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Collaborative research:

Animal Health Research and Technology Club

We are consulting with companies on developing a proposal for this new club.

The club model establishes a joint fund from industry and the Research Councils. It supports innovative research projects within academia that address generic, pre-competitive research challenges faced by club members. It has proved a very successful mechanism to:

• Support research that underpins the needs of industry
• Bring together academic and industrial communities with an interest in a specific area

Aims

If launched the club will support research projects of industrial importance that enable a better understanding of genetic resistance to pests and diseases.

BBSRC and the Biosciences KTN held an initial scoping meeting in December 2009 with companies involved in the livestock industry to discuss the opportunities for industrially relevant research that could form the basis of a Research and Technology Club in animal health.

There was strong industry interest in the development of a Club for this sector and several overarching research themes were identified.

A second meeting was held in June 2010, where it was agreed that the Club should be centred on genetic resistance but also allow scope for research into the genetic basis of vaccine response. The following research challenges have been identified by companies:

• Determining the effects of selection for production traits on immune function.
• Understanding genetic variation in vaccine responsiveness, immuno-competence and disease outcomes
• Developing novel tools for defining disease phenotypes to inform breeding strategies for increased disease resistance
• Understanding the genetic basis of resistance/resilience to pests and diseases in livestock and aquaculture species

We are currently finalising the Club proposal and would welcome input from interested companies. For further details, please contact the individuals below.

Presentations and agenda from June 2010 meeting

• Dan Godfrey - June 2010 (PDF 1.32MB)
• Katie Tearall - June 2010 (PDF 285KB)
• Pete Kaiser - June 2010 (PDF 1.23MB)
• Mark Fowler - June 2010 (PDF 776KB)
• Agenda - June 2010 (PDF 31KB)

Presentations and agenda from December 2009 meeting

• Dan Godfrey - December 2009 (PDF 626KB)
• Andy Cureton - December 2009 (PDF 694KB)
• Agenda - December 2009 (PDF 79KB) (PDF 79KB)

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