NDSU professors and students take part in research conference
When an outbreak of Anthrax attacked animals in North Dakota, Margaret Khaitsa, assistant professor of epidemiology, and Ndiva Mongoh Mafany, a doctoral graduate student, saw an opportunity for research.
Several other faculty and students from the Department of Veterinary and Microbiological Sciences accompanied Khaitsa and Mafany with research presentations at the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases held in Chicago Dec. 3-5.
CRWAD is a non-profit organization established in 1920.
The organization’s objective is to disseminate the most current research advances in animal diseases.
Graduate students, industry and academic professionals present and discuss recent advances and topics of importance to global livestock and companion animal industries.
Mafany received the student presentation award for that section, which included a cash award, plaque and a book on Laboratory Biosafety.
The Animal Health Institute sponsored the biosafety and biosecurity awards. “I have attended CRWAD since 1996 every year,” Khaitsa said. “It is always very interesting and rewarding to attend this conference.”
An information exchange takes place as oral and poster abstracts of new and unpublished data are presented at the meeting sessions.
They are published each year in the CRWAD Proceedings.
Catherine Logue, associate professor of microbiology, participated in chairing a session in the food safety section and judging of the student competitions.
Logue said that students who present have to have their abstract submitted to the CRWAD committee by Sept. 8.
Mohammed Fakhr, a postdoctoral research fellow working with Logue, presented a paper focusing on genetic variation in the outer membrane cmeC among different Campylobacter strains isolated from different hosts. “
Research is organized and conducted each year, sometimes stretching into continuations of the previous year,” said Khaitsa.
When submitting a presentation, the section it fits under must be specified so people are submitting with like topics. “
Fifteen minutes are allowed for each presenter and they are scheduled in a program everyone can select what they want to listen to,” said Khaitsa.
Graduate students Jessica Thorsness and Gregory Danzeisen presented papers on turkey research dealing with a new strain of Campylobacter in a production facility in the upper Midwest and salmonella issues within turkey flocks.
“Faculty and staff who present at CRWAD have to be nominated to be members of the organizations by people who already belong, based on their work,” Khaitsa said.
For more information about CRWAD or information about presenting research for next year visit www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/microbiology/crwad/index.htm.