This year Dr. John Deen was recognized at the Leman Swine Conference for his work in the swine group at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine. Dr. Deen hosted the wrap-up panel at the conference, and wrote this piece for the conference about his reflections on his 24 years of service.
Thank you, Dr. Deen for your contributions to the Swine Group!
Continue reading “Reflections on the Leman Swine Conference by Dr. John Deen”Things looked very different in the world of swine health and production when the Leman Swine Conference was inaugurated in 1974. It would be another four years until hog cholera would be officially eradicated from the USA, and 13 years until the appearance of PRRS. The US was a net importer of pork and pseudorabies was an emerging disease. Artificial insemination was virtually unheard of on commercial farms, and biosecurity, as we know it, was in its infancy. The personal computer was about to make its debut in 1975, but it would be more than a decade (most notably with the development of PigCHAMP at the University of Minnesota), until computerized herd management software would evolve to become a mainstay of managing herds. Back then, access to data and information was at a premium, and for the 44 years since The Leman Swine Conference has provided a vibrant venue to exchange and discuss ideas and experiences, both practical and scientific. However, in contrast to 1974, our challenge is no longer how to access information, but how to digest and make sense of the deluge of information coming at us from endless sources.
While the transformation of swine production in the field has been stunning, it has been no less so in the scientific realm. Words such as PCR, sequencing, dendrogram, and microbiome, flow easily from the tongues of veterinarians today, but were not in the lexicon in 1974. We all know we are now in the era of “Big Data” where advancements in computer science and computational analysis have endowed us with tools to perform complex analyses at unprecedented speeds. The time-honored goal and purpose of the Leman Swine Conference, namely to foster the cross-fertilization of ideas between the science and practice of swine health and production, must find its footing in this new world of near real-time information acquisition, analysis and reporting. For those of us who were weaned on to traditional diets of veterinary medicine and animal sciences, this is not a trivial challenge, and more than ever there is a need for us to work across disciplines with people who have the relevant skill sets. We are fortunate that the state of Minnesota and its university have been proactive in recognizing and responding to these new opportunities.
In the 2015 legislative session, the Minnesota state legislature authorized a multi-year investment known as the Agricultural Research, Education, Extension and Technology Transfer Program (AGREETT). The vision of the AGREETT program was to support positions for new faculty, technicians and graduate students to work in seven key areas to support agriculture in Minnesota:
Many of these new positions at the University have recently been filled, including six faculty hires at the College of Veterinary Medicine, three of whom were featured in the 2018 Leman Conference program.
Kim VanderWaal, PhD is a native Minnesotan with degrees from the University of Minnesota and University of California-Davis.Kim was recruited for the “Big Data” AGREETT position in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine (VPM) where she was already working with the swine group on disease modeling projects and is involved in data analysis with the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project. Kim’s interests surround the use of large data sets to better understand pathogen movements within agricultural production systems, and other complex problems including aspects of food safety and antibiotic resistance. Kim lead the pre-conference workshop titled “Geeks to Geeks: A practitioner’s guide to designing research studies” involving several speakers addressing issues of study design and analysis, including case studies. As you are all aware, the growth of applied research conducted in industry makes this an important area for today’s veterinarians to build their skill base.
Noelle Noyes, DVM, PhD, was recruited for the AGREETT position in antimicrobial resistance in the VPM department. She is a native of New York who did her undergraduate studies at Amherst, Massachusetts, then completed a joint DVM/PhD program at Colorado State University. Her doctoral research focused on antimicrobial use and resistance in feedlot cattle. Noelle brings state-of-the-art expertise in bioinformatics and shotgun sequencing of the microbiome, and is eager to apply her skills for the benefit of the swine industry in Minnesota. At the Leman Conference, Noelle spoke in the break-out session titled “New Directions in Antibiotic Use and Resistance”. Her talk was titled “Antimicrobial use and Antimicrobial Resistance – How Will We Ever Understand It?” where she presented her perspectives on how new tools and approaches can help us address this important challenge.
