry.
Buzatu D.A., Cooper W.M., Summage-West C.V., Sutherland J.B., Rafii F., Williams A.J., Bass D.A., Smith L.L., Woodruff R.S., Christman J.M., Reid S., Tucker R.K., Haney C.J., Ahmed A., and Wilkes J.G.
Food Microbio. 2013, 36: 416-425.  

Complementary PLS and KNN Algorithms for Improved 3D-QSDAR Consensus Modeling of AhR Binding.
Slavov S.H., Pearce B.A., Buzatu D.A., Beger R.D., and Wilkes J.G.
J. Cheminformatics. 2013, 5:47.  

Reduction of Food Matrix Interference by a Combination of Sample Preparation and Multi-Dimensional Gating Techniques to Facilitate Rapid, High Sensitivity Analysis for Escherichia Coli Serotype O157 by Flow Cytometry.
Wilkes J.G., Tucker R.K., Montgomery J.A., Cooper W.M., Sutherland J.B., and Buzatu D.A.
J Food Microbio. 2012, 30: 281-288.  

13C NMR-Distance Matrix Descriptors: Optimal Abstract 3D Space Granularity for Predicting Estrogen Binding.
Slavov S.H., Geesaman E.L., Pearce B.A., Schnackenberg L.K., Buzatu D.A., Wilkes J.G., and Beger R.D.
J Chem. Inform. Modeling. 2012, 52: 1854-1864.  

Development of a Flow Cytometry-Based Method for Rapid Detection of Escherichia coli and Shigella Spp. Using an Oligonucleotide Probe.
Yong X., Wilkes J.G., Moskal T.J., Williams A.J., Cooper W.M., Nayak R., Rafii F., and Buzatu D.A.
PLoS One. 11(2), e0150038.  

Improving Proton MR Spectroscopy of Brain Tissue for Noninvasive Diagnostics.
Alusta P., Im I., Pearce B.A., Beger R.D., Kretzer R.M., Buzatu D.A., and Wilkes J.G.
Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2010, 32(4), 818-829.  

 

Lab Members

Contact information for all lab members:
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov
 
Pierre Alusta, Ph.D.
FDA Fellow

Elizabeth Geesaman, M.S.
Chemist

Stephen Harris, B.S.
Computer Scientist 

Maxim Sharifi, Ph.D.
ORISE Fellow

Iva Stoyanova-Slavova, Ph.D.
ORISE Fellow

Anna Williams, B.S., M.P.H.
Biologist

Yong Xue, Ph.D.
ORISE Fellow

Contact Information
Dan Buzatu
(870) 543-7121
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