Position Title
Assistant Professor, Nutritional Enhancement of Animal Sourced Foods
Education
- B.S., Animal Science, Bahonar University of Kerman, 2003
- M.S., Animal Nutrition, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 2006
- Ph.D., Ruminant Nutrition, Dalhousie University, 2013
Research Interests
My research interests include:
- Enhancing the nutritional and health value of animal-sourced foods for human consumption
- Developing nutritional and management strategies to enhance the level of bioactive nutrients in animal-sourced foods
- Examining health effects of functional/nutritionally enhanced animal-sourced foods using cell culture, animal models and clinical trials
- Studying how animal-sourced foods foster human health (i.e. prevent chronic diseases and nutrient deficiencies), and their role in food security
Nutrient requirements for humans are similar to animals, changing with stage of life and health status. To meet people’s needs for health, longevity and quality of life, Animal Nutrient Farming can be used to manipulate and match foods to better meet personalized requirements. The overall goal of my research program is to develop effective nutritional and management strategies to enhance the nutritional and health value of animal-sourced foods (meat, milk, poultry, fish and eggs), while promoting animal health and sustainable animal-based food production. To accomplish this, my lab conducts animal feeding studies at both the whole animal and molecular level to identify/develop animal products enriched with bioactive nutrients, complemented by studies on their biochemical, physiological and gene expression effects in cell culture and animal disease models. In addition, we synergistically work with other University and Government researchers to follow-up on human health effects (i.e. clinical trials), carbon footprint (e.g. enteric methane emissions), as well as sensory and quality/manufacturing properties of nutritionally enhanced animal sourced foods.