WCVM scientists receive ag research dollars

Dr. Murray Jelinski

Two WCVM scientists were among the Saskatchewan research teams who received $4.39 million in research and development funding from Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food’s Agriculture Development Fund. The funding announcement was made by Agriculture and Food Minister Mark Wartman at the University of Saskatchewan on February 28.

The current round of ADF funding provides support for research projects undertaken by organizations such as the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Regina, the Western Beef Development Centre and the Prairie Swine Centre. Drs. Murray Jelinski and Sarah Parker of WCVM were among the successful applicants from the U of S.

• Dr. Murray Jelinski (WCVM ’85), who holds the Alberta Chair in Beef Cattle Health and Production Medicine at WCVM, received $64,870 to study the ecology of Mycoplasma bovis strains derived from calves in western Canadian feedlots. His study’s objectives are to determine the prevalence of M. bovis in fall-placed feedlot calves, to describe the ecology of mycoplasma within pens of feedlot calves, and to determine if specific strains of M. bovis are related to pathogenicity in the feedlot.

• Dr. Sarah Parker (WCVM ’95), the Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Research Chair in On-Farm Food Safety, received $8,800 in support of an antimicrobial resistance-related project. Her research, which focuses on the identification of genetic characteristics of E. coli resistance to antimicrobials, will determine the genes contributing to antimicrobial resistance patterns observed in E. coli isolated from beef cattle presented to slaughter in western Canadian abbatoirs. She will also determine the association of genotypic patterns with phenotypic patterns for these isolates and determine the associations between resistance genes within isolates.

All ADF 2006-07 approved projects are listed and described on Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food’s web site under Research.