February 21, 2017
Mastitis Network: Research training excellence
The hard work of the Mastitis Network was rewarded last week with the announcement that the Network was the recipient of a $1.65 million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to establish a training program in milk quality. The funding will be delivered for six years under NSERC’s Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program (CREATE). The principal investigators are Drs. Mario Jacques and Simon Dufour of the Université de Montréal. The new NSERC funding will be in addition to funding provided for extensive research activities carried out by the Mastitis Network under the Dairy Research Cluster. According to the grant recipients, this new funding will speed up innovation in research in mastitis and milk quality and transfer knowledge to Canadian dairy farmers and especially better training for the next generation of mastitis experts. The CBMQRN is one of the most successful research networks in the country. The network was initiated in 2001 as a result of dairy farmers wishing to develop a nation-wide mastitis research network and is working to decrease the incidence of mastitis, reduce economic losses and maintain milk quality through research and the effective and rapid transfer of results to users.
Mastitis Network’s Annual Scientific Meeting
DFC Research Team attended the CBMQRN’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Montreal on May 27th. Scientists presented their work on research activities being carried out under the Dairy Research Cluster under three major themes: animal, pathogens and environment. The network spans 9 Canadian universities and 1 Federal Research Centre. For a more detailed list of projects underway in the Mastitis Network, please visit: Our Science, Your Milk photomaton Two special initiatives were held for the Network’s students: a poster session competition and a communications training workshop.
Student Training Initiatives
Dr. Steve Roche of ACER consulting presented a workshop on Translating Science & Mobilizing Knowledge: Engaging your audience through effective communication. Dr. Roche presented on the key factors that influence an individuals to change their behaviour; provided tips and tricks for effectively communicating with your target audience and how to effectively communicate with relevant stakeholders about the importance of their research. The poster competition was held in the evening of the event and the winners were: Antimicrobial Resistance in Bovine Coagulase‐negative Staphylococci – Diego Nobrega,Ph.D. student at University of Calgary, under the supervision of Dr. Herman Barkema Development of guanine riboswitch ligands with antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus causing intramammary infections – Aamer Assi, M.Sc. student at Université de Sherbrooke, under supervision of Pr. François Malouin. Winners of the poster competition were provided with $500 each offered by Zoetis.