Dr Maximiliano Muller Bravo

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Centre for Animal Science

Research Fellow

Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation

m.mullerbravo@uq.edu.au

Maximiliano Müller completed his bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Science at the Universidad de Chile in 2015. In 2016 he was awarded a scholarship by the Chilean Government to perform a PhD program abroad. He recently obtained his PhD from The University of Queensland in May of 2021. During Maximiliano’s PhD studies under the supervision of Prof. Eugeni Roura at QAAFI, he investigated the effects of amino acids on appetite and the gastrointestinal mechanisms involved these processes in pigs. Maximiliano has been awarded two Best Student Oral Presentations: International Symposium Digestive Physiology Pigs 2018 and National Conference of Chemosensory Science 2017.

Researcher biography

Maximiliano Müller is a Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) Research Institute, The University of Queensland (UQ). Maximiliano completed his Bachelor's degree (with Honours) in Veterinary Science at The University of Chile in 2015 and his PhD in Animal Nutrition at UQ in 2021. His 4 years of research work at QAAFI have focused primarily on animal nutrition, appetite, digestive physiology, chemosensing and feed technology. In 2022, Maximiliano was awarded an Industry Placement by the Australasian Pork Research Institute (APRIL) to develop additional expertise on feed analyses and processing. He is currently involved in research projects related to transgenerational nutrition, heat tolerance, control of back fat deposition in pigs, animal welfare and feed processing. Maximiliano has also been the manager of the R&D Feed Mill project at UQ from 2022 to 2025 and is an active member of The Nutrition Society of Australia - The Animal Nutrition Special Interest Group and the QAAFI Science Seminar Committee. Maximiliano has published more than 12 peer-reviewed publications since joining QAAFI as a postdoctoral research fellow in mid 2021 to present (2025).

Publications

Book Chapter (1)

Journal Articles (12)

Conference Papers (12)

Thesis (1)

Book Chapter

Roura, Eugeni, Müller, Maximiliano, Campbell, Roger G., Ryoo, Michael and Navarro, Marta (2022). Digestive physiology and nutrition of swine. Sustainable Swine Nutrition. (pp. 3-36) Hoboken, NJ United States: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781119583998.ch1

Journal Articles

Müller, Maximiliano, Tan, Xinle, Liu, Fan, Navarro, Marta, Hoffman, Louwrens C. and Roura, Eugeni (2025). Feeding a Bitter Mix of Gentian and Grape Seed Extracts with Caffeine Reduces Appetite and Body Fat Deposition and Improves Meat Colour in Pigs. Animals, 15 (14) 2129, 2129. doi: 10.3390/ani15142129

Garcia-Puig, Elisabet, Liu, Fan, Morrison, Rebecca, Müller, Maximiliano, Lisle, Allan and Roura, Eugeni (2024). Bitter compound quinine hydrochloride improved post-weaning pig performance in the absence of zinc oxide. Animal Production Science, 64 (18) AN24201. doi: 10.1071/an24201

Navarro, M., Coba, A., Muller, M., Roura, E. and Cozzolino, D. (2024). Mid infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics as tool to monitor the impact of heat stress and dietary interventions in lactating sows. International Journal of Biometeorology, 69 (1), 51-62. doi: 10.1007/s00484-024-02792-5

Müller, Maximiliano, Van Liefferinge, Elout, Tilbrook, Alan, van Barneveld, Robert and Roura, Eugeni (2024). Excess dietary Lys reduces feed intake, stimulates jejunal CCK secretion and alters essential and non-essential blood AA profile in pigs. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology, 15 (1) 24, 24. doi: 10.1186/s40104-023-00971-9

Müller, Maximiliano, Xu, Chenjing, Navarro, Marta, Masiques, Nuria Elias, Tilbrook, Alan, van Barneveld, Robert and Roura, Eugeni (2023). Leucine (and lysine) increased plasma levels of the satiety hormone CCK, and phenylalanine of the incretin GLP-1 after oral gavages in pigs. Journal of Animal Science, 101 skad175. doi: 10.1093/jas/skad175

Müller, Maximiliano, Xu, Chenjing, Navarro, Marta, Masiques, Nuria Elias, Tilbrook, Alan, van Barneveld, Robert and Roura, Eugeni (2022). An oral gavage of lysine elicited early satiation while gavages of lysine, leucine, or isoleucine prolonged satiety in pigs. Journal of Animal Science, 100 (12) skac361, 1-8. doi: 10.1093/jas/skac361

Müller, Maximiliano, Van Liefferinge, Elout, Navarro, Marta, Garcia-Puig, Elisabet, Tilbrook, Alan, van Barneveld, Robert and Roura, Eugeni (2022). CCK and GLP-1 release in response to proteinogenic amino acids using a small intestine ex vivo model in pigs. Journal of Animal Science, 100 (4) skac093. doi: 10.1093/jas/skac093

Müller, Maximiliano, Ryoo, Michael Che-Kwang and Roura, Eugeni (2021). Gut sensing of dietary amino acids, peptides and proteins, and feed-intake regulation in pigs. Animal Production Science, 62 (12), 1147-1159. doi: 10.1071/an21185

