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The UFV Scholar will be awarded by the American Zoological Society

04/10/2023

Researcher Thaís Correia Costa’s doctoral work, from the Graduate Program in Animal Sciences at UFV, will receive a Young Academy Award from the American Zoological Society (ASAS), considered the most prestigious award for this category in the worldwide animal science community.

For the first time, a graduate of a graduate program at Zootechnics in Brazil will receive the award intended for new doctoral students or physicians as a way to recognize their performance during their doctoral period.

Thaís is a specialist in animal husbandry, graduated from São Paulo State University (Unesp). In master’s and doctoral studies at UFV, they were supervised by Professor Marcio Souza Duarte. During his Ph.D., he went through Department of Animal Sciences from Washington State University that it Published 17 scientific articles in highly relevant journals in the field of animal sciences and fishery resources, including the journal animal bordersAnd From Oxford Publishing House, Which even highlighted one of the articles for which the researcher was the first author.

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In her research, Theis assessed how maternal feeding of animals during pregnancy affects the developmental trajectory of the offspring. The aim of this study was to understand the mechanisms governing the intrauterine growth of an individual and how they are altered by maternal nutrition during pregnancy.

According to the researcher, the thesis shows that dietary restriction at different gestational periods has different effects on energy metabolism in the muscle tissue of newborns. “We have shown that the muscle tissue of offspring from goat matrices that were restricted in the first half of pregnancy have limitations in energy production, which has a significant impact on the survival of newborns during the first days of life, as well as their ability to grow and their productive muscle efficiency” .

From another experiment, working with cattle, the researcher showed that calves born to mothers with diets containing adequate levels of protein during pregnancy present a greater deposition of muscle tissue, which consequently affects the amount of meat to be produced.

According to Professor Marcio, Research Consultant, in addition to the immediate applicability in livestock, the work included methodologies that allow the evaluation of the mechanisms governing these changes with the aim of allowing the development of new production technologies. “This topic is gaining more and more space in the field of food and animal production. The findings can influence the decision-making process that affects the efficiency of the production system as a whole,” the professor explained.

financing

The experiments that make up the research were funded by the National Institute of Science and Technology in Animal Sciences (INCT-CA), the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas Gerais (Fapemig) and improved coordination of higher education staff (CAPS) Powered by Cargill Nutricão Animal Industry

The award will be awarded next July, during the annual meeting of ASAS in the United States.

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