CPRC Update: Update on past scholarship recipients

The Canadian Poultry Research Council (CPRC) began its annual Postgraduate Poultry Scholarship Program in 2006. Postgraduate students who are studying aspects of poultry science at a Canadian university are eligible to apply.

CPRC would like to highlight two previous recipients of the poultry scholarship to illustrate their continued involvement within the poultry industry.

The first CPRC scholarship was awarded to Dr. Mohamed Faizal Abdul Careem during his Ph.D. program at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph (U of G). He received a prestigious Canada Graduate Scholarship from Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) along with the CPRC scholarship.

On completion of his Ph.D. degree in the field of poultry host-viral interactions, he was awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research on innate immune responses generated against mucosal viral infections at McMaster University’s Center for Gene Therapeutics.

He joined the University of Calgary (U of C) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2010 following two years of postdoctoral studies. He holds a position as an associate professor (virology). His research focuses on epidemiology, pathogenesis and control of avian viral infections that are important for public health and the poultry industry. Recently, Careem was appointed as the head of the Department of Ecosystem and Public Health.

He is a productive poultry researcher with a total of 56 peer-reviewed published manuscripts in addition to delivering more than 75 conference presentations. His current research is funded by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AAF), CPRC, NSERC, Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC), Egg Farmers of Alberta (EFA), Agriculture and Agri Food Canada (AAFC) and U of C internal sources.

Careem is, additionally, a diplomate of American College of Poultry Veterinarians (obtained in 2007) and American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (obtained in 2012).

He is also an associate editor of the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research, a section editor of the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigations and an advisory board member of the Archives of Virology.

The seventh CPRC scholarship was awarded to Dr. Kayla Price in 2013 during her Ph.D. program at U of G. On completion of her Ph.D. degree in 2015, which focused on the environmental influence on live coccidiosis vaccine success in chickens, she accepted a position with Alltech Canada, where she is currently the Canadian poultry technical and research manager.

Dr. Kayla Price are past recipients of the CPRC scholarship.

In this role, she provides technical and sales support, as well as being responsible for research and regulatory issues. While working with Alltech, she has continued her passion for poultry intestinal health and has broadened her knowledge to cover all types of poultry production.

She has worked to share her knowledge of intestinal health and management of birds within the poultry industry. Price has been invited to speak and present on many topics at various national and global conferences and has authored articles for internal use as well as external trade publications.

As a part of her research role, she is an adjunct professor with the Ontario Agriculture College at U of G and has served as an advisory committee member for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students.

Price is also an active member of several industry committees, such as the Poultry Science Association Foundation, the Animal Nutrition Committee of Canada and the Poultry Service Industry Workshop. She is a strong advocate for the poultry industry and believes that it is ever-changing and strives to share this enthusiasm with others.

The Canadian Poultry Research Council, its board of directors and member organizations support and enhance Canada’s poultry sector through research and related activities. For more details, visit cp-rc.ca.