Van Liefferinge, Elout, Müller, Maximiliano, Van Noten, Noémie, Degroote, Jeroen, Niknafs, Shahram, Roura, Eugeni and Michiels, Joris (2021). Cinnamaldehyde induces release of cholecystokinin and glucagon-like peptide 1 by interacting with transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 in a porcine ex-vivo intestinal segment model. Animals, 11 (8) 2262, 2262. doi: 10.3390/ani11082262

Figueroa, Jaime, Luna, Daniela, Salazar, Laura C., Morales, Pia, Valdivia, Catalina, Müller, Maximiliano and Dwyer, Dominic (2021). Effects of trial and error and social learning on flavour palatability in nursery pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 236 105265, 105265. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105265

Figueroa, Jaime, Gasalla, Patricia, Müller, Maximiliano and Dwyer, Dominic (2020). Socially conditioned flavor preferences with fluids: transfer with solid foods, palatability, and testing constraints. Physiology and Behavior, 223 112976, 1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.112976

Figueroa, J., Müller, M., Guzmán-Pino, S. A., Franco-Rosselló, R., Solà-Oriol, D., Borda, E., Dwyer, D. M. and Pérez, J. F. (2020). Acquisition of flavour preferences in pigs through interactions with conspecifics that had previously consumed flavoured protein solutions. Animal, 14 (8), 1740-1744. doi: 10.1017/S1751731120000257

Conference Papers

Coba, Astrid, Tan, Xinle, Muller, Maximiliano, Soumeh, Elham Assadi, Navarro, Marta and Roura, Eugeni (2025). Low protein diet enhances plasma abundance of pantothenate in lactating sows under heat stress. 16th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs (DPP2025), Lake Geneva, WI United States, 20-23 May 2025. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2025.07.083

Coba, A., Müller, M., Navarro, M., Soumeh, E.A., Pluske, J.R., van Wettere, W.H.E.J., Cottrell, J.J., Dunshea, F.R., Gaughan, J.B. and Roura, E. (2023). 34. Low crude protein diets improve heat stress indicators in lactating sows under cyclic hyperthermal temperatures. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.035

Taylor, S., Navarro, M., Müller, M., Pascal, N., Ibanez, C., Wong, M., Tran, V.H. and Roura, E. (2023). 68. The fingerprint of volatile organic compounds in swine feed formulations: signature groups and nutrient precursors. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 13 - 16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.069

Cozzolino, D., Navarro, M., Taylor, S., Ibanez, C., Pascal, N., Tedo, G., Müller, M. and Roura, E. (2023). Mid-infrared spectroscopy can identify changes in plasma profiles associated with dietary interventions: Untargeted omic screening. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.074

Navarro, M., Cozzolino, D., Taylor, S., Müller, M., Pascal, N., Tedo, G., Ibanez, C. and Roura, E. (2023). The ability of near infrared spectroscopy to measure volatile compounds in pig feed ingredients. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.070

Bogere, P., Taylor, S., Navarro, M., Müller, M., Pascal, N., Ibanez, C., Tedo, G., Wong, M. and Roura, E. (2023). The volatile organic compound profile in commercial post-weaning diets differ from gestating or lactating diets potentially contributing to neophobic feeding behaviours in piglets. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.071

Müller, M., Coba, A., Navarro, M., Tedo, G., Cottrell, J.J., Dunshea, F.R., Pluske, J.R., van Wettere, W.H.E.J. and Roura, E. (2023). Umami feed flavouring in lactating sows under heat stress stimulates litter growth irrespective of the crude protein content of the diet. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.037

Coba, A., Müller, M., Navarro, M., Soumeh, E.A., Pluske, J.R., van Wettere, W.H.E.J., Cottrell, J.J., Dunshea, F.R., Gaughan, J.B. and Roura, E. (2023). 39. Physiological responses related to acute heat stress decrease over time as lactating sows become acclimated to a hyperthermic environment. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 13 - 16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.040

Abdallah, A., Kumar, A., Navarro, M., Müller, M., Tilbrook, A.J., Plush, K.J., D'Souza, D.N. and Roura, E. (2023). Stocking density increases the incidence of tail biting in post-weaned pigs. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.015

Niknafs, S., Müller, M., Navarro, M. and Roura, E. (2021). Associative expression patterns between amino acid sensors and hormones in the porcine gastrointestinal tract. 18th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA), Brisbane, Australia, 15-18 November 2021. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2021.09.127

Müller, M., Tilbrook, A. J., van Barneveld, R. J., Navarro, M. and Roura, E. (2021). An oral gavage of leucine decreases feed intake by triggering early satiation and prolonging satiety in young pigs. 18th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA), Brisbane, Australia, 15-18 November 2021. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier . doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2021.09.114

Müller, M., Tilbrook, A. J., van Barneveld, R. J., Niknafs, S. and Roura, E. (2021). 28. The anorexigenic effect of dietary lysine could be mediated by increased jejunal cholecystokinin secretion in piglets. Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA), Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 15 - 18 November 2021. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2021.09.113

Thesis

Muller Bravo, Maximiliano (2021). Dietary amino acid excesses and appetition in weaned pigs. PhD Thesis, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/e5eb860

Areas of research

Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences