Anne Guadagnin: New Researcher Ruminant nutrition
In September, Anne Guadagnin has started as a Researcher in the R&D Ruminant Nutrition team at Schothorst Feed Research. Anne is originally from Brazil, where she got a DVM and a master’s degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. She also holds a PhD in Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). Her main professional goal is to improve cattle’s resistance and resilience to stressors through the use of nutritional strategies and management practices, aiming to promote animal welfare, health, and productivity.
Under the guidance of Dr. Phil Cardoso at UIUC (Dairy Focus Illinois Lab), Anne evaluated the supplementation of rumen-protected amino acids, such as methionine and lysine, on the reproductive tract physiology, immunity, and health of transition dairy cows. Uterine physiology and health were assessed through a range of methods that encompassed sophisticated techniques, such as gene expression analysis and cytological evaluations, and reproductive tract ultrasonography; but also measurements that can be done at a farm level, such as the evaluation of purulent vaginal discharge using the Metricheck device.
A follow up study of her PhD dissertation investigates the effects of the supplementation of rumen protected lysine to prepartum dairy cows on the placental metabolism and transport of nutrients, which could have allowed for an enhanced exchange of nutrients between the dam and the foetus. Additionally, Anne investigated the associations of dry matter intake during pre- and post-partum periods with immunity biomarkers of uterine health, using advanced statistical methods and epidemiology concepts to analyse the data. During her Postdoctoral training, Anne worked with Dr. Jimena Laporta (Laporta Lab) to explore the effects of prenatal heat stress on placenta morphology, cow-calf immune function, and calf adrenal gland development and morphology, as well as investigating the supplementation of rumen-protected methionine to alleviate the negative effects of mentioned prenatal heat stress.