CGIL Seminar – Oral presentation / paper discussion by students from ANSC*6210: Principles of Selection in Animal Breeding course
Date and Time
Location
Microsoft Teams
Details
Good morning CGIL,
This week we are pleased to welcome five master’s students from the University of Guelph presenting for us on Friday, March 14th, 2025, as part of the course ANSC*6210: Principles of Selection in Animal Breeding. The seminar will begin at 1:30 PM EDT/EST on the virtual platform Microsoft Teams. The titles of the papers they will be presenting are:
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"Emerging Roles of circRNAs in Traits Associated with Livestock Breeding (Sun et al., 2023)" – Sakshi Ashar
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"Integrative genomics analysis highlights functionally relevant genes for equine behaviour (Holtby et al., 2023)" – Alora Brown
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"Identification of Candidate Salivary, Urinary and Serum Metabolic Biomarkers for High Litter Size Potential in Sows (Fletcher et al., 2022)" – Thomas Hicks
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"Udder, Claw, and Reproductive Health Selection of Czech Holstein (Krupová et al., 2024)" – Taha Younus
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"First Gene-Edited Calf with Reduced Susceptibility to a Major Viral Pathogen (Workman et al., 2023)" – Brendan Giger
Speaker Bios:
Sakshi Ashar is a master’s student in the Department of Animal Biosciences at the University of Guelph, working under Dr. Christine Baes. Her research focuses on using genome-wide association studies to identify genomic regions linked to novel reproductive traits in Holstein cattle. She holds a bachelor's degree in Zoology from Bhavan's College and has hands-on experience in dairy cow management at JPC Farms, as well as animal care for various exotic species at Bhavan’s Nature and Adventure Centre.
Alora Brown is a master's student in Animal Biosciences under Dr. Wendy Pearson, where she studies inflammation resolution in horses. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Animal Biosciences with a minor in Epidemiology from The Ohio State University in 2024. Her research background includes studies on hierarchical dominance in dairy cattle, equine color vision and preference, and the effects of meal frequency on heart rate in horses.
Thomas Hicks is a coursework master’s student in the Department of Animal Biosciences at the University of Guelph. His research focuses on metabolomic biomarkers for reproductive potential in sows.
Taha Younus is a coursework master’s student in Animal Biosciences at the University of Guelph, with a research interest in cattle reproduction. His current focus is on udder, claw, and reproductive health selection in Czech Holstein cattle. He plans to gain further hands-on experience through a summer internship.
Brendan Giger is a master’s student in Animal Biosciences and Toxicology at the University of Guelph, working under Professor Niel Karrow. He earned his bachelors in Animal Biology from the University of Guelph in 2024. His research explores gene editing for disease resistance in cattle. Outside of academia, he enjoys problem-solving and has a passion for cars, motorcycles, aerospace, biology, and economics.
Information to attend: To join this seminar, please ensure you have downloaded the Microsoft Teams application to your computer or join the meeting online using the web browser version of Microsoft Teams. Please join the meeting with your microphone on mute and the camera turned off. After the presentation, you can unmute the microphone, and optionally turn on the camera, if you wish to ask a question. Alternatively, if you wish to pose your question in the chat function, the presenter will answer questions made through the chat.
*Recordings of previous CGIL seminars are available at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAQ_5WCTMRQ6Gs35yROqGIQ/featured
Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Gabby Condello and Ella Dodd.