05/28/1991

Rockefeller Fellow Visiting Auburn

AUBURN, Ala.—Poultry research conducted at Auburn University often receives world-wide attention, and now has drawn a Nigerian scientist visiting here on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship.

Dr. John Osita Arinze Okoye, head of the Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology and associate dean of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nigeria, is in Auburn to study poultry disease research techniques on a Biotechnology Career Fellowship through the Rockefeller Foundation.

The Fellowship program is designed to keep scientists from second and third world countries on the cutting edge of new biotechnologies which could help improve agricultural, health, and population opportunities in their countries. The program helps these scientists establish working relationships with research teams in more advanced laboratories throughout the world. The fellowship recipients gain expertise and stay abreast of the latest developments in their respective fields.

Okoye came to Auburn to work with Dr. Joseph Giambrone, professor of poultry science at Auburn, whose work with infectious bursal disease (IBD) in poultry through the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station at Auburn has received international attention. IBD is an economically important infectious viral disease of poultry found throughout the world. The IBD virus affects the birds' bursa of Fabricus, which controls antibody production. Birds infected with IBD virus may be more susceptible to infectious agents and may not respond adequately to vaccination.

According to Okoye, poultry production has great potential as an agricultural industry and a way to feed the approximately 120 million residents of Nigeria. Disease has restricted the success of the poultry industry in Nigeria and limited resources and research technologies have kept scientists from overcoming this problem.

"Poultry production is just starting in Nigeria, but Alabama is at the forefront of the industry," Giambrone said, noting that is a big reason that they were awarded the highly competitive Fellowship. "We have both done a lot of work with the same disease (IBD) and Dr. Okoye can learn new techniques here for diagnosing this disease."

"As soon as we can identify the diseases that are problematic and control them, the poultry industry can grow very rapidly in my country," Okoye added.

Through the Fellowship, Okoye will spend three three-month stays in Auburn where he will gain experience in the latest research techniques. Between stays, he will return to Nigeria and apply his experience to Nigeria's specific poultry disease problems.

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By:
Katie Smith