Gizem Levent
Assistant Professor Department of Veterinary Integrative BiosciencesResearch and Scholarly Interests
The G. Levent Lab focuses on understanding the interaction between animals and pathogens, with an emphasis on applied molecular epidemiology and bioinformatics within the One Health framework, highlighting the interconnection of animal, human, and ecosystem health. Dr. Levent and her team are particularly interested in investigating bacterial population dynamics and the epidemiology of antibiotic resistance in food producing animals and their shared environments.
Education
DVM, Ankara University, 2012
PhD, Texas A&M University, 2019
Postdoc, Texas A&M University, 2022
Honors & Awards
2023 Faculty Travel Grant, TTU
2023 Faculty Fellows Mentoring Program in Engaged Scholarship, TTU Office of the Provost.
2019 Mark Gearhart Memorial Graduate Student Best Manuscript Award, AVEPM
2019 Graduate Student Travel Award, GSA, TAMU-CVMBS
2019 Aggies Commit Fellowship, OGAPS, TAMU
2019 Graduate Student Advanced Development Training Initiative Award, TAMU-CVMBS
2018 Graduate Student Travel Award, GSA, TAMU-CVMBS
2016 Lechner Scholarship, TAMU
2015-2019 Graduate Research Assistantship, TAMU
2013 Leonardo Da Vinci Scholarship, European Commission
2011 Erasmus Vocational Training Scholarship, European Commission
2009-2010 Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, European Commission
Professional Organizations
2022 American Veterinary Medical Association
2022 Texas Veterinary Medical Association
2019 Association for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
2015 American Society for Microbiology
Service
Ad-hoc proposal reviewer for FFAR and USDA. Scientific advisory board member of Morris Animal Foundation Animal Health Advisory Council. Site Visitor (2013-2029), American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education. Editorial board member of Frontiers in Veterinary Science Academic journal reviewer for ASM Microbiology Spectrum, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Nature Scientific reports, PLOS Genetics, PLOS ONE, Transboundary and Emerging Diseases, MDPI journals, Letters in Applied Microbiology, and Microbial Drug Resistance journals.
One Health
Antibiotic resistance
Foodborne pathogens
Molecular epidemiology
Bioinformatics
Risk Assessment
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9207-9999
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UYAzCbIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Note: Links to a profile on various aggregating citation databases such as Scholars@TAMU, Google Scholar, Orcid, PubMed, etc. are preferred to listing all publications here.
- Rahman MK, Williams RB, Ajulo S, Levent G, Loneragan GH, Awosile B. Predictive modeling of phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility of selected beta-lactam antimicrobials from beta-lactamase resistance genes. MDPI Antibiotics 2024, 13(3), 224.
- Jagadeesh S., Kannan P., Savariraj W.R., Anbazhagan S., Ayyasamy E., Maragatham Alagesan S.K.T., Ravindran N.B., Sundaram S., Mohanadasse N.Q., Shippy T.D., Cull C.A., Levent G., Amachawadi R.G. Isolation and Genomic Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophages from Chennai, India. Microbiol Resour Announc 13:e01209-23.
- Levent G, Božić A, Petrujkić BT, Callaway TR, Poole TL, Crippen TL, Harvey RB, Ochoa‑García P, Corral-Luna A, Anderson RC. Assessment of potential anti-methanogenic and antimicrobial activity of select oxidized nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds. Microorganisms- PMC10819541.
- Awosile B, Rahman MK, Levent G, Botero Y, Ajulo, S, Ojasanya, Williams RB, Loneragan G. Comparing individual antimicrobial resistant and multi-drug resistant Salmonella enterica across serotypes, sampling sources, sampling periods, and food animal types in the United States (2014-2018). Prev Vet Med. 2023;219:106008. Epub 20230826. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2023.106008. PubMed PMID: 37651892
- Awosile B, Fritzler J, Levent G, Rahman MK, Ajulo S, Daniel I, Tasnim Y, Sarkar S Genomic Characterization of Fecal Escherichia coli Isolates with Reduced Susceptibility to Beta-Lactam Antimicrobials from Wild Hogs and Coyotes. Pathogens. 2023;12(7). Epub 20230711. doi: 10.3390/pathogens12070929. PubMed PMID: 37513776; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC10383658.
- Levent G, Schlochtermeier A, Vinasco J, Jennings J, Richeson J, Ives SE, Norman, KN, Lawhon, SD, Loneragan GH, Scott HM. Long-Term Effects of Single-Dose Cephalosporin or Macrolide Use on the Prevalence of AmpC and Extended-Spectrum beta-Lactamase Producing Escherichia coli in the Feces of Beef Cattle. Microorganisms. 2022;10(10). Epub 20221020. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10102071. PubMed PMID: 36296347; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC9610231.
