Dr. Igo earned his B.S. (2016), M.S. (2018), and Ph.D. (2021) in Food Science from Rutgers University, in his home state of New Jersey. Dr. Igo worked under Dr. Donald Schaffner for his M.S. thesis research on understanding the influence of environmental factors on the survival of bacteria on surfaces. He continued onto his Ph.D. under Dr. Schaffner with his dissertation work studying the survival of food pathogens in low water activity foods through predictive modeling and genomic analysis.

Upon completion of his PhD, Matt worked as an ORISE Post Doctoral Fellow at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research researching the effects of antibiotics on the gut microbiome through bioinformatics analysis. He then worked at the Henry Jackson Foundation as a biostatistician in the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program.

Outside of work he is an avid reader and likes to stay active by spending time playing sports, kayaking, and lifting weights.