Dr. Jason Abernathy Receives USDA Postdoc Fellowship Grant
Dr. Jason Abernathy, a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Dr. Huaijun Zhou, was awarded a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant in the amount of $130,000. His grant was entitled “Genetic association between Copy Number Variation (CNV) and resistance to Campylobacter jejuni in the chicken.” The bacterium C. jejuni is one of the most commonly reported causes of foodborne illness in the U.S. The major source of C. jejuni contamination is chickens. Control of C. jejuni in poultry farms will significantly reduce human exposure by elimination heavy contamination at the source. It is expected that the results will impact the safety of the food supply by leading to the development of genetic markers useful in the selection of chicken breeding stocks with resistance to the bacteria. Congratulations to Jason on his award!
(9/14/11)
