Dr. Sandeep Tamber

Research Scientist

Head, Salmonella Research Laboratory, Bureau of Microbial Hazards

Current research and/or projects

Our goal is to understand the adaptations Salmonella uses to live on foods. We are interested in the relationships between the food environment and bacterial fitness/virulence/resistance. This information will help us assess and manage the risks associated with this pathogen.

Research and/or project statements

Incidence and levels of Salmonella in foods
Survival and growth of Salmonella in foods
Interventions to control for the presence of Salmonella in foods
Detection and spread of antibiotic resistance among Salmonella

Professional activities / interests

Editoral board member: Canadian Journal of Microbiology, Frontiers in Microbiology, BMC Microbiology, Microbiology Spectrum

Member: PulseNet Steering Committee, Standards Council of Canada ISO Mirror Committee

Education and awards

Postdoctorate, Dartmouth College

PhD, Microbiology, University of British Columbia

BSc (Hons), Microbiology, Universtiy of Alberta

Additional links

Help us collect dose response information!

Key publications

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=tamber+s

Flint A, Laidlaw A, Li L, Raitt C, Rao M, Cooper A, Weedmark K, Carrillo C, and Tamber S. Choice of DNA extraction method affects detection of bacterial taxa from retail chicken breast. BMC Microbiology. 2022. 22:230. doi: 10.1186/s12866-022-02650-7
Gopinath GR, Jang H, Beaubrun JJ, Gangiredla J, Mammel MK, Müller A, Tamber S, Patel IR, Ewing L, Weinstein LM, Wang CZ, Finkelstein S, Negrete F, Muruvanda T, Allard M, Sockett DC, Pagotto F, Tall BD, Stephan R. Phylogenomic analysis of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica aerovar Bovismorbificans from clinical and food samples using whole genome wide core genes and kmer binning methods to identify two distinct polyphyletic genome pathotypes. Microorganisms. 2022 Jun 11;10(6):1199. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10061199
Tamber S. Salmonella. In Dikeman, M. ed. Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences, Third Edition. Academic Press. In press.
Gill A, Tamber S, and Yang X. Standard Methods for the Bacteriological Analysis of Meat. In Dikeman, M. ed. Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences, Third Edition. Academic Press. In press.
Herod A, Emond-Rheault JG, Tamber S, Goodridge L, Lévesque RC, Rohde J. Genomic and phenotypic analysis of SspH1 identifies a new Salmonella effector, SspH3. Mol. Micro. 2021. PMID: 34942035 doi: 10.1111/mmi.14871
Rao M, Laidlaw A, Li L, Young K, and Tamber S. Comparison of methods used for the isolation of third generation cephalosporin resistant Enterobacteriaceae from retail meats. J. Microbiol. Methods. 2021. Oct. 189:106314. doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2021.106314.
Rao M, and Tamber S. Microbiological analysis of frozen profiteroles and mini chocolate eclairs implicated in a national salmonellosis outbreak. Food Microbiology. 2021. 2021. Volume 100, December 2021, 103871
Tamber S, Dougherty B, and Nguy K. Salmonella enterica serovars associated with bacteremia in Canada, 2006–2019. Can. Commun. Dis. Rep. 2021. Jun 9;47(56):259-268. doi: 10.14745/ccdr.v47i56a03. eCollection 2021 Jun 9.
Cooper, AL, Carter C, McLeod H, Wright M, Sritharan P, Tamber S, Wong A, Carrillo C, and Blais BWDetection of carbapenem-resistance genes in bacteria isolated from wastewater in Ontario. FACETS. 2021. doi:10.1139/facets-2020-0101.

Emond-Rheault JG, Hamel J, Jeukens J, Freschi L, Kukavica-Ibrulj I, Boyle B, Tamber S, Malo D, Franz E, Burnett E, Daigle F, Arya G, Sanderson K, Wiedmann M, Slawson RM, Weadge JT, Stephan R, Bekal S, Gruenheid S, Goodridge LD, Levesque RC. The Salmonella enterica plasmidome as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance. Microorganisms. 2020 8(7):E1016. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8071016.
Pilar AVC, Petronella N, Dussault FM, Verster AJ, Bekal S, Levesque RC, Goodridge L, and Tamber S. Similar yet different: Phylogenomic analysis to delineate Salmonella and Citrobacter species boundaries. BMC Genomics. 2020. 21(1):377. doi: 10.1186/s12864-020-06780-y
Rao M, Klappholz A, and Tamber S. Effectiveness of preparation practices on the inactivation of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in frozen breaded chicken strips. J. Food Protect. 2020. 83(8):1289 – 1295. doi: 10.4315/JFP-19-601.
Cooper AL, Low, AJ, Koziol AG, Thomas MC, Leclair D, Tamber S, Wong A, Blais BW, and Carrillo CD. Systematic evaluation of whole genome sequence-based predictions of Salmonella serotype and antimicrobial resistance. Front. Microbiol. 2020. Apr 3:11:549. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00549
Trmcic A, Man S, Tamber S, Prystajecky N, McIntyre L. A Survey of Raw Frozen Breaded Chicken Products for Salmonella in British Columbia, Canada and Phylogenetically Associated Illnesses. 2020. J. Food Protect. 83(2):315-325. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-19-224.
Tamber S, Montgomery A, Eloranta K, and Buenaventura E. Enumeration and survival of Salmonella enterica in live oyster shellstock harvested from Canadian waters. 2020. J. Food Protect. 83(1):6-12. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-19-318.
Petronella N, Kundra P, Auclair O, Hebért K, Rao M, Kingsley K, De Bruyne K, Banerjee S, Gill A, Pagotto F, Tamber S, Ronholm J. Changes detected in the genome sequences of Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Salmonella enterica after serial subculturing. 2019. Can J. Microbiol. Jul 29:1-9. doi: 10.1139/cjm-2019-0235.
Gill A, Tamber S, Yang X. Relative response of populations of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica to exposure to thermal, alkaline and acidic treatments. 2019. Int J. Food Microbiol. 293:94-101. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2019.01.007.
Trmcic A, Chen H, Trząskowska M, Tamber S, Wang S. Biofilm-forming capacity of five Salmonella strains and their fate on postharvest mini cucumbers. 2018. J. Food Protect. 81(11):1871-1879. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-18-180.
Tamber S. Population-wide survey of Salmonella enterica response to high pressure processing reveals a diversity of responses and tolerance mechanisms. Applied. Environ. Microbiol. 2018; 84(2): pii: e01673-17. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01673-17.
Colavecchio A, D'Souza Y, Tompkins E, Jeukens J, Freschi L, Emond-Rheault JG, Kukavica-Ibrulj I, Boyle B, Bekal S, Tamber S, Levesque RC, Goodridge LD. Prophage integrase typing Is a useful indicator of genomic diversity in Salmonella enterica. Front. Microbiol. 2017 Jul 10; 8:1283. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01283. eCollection 2017.
Emond-Rheault JG, Jeukens J, Freschi L, Kukavica-Ibrulj I, Boyle B, Dupont MJ, Colavecchio A, Barrere V, Cadieux B, Arya G, Bekal S, Berry C, Burnett E, Cavestri C, Chapin TK, Crouse A, Daigle F, Danyluk MD, Delaquis P, Dewar K, Doualla-Bell F, Fliss I, Fong K, Fournier E, Franz E, Garduno R, Gill A, Gruenheid S, Harris L, Huang CB, Huang H, Johnson R, Joly Y, Kerhoas M, Kong N, Lapointe G, Larivière L, Loignon S, Malo D, Moineau S, Mottawea W, Mukhopadhyay K, Nadon C, Nash J, Ngueng Feze I, Ogunremi D, Perets A, Pilar AV, Reimer AR, Robertson J, Rohde J, Sanderson KE, Song L, Stephan R, Tamber S, Thomassin P, Tremblay D, Usongo V, Vincent C, Wang S, Weadge JT, Wiedmann M, Wijnands L, Wilson ED, Wittum T, Yoshida C, Youfsi K, Zhu L, Weimer BC, Goodridge L, Levesque RC. A Syst-OMICS approach to ensuring food safety and reducing the economic burden of salmonellosis. Front. Microbiol. 2017 Jun 2; 8:996. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00996. eCollection 2017.
Catford A, Ganz K, Tamber S. Enumerative analysis of Salmonella in outbreak-associated breaded and frozen comminuted raw chicken products. J. Food Protect. 2017; 80(5):814-818. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-496.
Tamber S, Swist E, Oudit D. Physicochemical and bacteriological characteristics of organic, sprouted chia and flax seed powders implicated in a foodborne salmonellosis outbreak. J. Food Protect. 2016; 79(5):703-709. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-15-529.