Research themes at the Centre for Animal Science
Research projects within the Centre for Animal Science
A practical tool to select for performance in harsh environments
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Associate Professor Luis Prada e Silva
A/Prof Luis Prada e Silva, is a leader in the area of ruminant nutrition. Luis brings perspective from the world’s largest producer of beef, Brazil, where he had a previous appointment at the Universidade de Sao Paulo. Luis’ has worked with different disciplines such as ruminant nutrition, ruminant physiology, rumen microbiology, ruminant reproduction, forage management, molecular biology, and economics of cattle production systems to improve cattle productivity.
Calf Alive: Assessing practical interventions to reduce calf wastage and herd mortality in northern systems
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Associate Professor Luis Prada e Silva
A/Prof Luis Prada e Silva, is a leader in the area of ruminant nutrition. Luis brings perspective from the world’s largest producer of beef, Brazil, where he had a previous appointment at the Universidade de Sao Paulo. Luis’ has worked with different disciplines such as ruminant nutrition, ruminant physiology, rumen microbiology, ruminant reproduction, forage management, molecular biology, and economics of cattle production systems to improve cattle productivity.
Progress on vibriosis (bovine genital campylobacteriosis) molecular diagnostics
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Professor Ala Tabor
Ala’s passion is to use genomics and molecular tools to develop translational solutions for animal health. She has led research to develop patented vaccines (cattle tick and paralysis tick) and has a strong research portfolio associated with northern Australian bovine health including health biomarkers and pathogenic diseases. She is funded by industry including commercial companies and Meat & Livestock Australia and is passionate about diversity and inclusion in the workplace. View Ala's research profile here.
Improving beef production through management of plant toxins
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Professor Mary Fletcher
Prof Mary Fletcher is a natural product organic chemist and leads the Natural Toxin group within the Centre for QAAFI. Mary's current work focuses on the identification and analysis of natural toxins and other bioactives in a range of plants, fungi and agricultural products. Such toxins and bioactives can affect both human and animal health posing risks to livestock production, food safety and market access.
Identification of super cattle, resistant to cattle ticks
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Dr Ali Raza
Dr Raza graduated from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with summa cum laude and was awarded, a Gold Medal. He completed his PhD at CSIRO and University of Queensland in 2017 and joined Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovations as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in 2018. Before being appointed at Centre for Animal Science, QAAFI, Dr Raza was a lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan for four years. He is a passionate animal scientist with a major interest in infectious diseases of animals, especially Parasitic and Bacterial infections. Dr Raza is determined to develop international collaborations for innovative scientific research in the field of Animal Science. His major areas of interest are investigating means of controlling worms and ticks, the development of diagnostic tests for anthelmintic resistance, anthelmintic drug discovery, and breeding for parasite resistance and host immunity to parasites.
Predicting tick resistance in cattle
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Emily Mantilla
Emily is a third-year PhD candidate in QAAFI’s Centre for Animal Science at The University of Queensland. Growing up in Ecuador, Emily was surrounded by natural richness and biodiversity which are inspired her curiosity to pursue a degree in biological sciences. In 2017, she completed a Bachelor of Biotechnology (Hons I) with support of a full scholarship from the Government of Ecuador. She then became a recipient of an RTP scholarship from the Australian Government which currently supports her postgraduate candidature. Emily now uses these opportunities as the basis to advocate for girl’s and women’s participation in science. She co-created the podcast “ILLUMINATA” which highlights the stories of women in agriculture to inspire the next generation of agricultural scientists. She has held leadership roles at the postgraduate student association at QAAFI for which she has received recognition awards. Her doctoral research is on investigating biomarkers to predict tick resistance in cattle.
Crush-side genotyping to accelerate genetic gain livestock
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Harrison Lamb
Harry is a second-year PhD candidate with the Centre for Animal Science under the supervision of Prof. Ben Hayes and Dr Elizabeth Ross. Harry grew up on a small cattle property north of Brisbane where he developed a love for agriculture. He completed his Bachelors of Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland in 2019. Combining his passion for agriculture and background in science Harry’s PhD project investigates the feasibility of on-farm DNA sequencing to predict the genetic merit of livestock. The title of Harrison’s PhD project is Crush-side genotyping to accelerate genetic gain livestock.
Breeding for resistance to buffalo flies
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Muhammad Kamran
My research work focuses on host-parasite interactions especially focusing on “factors determining variation in susceptibility to buffalo flies (BF) in cattle”. I am trying to develop practical and easy to use fly counting methods for phenotyping resistant cattle towards BF infestations. I am also investigating animal fly avoidance behaviours using accelerometers for animal selection and welfare improvement purposes. Additionally, my research work focuses on differences in the immune response of susceptible and resistant cattle using proteomics analysis and immune responses to find biomarkers for selecting resistant cattle. Recently, I won the Innovation for the red meat industry award, supported by Meat & Livestock Australia in the 6th animal science poster Olympics 2021. I am serving in QAAFI's student association as representative of the Centre for Animal Science and young science ambassador in the wonder of science program of The University of Queensland. My hobbies include hiking, photography and playing badminton.
Investigating the cause of buffalo fly lesions in Queensland cattle
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Currently, I am a Ph.D. Candidate at Centre for Animal Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), funded by Australian Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship. My project aims to investigate the Pathology and Pathogenesis of Buffalo Fly Lesions and Factors Determining Variation of Susceptibility Amongst Cattle.
Closing the gap: Genomic predictions in genetically diverse populations
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Christie is a second-year PhD student with the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation. Her research interest is in the development of multi-breed genomic evaluations for the north Australian beef industry. Christie grew up on a cattle station near Comet in central Queensland. With a passion for agriculture and the bush, Christie studied a Bachelor of Rural Science with Honours at the University of New England in Armidale. After graduating, Christie worked in a number of positions within the agricultural industry, in both academic and industry roles, before taking time away from her career to start and raise her family. She now lives with her family on a small farm in the Darling Downs, studying her PhD part-time while raising her son and supporting their family business. View Christie's research profile here.
Genotype by environment interaction for fertility traits
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I am a second-year PhD student in the Centre for Animal Science under the supervision of Professor Ben Hayes, Dr Bailey Engle, Dr Elizabeth Ross, Dr Kai Voss-Fels and Dr Ben Wood. I am investigating GxE interaction for beef cattle fertility traits in Northern Australia. I completed my Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Science (Animal Science) at UQ Gatton in 2018.
