Before his appointment as Head, Dr. Acuff taught undergraduate and graduate level courses and laboratories in food microbiology for 20 years and conducted research on the microbiological quality and safety of foods through his appointment with AgriLife Research. He continues to actively collaborate with Texas Cooperative Extension personnel on food safety issues.

Dr. Acuff's professional memberships include the American Society for Microbiology and the Society for Applied Microbiology.  Acuff is currently President of the International Association for Food Protection. He is a member of the Editorial Committee for the Compendium of Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Foods and was a member of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food from 1992 to 1997.

Acuff has published more than 80 articles in technical journals and has authored several chapters on food microbiology in various references and textbooks.