Thanks to the following organizations for helping to make the Animal Health & Nutrition Workshop a success! ---------------------------------------- Funding for Ag-West Bio is provided by   ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------

 

Ag-West Bio’s premier Animal Health & Nutrition Workshop brought research and industry leaders together to share their expertise and ideas. Directors of research and business development from industry giants Novartis, Hill’s Pet Nutrition (makers of Science Diet®), and Tyson Cobb Vantress shared insight into the success of their organizations. Saskatchewan innovators in research and business updated attendees on what’s happening locally in this exciting, growing industry.

Animal health and nutrition is a sector with great potential in this province. This event was designed to foster discussion and new collaborations, exchange information and develop industry partnerships in order to advance opportunities in Saskatchewan’s animal health and nutrition sector.

Presentations and photos are now available by clicking on the following links:

Click here to view photos from the workshop.

Workshop attendees: To view presentations, click here and enter the password you received by email. If you haven't received your password, please contact us.

If you did not attend the workshop, but would like a copy of the presentations, they are available for a fee. Please call 306-975-1939 for more information.
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Program
Program is subject to change. Last update: Feb. 6, 2007. click here for .pdf document.

 

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Speakers

Please click on a name to see the speakers' biographies and presentation abstracts. Note: check back for updates.

Graham Scoles
Associate Dean,
College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan

Overview: R&D Infrastructure, Expertise and Opportunities in Saskatchewan
As an introduction to the workshop, Dr. Graham Scoles will give us an overview of the strengths Saskatchewan possesses in R&D infrastructure, expertise and opportunities in the province’s in the Animal Health and Nutrition sector.
>stay tuned for more details

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Mitch Abrahamsen
Vice President Research
Hills Pet Nutrition

Biography
Dr. Abrahamsen recently joined Hills Pet Nutrition as Vice President of Research. He earned his B.Sc. degree at the University of Minnesota and his PhD degree in biochemistry at the University of Washington, Seattle WA in 1990. He has held faculty positions at Montana State University and in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota where he was a recognized international authority on animal genomics, animal health, and molecular parasitology. He has served on a variety of advisory boards for numerous private and government funding agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture. Prior to joining Hill’s, he served as Chief Scientific Officer/Vice President of Research and Development for a startup animal biotechnology company in Chicago, IL.

Animal Nutrigenomics -by Mitch Abrahamsen
The completion of the human genome has led to dramatic changes in the way with think about health and disease. Further, interest in genomic science has spurred technological advances that allow for capturing of biological data at an unprecedented scale. These huge data sets and technological capabilities provide for the ability to develop innovative approaches that are driving business opportunities in agricultural biotechnology, food quality and safety, new food products, biomarker development and personalized nutrition. The role of genomic sciences and the growing field of nutirgenomics, as it relates to the animal health and pet food industries will be discussed.

Hills Pet Nutrition (www.hillspet.com): The Company Inspired by a Guide Dog
In 1939, his ideas were visionary in veterinary medicine. Dr. Mark L. Morris, Sr., believed certain diseases in pets could be managed through carefully-formulated nutrition. The chance to prove his theory came when a young blind man named Morris Frank asked Dr. Morris if anything could be done to save his guide dog, Buddy, who was suffering from kidney failure. The result of Dr. Morris' efforts was the nutritional formulation that would become the first product in the Hill's® Prescription Diet® line of therapeutic pet foods, and the world's first pet food designed to help dogs with kidney disease. Soon after, Hill's Pet Nutrition was founded and the field of clinical nutrition was a brand new industry.

As the makers of Science Diet® and Prescription Diet® pet foods, Hill's corporate mission is to help enrich and lengthen the special relationship between you and your pets by providing the best pet nutrition in the world. Hill's long-term investment in learning, technology, and talented scientists has helped us develop industry-leading product innovations, including the most extensive range of clinical nutrition products for sick, at-risk and healthy pets.
 

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Andrew Potter
Associate Director, Research,
Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization

Biography
Andy Potter is Associate Director (Research) at the Vaccine & Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, Canada and has been active in the area of infectious disease research and vaccine development over the past 25 years. He earned his B.Sc. degree at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and his PhD degree in microbiology at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand in 1981. He has worked on molecular approaches to disease pathogenesis in both Canada and Southeast Asia over the past two decades and has developed a number of vaccines which are currently in use. More recently, he has been involved in the development of novel vaccine formulations to prevent the transmission of food and water-borne pathogens from animals to humans, including Escherichia coli O157, Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella and Mycobacterial species, prions, as well as genomic studies on host response to infection. He holds an NSERC Senior Industrial Research Chair in the area of vaccines for zoonotic pathogens and has been awarded over 50 patents dealing with control of infectious diseases. He has received a number of awards for his contributions to the field of infectious disease control and serves on a variety of national and international committees dealing with infectious disease control, animal health and pathogenomics. He has also been active in the area of training, having served as a mentor for over 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Zoonotic Disease: Threats and Opportunities ~ by Andrew Potter
Zoonotic infectious diseases represent a significant risk to humans, with over 50% of all diseases having a link to animals, a number which increases significantly when one looks only at new and re-emerging infections. The latter includes such recent high profile agents as Influenza virus, West Nile virus, SARS and prions, all of which have had a significant socioeconomic impact in North America. The importance of zoonoses and potential methods for prevention and control will be discussed, focusing on the potential of vaccination of animals as a means of controlling the risk of human disease.

