Research focused on real-world challenges
From reproduction to food products, we're advancing to improve the health and wellness of livestock across the state.
Our research aims to improve animal health, welfare, productivity and sustainability while advancing both animal agriculture and human well-being. Our faculty members are recognized experts in our core areas: 1) Nutrition and the Microbiome, 2) Growth and Development, 3) Health and Disease, and 4) Welfare and Human-Animal Interactions. We offer hands-on research opportunities for students through undergraduate and graduate research programs, enabling students to address urgent and emerging issues in animal agriculture, food systems and animal health and become industry leaders.
Our faculty include global experts advancing animal disease prevention, food safety and livestock health. Through interdisciplinary research spanning animal biology, microbiology and production systems, our faculty develop innovative solutions that support food security, improve animal care and enhance the quality and safety of animal-derived products.
Our research in the Center for food Animal Health (CFAH) protects and enhances animal and public health through research, education and outreach. Research areas include pathogenesis, epidemiology, and the prevention and control of animal diseases.
- $25K in internal grants and programs
- $28.7M in external funding
Explore our research programs
Our faculty
Our labs
Undergraduate research
Faculty expertise areas
Nutrition & microbiome
Dr. Ayodeji Aderibigbe's lab is dedicated to advancing the science of poultry nutrition through innovative, multidisciplinary research that improves animal productivity, health, welfare, and environmental sustainability. The group integrates translational and fundamental research to study the biological response of non-ruminant animals to novel nutritional interventions and commercially relevant stressors.
Dr. Braden Campbell's applied research focuses on livestock nutrition, particularly for small ruminants.
The Sustainable Agroecosystems Lab specializes in forage diversification strategies, grazing management practices, and high-precision forage quality analysis to advance productive and resilient pasture systems.
Dr. Maurice Eastridge's conducts dairy cattle nutrition research relating to fat and fiber sources for lactating dairy cows, nutritional factors that affect the fatty acid composition of milk and the growth and the development of dairy calves.
Dr. Jeffrey Firkins conducts dairy cattle research relating to the interface between nutrition and microbiology to enhance the conversion of dietary protein (and thereby milk protein) and reduce enteric methane production; the interactions of physical, chemical and microbiological processes related to fiber and starch degradation and passage and biohydrogenation; and improving the quantitative prediction of protein and carbohydrate digestion and microbial protein production.
Dr. Sheila Jacobi's research focuses on non-ruminant nutrition, particularly neonatal nutrition to improve gut health and overall wellness in swine, as well as poultry nutrition.
Dr. Kirby Krogstad's team conducts research in applied dairy nutrition and dairy cattle gastrointestinal physiology. The team's primary goals are to improve feed efficiency and milk production across diverse dietary scenarios, with a particular emphasis on the effective use of byproduct feeds. The team's research also focuses on rumen physiology and immunology, seeking to better understand how rumen tissue responds and adapts to varying carbohydrate profiles.
Dr. Chanhee Lee's research focuses on enhancing dairy cattle nutrition to support sustainable dairy production by improving nutrient utilization efficiency for milk production while reducing the environmental impacts.
Dr. Haley Linder investigates mineral nutrition and feeding strategies that support cattle health and performance across beef production systems.
Dr. Ali Nazmi's research goal is to translate his mucosal immunology research in the murine model into farm animals, particularly poultry and pigs. He is interested in studying host-pathogen interactions, and resistance to enteric diseases in poultry. Also, he is interested in investigating the metabolic role for intestinal immune cells using pig and mouse models.
Dr. Alejandro Relling's research is focused on understanding the biological mechanisms that regulate feed efficiency and adipose tissue metabolism, and their impact on beef, sheep and dairy production.
Dr. Zhongtang Yu is interested in ecological studies of microorganisms inside (mainly the gastrointestinal tract) and outside (the surrounding environments) of food animals that are important to animal nutrition and health. He also studies of the microbiome of the human gastrointestinal tract.
Welfare, human-animal interactions
Dr. Kimberly Cole's lab focuses on improving horse health, welfare, management and performance through applied, science-based research. Her program addresses practical challenges facing the equine industry by evaluating management practices, behavior, physiology, nutrition and welfare, with an emphasis on translating research findings into evidence-based recommendations for horse owners, veterinarians, educators and equine professionals.
