Antibiotics, a cornerstone of animal agriculture are administered as therapeutics, metaphylactics, and antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPs). Mounting restrictions on antibiotic use in animal agriculture necessitates that effective and non-antibiotic alternatives are identified. Many current alternatives to AGPs are focused on dietary interventions in the industry, and potentially through their impacts on the microbiome. Although microbiome studies have advanced greatly in recent years, a need still exists to isolate and preserve bacteria, and ascertain their function experimentally. Furthermore, these bacteria hold great potential to deliver innovations for livestock production, including as alternatives to antibiotics. 

I am a PhD student at the University of Alberta with Dr. G. Douglas Inglis and Dr. Richard R.E. Uwiera, and I am conducting my research at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lethbridge Research and Development Centre. A primary focus of my research involves the isolation and characterization of enteric autochthonous bacteria toward the development of tailored therapeutics. My current work is focused on the development and application of comprehensive anaerobic isolation strategies, and the elucidation of bacterial function in vitro and in vivo, including in animal models of chronic and acute inflammation. Our research group is focused on the mitigation of enteric diseases in monogastric livestock.

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