BBSRC’s Animal Health Research Club (ARC) has announced over £6M of funding for research to improve the health of livestock.

Eight studies will take place at institutions around England and Scotland in farmed fish, poultry, sheep, pigs and cattle to understand and combat pervasive and costly diseases in these species which cost UK farmers millions of pounds a year.

£5.8M has come from BBSRC with just over £800,000 from the Scottish Government

This round of grants concludes the funding from the five-year ARC, a consortium between BBSRC, the Scottish Government and leading companies from the animal breeding, animal health and farming sectors.

The final round of funded ARC projects are:

Genetics of host responses to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus - Professor Alan Archibald, Professor Stephen Bishop, Dr Tahar Ait-Ali  and Professor Tanja Opriessnig from The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh – £844,979

 

Macrophage Biology and Disease Susceptibility in Poultry - Professor David Hume, Professor David Burt, Dr Lonneke Vervelde, Professor Helen Sang and Professor Peter Kaiser from The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh - £951,944

 

Host factors in determing resistance to cryptosporidiosis in cattle - Professor Elisabeth Innes, Dr Frank Katzer and Dr Emily Jane Hotchkiss from Moredun Research Institute – £576,493. In collaboration with Dr Liam Morrison, Dr Neil Mabbott and Dr Jayne Hope  at The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh – £506,989, and Dr Mintu Nath, The James Hutton Institute – £20,630.

 

Dissecting variation in host responsiveness to a recombinant vaccine designed to control teladorsagiosis in sheep – Professor Jacqueline Matthews, Dr Alasdair Nisbet, Dr Tom McNeilly and Dr Stewart Burgess from the Moredun Research Institute – £386,938. In collaboration with Dr Simon Babayan from the University of Glasgow – £300,629.

 

Development of novel oral vaccination strategies for Atlantic salmon – Professor Chris Secombes and Dr Jun Zou, from the University of Aberdeen; Professor Sandra Adams, Professor James Bron and Professor Randolph Richards from the  University of Stirling; Professor Gordon Allan,  Dr Mark Mooney from Queen's University of Belfast – £1,049,594

 

Understanding inflammatory processes in ovine footrot to inform rational vaccine design – Dr Sabine Totemeyer, Dr Tracey Coffey, Dr Jasmeet Kaler, Dr Richard Emes and Mr Peers Davies from the University of Nottingham – £620,891 in collaboration with Prof Gary Entrican and Sean Wattegedera for Moredun Research Institute – £72,408

 

Towards control of Infectious bronchitis virus; understanding cross-protection and the genetic plasticity of IBV – Dr Lonneke Vervelde, Professor Peter Kaiser from The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh – £499,647 in collaboration with Professor Paul Britton, The Pirbright Institute – £405,179