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Department of Animal Sciences

CFAES

Kush Yadav Awarded OSU Alumni Grant for Graduate Research and Scholarship

Nov. 10, 2021

Congratulations to Kush Yadav!

Kush Yadav is a graduate student working in Scott Kenney's laboratory in CFAH. Kush received an award from the OSU Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship for his research proposal.  Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic virus that is the leading cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide.  HEV is a food and waterborne pathogen often associated with pork products which can lead to a mortality rate in pregnant women of up to 40%.  Forty years have passed since the discovery and first microscopic images of HEV, however, the mechanism behind HEV being so virulent to pregnant humans is still unknown. Kush’s proposal is based on understanding the HEV pathogenesis causing pregnancy mortality in humans. The study objectives are to delineate the host and viral factors contributing to pregnancy pathology in humans. This PhD project is focused on unraveling mechanistic pathways that contribute to HEV replication enhancement and disease outcome during pregnancy using cell culture and animal models.

The Graduate School’s Alumni Grants for Graduate Research and Scholarship (AGGRS) Program provides grants to support the research and scholarship of doctoral or terminal master’s degree candidates for their dissertation or theses. The competition is held once each year. Awards are made on the merit of the proposal, based on quality of the project, qualifications of the applicant, evaluation of the candidate and the project reviewed by the graduate school awards committee which is comprised of graduate faculty from across the disciplines.