The Animal Welfare & Ethology Research Lab is driven by Dr. Grazyne Tresoldi's lifelong commitment to improving the living conditions of farm animals. Her goal is to advance scientific knowledge and deepen the understanding of animal behavior and welfare, particularly dairy cattle.
Animal health & disease
At the Center for Food Animal Health, Dr. Renukaradhya Gourapura's research focus is on mucosal immunology in food animals infected with infectious and zoonotic diseases. Currently, mucosal delivery of vaccines is gaining increased attention due to its ability to improve cross-protective immunity against RNA viruses and mucosal pathogens. We are trying to develop innovative biodegradable and biocompatible polymer-based nanoparticle vaccine delivery platforms to administer and target vaccine antigens effectively to immune cells at mucosal sites.
The Saif Lab at the Center for Food Animal Health focuses on comparative aspects of enteric and respiratory viral infections (coronaviruses, rotaviruses and calicviruses) of food animals and humans. The lab studies mucosal immunity and vaccine development and is currently focusing on the impact of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies on the vaccines and interactions of probiotics and the gut microbiota with the neonatal immune system, vaccines and viral pathogenesis. The lab also investigates the interrelationships between animal viruses, especially coronaviruses, and their human counterparts to assess their zoonotic potential, mechanisms of interspecies transmission, and potential vaccines.
Dr. Kush Yadav, a member of the Center for Food Animal Health, focuses on infectious pathogens of poultry and livestock. His program examines how the host dynamics and environment support the infection and transmission patterns, and how understanding these links can inform prevention and production strategies.
A researcher at the Center for Food Animal Health, Dr. Anastasia Vlasova's research interests include innate immunity and pathogenesis of enteric viruses; interactions among host, pathogens, microbiome and micro and macronutrients; the development of interventions for human and swine enteric viral diseases and molecular characterization of emerging and re-emerging animal human and zoonotic (enteric and respiratory) viruses.
Dr. Qiuhong Wang's research interests include enteric caliciviruses and coronaviruses, human noroviruses and foodborne illness in the United States. She is also focusing on developing a vaccine for the virus that causes porcine epidemic diarrhea.
Dr. Ramon Zegpi Lagos, a member of the Center for Food Animal Health, works with prevalent and emergent diseases of poultry, focusing on respiratory diseases. He studies the pathology, host-interaction, and immune responses against field strains of diseases and vaccines in chickens and turkeys.
Development & physiology and specialty
Dr. Benjamin Bohrer's research interests include animal growth and development, meat quality and processing and value-added protein product innovation.
Our research group, led by Dr. Alvaro Garcia-Guerra and Dr. Rafael Domingues, is focused on the reproductive physiology of ruminants, primarily cattle. The goal of the Reproductive Physiology Lab is to investigate the biology of ovarian function and early pregnancy in order to enhance fertility. We also work on the application of reproductive physiology to the development and implementation of reproductive technologies and management strategies to enhance reproductive success, efficiency and sustainability of beef and dairy production systems.
The Enger Mastitis and Mammary Physiology Laboratory studies how to reduce the occurrence and negative impacts of mastitis on mammary gland productivity and investigates fundamental aspects of mammary gland biology that affect future milk production.
Dr. Thaddeus Ezeji's research is on the development of non-food substrates to produce fuels and chemicals and the design of advanced fermentation systems.
Our research group, led by Dr. Alvaro Garcia-Guerra and Dr. Rafael Domingues, is focused on the reproductive physiology of ruminants, primarily cattle. The goal of the Reproductive Physiology Lab is to investigate the biology of ovarian function and early pregnancy in order to enhance fertility. We also work on the application of reproductive physiology to the development and implementation of reproductive technologies and management strategies to enhance reproductive success, efficiency and sustainability of beef and dairy production systems.
The Kichoon Lee Laboratory uses genome editing, functional genomics and developmental biology to uncover the genetic basis of growth, disease resistance, reproduction and eggshell quality in avian species and develop innovative strategies to improve animal health, productivity and sustainability.
The overall aim of Dr. Hui Yu's research projects is to integrate computational methods and well-controlled biochemical, molecular, cellular and genetic experimental approaches to decipher the intricate biological puzzles underlying disorders in both humans and farm animals.