UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) has awarded Penn State a five-year, $238,500 grant to establish a graduate training pipeline in reproductive microbiome research, as it relates to animal livestock and insect pests. The program will begin recruiting applicants from the animal science, entomology and integrative physiology graduate programs in January 2024. Selected fellows will have the opportunity to expand their training and research on links between microbes and reproduction.
“This program will be the first of its kind, and it should help attract top talent in a growing area of research for improving animal agriculture and human health,” said Francisco Diaz, associate professor of reproductive biology in the Department of Animal Science and director of the Center for Reproductive Biology and Health (CRBH). Diaz will serve as director and lead investigator of the new training program.
The new grant is the result of a collaborative effort by faculty of Penn State’s One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC) and CRBH. The training enhancement program it funds will focus on training students to research interactions between the microbiome and animal reproductive cells and tissues in agriculturally important species, including chickens, cows and pigs, as well as insect populations that can devastate livestock health and production.
Future fellows will explore topics spanning the impact of the microbiome on fertility, pregnancy outcomes, lactation, hormone and neurotransmitter synthesis, sperm-egg incompatibility, pest control applications to curb insect-borne diseases and other health-related factors.