VPM also gained an AGREETT position in Pathogen Discovery and Surveillance, and successfully recruited Declan Schroeder, PhD to this position. Declan is an experienced molecular virologist who holds an honorary Chair in Viral Metagenomics in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading, United Kingdom. He has over 20 years of research experience as a molecular biologist in the areas of virology, biodiversity, pathology, and genomics – in particular, the use of genomic tools to study key biological processes. His research focuses on a diverse array of host-virus systems, including the honeybee. He was the former Director of the Marine Biological Association of the UK Culture Collection where he was also a Senior Research Fellow in Viral and Molecular Ecology (2001-2018). Declan made a presentation titled ‘Molecular diagnostics: Present and future, in the Disease Diagnosis and Research break out session. His move to Minnesota means that the Schroeder lab will continue to develop molecular tools to enhance detection and surveillance to secure and improve agricultural productivity.
Space does not permit detailed introduction of another dozen AGREETT hires in other Departments and Colleges across the University, but several of them have roles that will support the swine industry. These include Erin Cortus (agricultural engineer focused on manure and odor management, CFANS); Andres Gomez (microbiome, CFANS); Melissa Wilson (manure management and soil science, CFANS); Diane DeWitte (swine extension educator, CFANS); and Peter Larsen (host-pathogen interactions) and Mathew Aliota (vector-borne diseases) in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, CVM.
This group of talented researchers complements a well-established group of swine researchers,including our new Leman Chair Cesar Corzo, to strengthen our capacity to work with stakeholders to address the daily and emerging challenges of the swine industry.
Please keep a look out for Kim, Noelle, Declan, Erin and Andres, and help welcome them to our community. It is important to let them know or what you are seeing and doing in the field to help bring science and practice into alignment,and honor the tradition of Al Leman and Bob Morrison.
The University of Minnesota has a new position open in swine health, production and economics. We consider it an important position as we strive to integrate all our work into strategies and training that protect and improve the profitability of swine farms. For those that are interested, please apply or contact John Deen. If you know of someone who could be a good fit, please urge her or him to apply. We appreciate the support that the swine group has received and we look forward to welcoming this new member to UMN.
You can read more about the position here or apply here.
We are excited to meet with you!
The first week-end in December is usually the time of the North American PRRS symposium. This year did not upset the tradition but this time, the conference was in collaboration with the National Swine Improvement Federation.
The meeting was dedicated to our friend and colleague Dr. Bob Morrison. A memorial fellowship organized by Dr. Montse Torremorell (U of MN) and Dr. Joan Lunney (USDA) provided travel support to future scientists who wish to follow in his footsteps.
Stephen Gerike from the Pork Checkoff shared information on the state of pork products used in restaurant. Bacon represents 20% of products used but is still growing (+4% since last year).
Overall, 82% of restaurant customers eat the same or larger amount of pork which is a good trend for the industry. Mr. Gerike also shared the efforts done by Pork Checkoff to convince consumers to not overcook their pork. Reminder: 145F is safe. “Cook your pork like you cook your steak!”
The University of Minnesota was well represented during the conference. Dr. Montse Torremorell moderated the Saturday morning session on PRRS in the field. Drs. Cesar Corzo, Carles Vilalta and Juan Sanhueza shared the updates on the Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Program as well as regarding the studies that they are involved with. Take away messages:
Dr. Perle Boyer shared the launching of an online course designed in collaboration with Iowa State University regarding genetic resistance to PRRSV. The course will be open in Spring 2018 and is designed for swine health professionals, veterinarians and experts who want to know more about the Principles and application of genetics and genomics to improve animal health.
Dr. Matt Sturos, diagnostic pathologist at the University of Minnesota, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will be presenting the latest information on Senecavirus A in swine, tomorrow at 4pm in a learning session organized by the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA). Participants can join in person at the MVMA conference room or online via WebEX.
More information here