- Levent G, Laine CG, Berquist M, Gonzalez M, Simmons H, Tickel J, Scott HM. A risk-based mutual insurance premium framework for establishing indices of vulnerability to the intentional introduction of transboundary animal diseases. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022. Epub 20221003. doi: 10.1111/tbed.14721. PubMed PMID: 36189839.
- Cufaoglu G, Cengiz G, Acar BO, Yesilkaya B, Ayaz ND, Levent G, Goncuoglu M. Antibiotic, heavy metal, and disinfectant resistance in chicken, cattle, and sheep origin E. coli and whole-genome sequencing analysis of a multidrug-resistant E. coli O100:H25 strain. J Food Safety. 2022;42(5):e12995. doi: ARTN e1299510.1111/jfs.12995. PubMed PMID: WOS:000803564500001.
- Levent G, Schlochtermeier A, Ives SE, Norman KN, Lawhon SD, Loneragan GH, Anderson RC, Vinasco J, den Bakker HC, Scott HM. High-resolution genomic comparisons within Salmonella enterica serotypes derived from beef feedlot cattle: Parsing the roles of cattle source, pen, animal, sample type, and production period. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2021;87(12):e0048521. Epub 2021/04/18. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00485-21. PubMed PMID: 33863705; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC8174759.
- Taylor EA, Ossa-Trujillo C, Vinasco J, Jordan ER, García Buitrago JA, Hagevoort R, Levent G, Scott HM. Use of critically important antimicrobial classes early in life may adversely impact bacterial resistance profiles during adult years: potential co-selection for plasmid-borne fluoroquinolone and macrolide resistance via extended-spectrum beta-lactam use in dairy cattle. Letters in Applied Microbiology. 2021;72(3):220-4. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/lam.13419.
- Levent G, Anderson RC, Petrujkic B, Poole TL, He H, Genovese KJ, Hume ME, Beier RC, Harvey RB, Nisbet DJ.. Evaluation of thymol-beta-d-glucopyranoside as a potential prebiotic intervention to reduce carriage of zoonotic pathogens in weaned and feeder pigs. Microorganisms. 2021;9(4). Epub 2021/05/01. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9040860. PubMed PMID: 33923741; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC8073024.
- Anderson RC, Levent G, Petrujkic BT, Harvey RB, Hume ME, He H, Genovese KJ, Beier RC, Poole TL, Crippen TL, Nisbet DJ. Antagonistic effects of lipids against the anti-Escherichia coli and anti-Salmonella activity of thymol and thymol-beta-d-glucopyranoside in porcine gut and fecal cultures in vitro. Front Vet Sci. 2021;8:751266. Epub 20210923. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.751266. PubMed PMID: 34631867; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC8497039.
- Gilbertie JM, Levent G*, Norman KN, Vinasco J, Scott HM, Jacob ME. Comprehensive phenotypic and genotypic characterization and comparison of virulence, biofilm, and antimicrobial resistance in urinary Escherichia coli isolated from canines. Vet Microbiol. 2020;249:108822. Epub 2020/09/17. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2020.108822. PubMed PMID: 32937249.*SHARED FIRST AUTHORHIP
- Ogunrinu OJ, Norman KN, Vinasco J, Levent G, Lawhon SD, Fajt VR, Volkova VV, Gaire T, Poole TL, Genovese KJ, Wittum TE, Scott HM. Can the use of older-generation beta-lactam antibiotics in livestock production over-select for beta-lactamases of greatest consequence for human medicine? An in vitro experimental model. PLoS One. 2020;15(11):e0242195. Epub 2020/11/17. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242195. PubMed PMID: 33196662; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC7668573.
- Levent G, Schlochtermeier A, Ives SE, Norman KN, Lawhon SD, Loneragan GH, Anderson RC, Vinasco J, Scott HM. Population dynamics of Salmonella enterica within beef cattle cohorts followed from single-dose metaphylactic antibiotic treatment until slaughter. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2019;85(23). Epub 2019/09/15. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01386-19. PubMed PMID: 31519659; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC6856331.
- Levent G, Harvey RB, Ciftcioglu G, Beier RC, Genovese KJ, He HL, Anderson RC, Nisbet DJ. In vitro effects of thymol-beta-d-glucopyranoside on Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Escherichia coli K88. J Food Prot. 2016;79(2):299-303. Epub 2016/01/29. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-15-360. PubMed PMID: 26818992.