People

Neuroendocrine regulation of feeding behavior, body weight and glucose control; Mechanisms linking psychological stress and metabolic disease

Emerging diseases, immune development and sex differences in ruminants; development/assessment of herd level preventative measures for infectious disease.

Research interests: Veterinary nutrition, nutrition for dogs and cats, dietary mineral safety, exotic pet nutrition, critical care nutrition, pet nutrition trends, and pet food nutritional adequacy and safety.

Director of Aquatic Health Program and State certified Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory. The Director conducts aquatic, embryonic, and developmental toxicology and endocrine disruption on invertebrate, fish and shellfish using biochemical, molecular, nutritional, and histopathological biomarkers.

Conservation biology of wild vertebrates, primarily reptiles and amphibians.

Ecological Physiology; Integrative Stress Biology; Environmental Genomics; Climate Change Biology.

Animal welfare, animal behavior, effect of environmental conditions (housing, weather) and management decisions.

Enhancing the nutritional and health value of animal-sourced foods for human consumption; Developing nutritional and management strategies to enhance the level of bioactive nutrients in animal-sourced foods; Examining health effects of functional/nutritionally enhanced animal-sourced foods using cell culture, animal models and clinical trials; Studying how animal-sourced foods foster human health (i.e. prevent chronic diseases and nutrient deficiencies), and their role in food security.

Transgenic modification of biochemical pathways to improve the quality of animal products for consumers; application of biotechnology to solve applied problems of animal agriculture.