VIDO Summary
The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) is a non-profit Research Institute located at the University of Saskatchewan focused on the development of technologies for the control of infectious diseases of animals and humans. The Organization currently employs approximately 150 people in various disciplines from genomics to clinical research, all working towards the common goal of investigating the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and the development of effective therapeutic and prophylactic methods for their control. VIDO’s current research programs include a variety of areas such as neonatal vaccines, immunomodulation, pathogenomics, zoonotic diseases, vectored vaccines and nucleic acid vaccines. VIDO is also in the process of expanding its infrastructure to include a new facility, Intervac, which will be a large scale biocontainment level III animal and laboratory facility. As the name suggests, this facility to be international in scope and activities and will add significant new capabilities to those that currently exist at VIDO.

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Leigh Marquess
Quantum Genetics

Biography
Both University education and life experience allowed Leigh to acquire the rare combination of expertise in molecular genetics and feedlot management. This powerful combination of knowledge sparked the idea for Quantum Genetics in 2001, when Leigh, along with his brother Andrew, formed Quantum Genetics, Inc. Marquess attended the University of Saskatchewan where he earned his undergraduate degree in Animal Science and a Masters in Molecular Genetics. Leigh begun taking courses to finish his PhD at the U of S in 2006. During his Masters work, he was heavily involved in genetic research under the guidance of Dr. Shelia Schmutz, including work on the mapping of the "polled gene." Quantum Genetics was formed to test cattle for the obese gene, which produces leptin. The leptin gene, discovered at the University of Saskatchewan, regulates appetite and energy use. Since its conception, Quantum Genetics has moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and has expanded to include six staff members and a high through put testing laboratory.

Quantum Genetics
Quantum Genetics Canada Inc. is a Canadian company created in 2003, located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada at Innovation Place Research Park. It is devoted to activities related to research/commercialization and the genetic variation that exists within the populations of animals in the industry. Primarily the company is focused on the identification of variant forms of genes that affect phenotypes of economic importance, i.e. YG, QG, carcass wt, etc. Further understanding of how to manipulate these genotypes to achieve more consistent end products is also at the forefront of QGCI. QGCI has developed one such understanding about how to manipulate variation in the obese gene, such that Canada/USDA grades can be optimally achieved more consistently than have been done with existing technologies.

Molecular Biodiagnostics
Leigh Marquess will explore the growth potential and opportunities in the area of animal diagnostics.
>stay tuned for more details

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Bernard Laarveld
Department Head,
Animal & Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan

Biography
Bernard Laarveld is a Professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Saskatchewan, where he served as Head from 1994 - 2005. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Animal Science from The Netherlands, and the M.Sc. and PhD degrees from the University of Saskatchewan in the areas of nutrition and physiology. He teaches Introductory Agriculture; Applied Animal Biotechnology; Growth and Lactation Physiology, and Nutrition. His current research focuses on growth and metabolic physiology, effects of IGF-2 gene polymorphisms on lactation, and development of novel nutraceutical dairy products. Dr. Laarveld has a strong interest in technology transfer and commercial and economic development. He was instrumental in developing the Prairie Feed Resource Centre which now has evolved into the Feeds Innovation Institute. He was a co-founder of Minerva Animal Health Corporation Inc., now in Ceapro Inc., Edmonton, Alberta, which develops and markets high quality dermatological and nutraceutical products from oats. He is the project leader for a new national Feed Technology Research Pilot Plant at the U of S for which he successfully attracted capital funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Government of Saskatchewan. He is a Board member of the Saskatchewan Ethanol Development Council and is engaged in numerous other outreach activities.
 
Emerging research opportunities in Animal Health and Nutrition - by Bernard Laarveld
Fundamental changes in the global economy and in global food supply and demand are creating significant economic opportunities in the animal nutrition and feed business sectors, but which depend on extensive R&D and business development. The factors driving change are: 1. The growing wealth in Asia and accompanying demand for animal products and thus animal feeds. 2. The rapid growth of the global aquaculture sector and shortages of fish meal and oil as diet ingredients which drive substitution with plant-based feeds. 3. Increased emphasis on food safety and quality and safety assurance systems. 4. Demand for nutraceutical and functional properties of feeds and animal products. 5. Higher standards with respect to minimizing environmental impact of livestock production through nutrition and feed products. 6. Rapid growth of the bioeconomy, including the biofuel sector and crop processing and increased supply of co-generation products for animal feed. 7. Significant shifts in supply and costs of starch and protein.

The University of Saskatchewan and affiliated organizations offer world class R&D and commercialization capabilities, including a new national Feed Technology Research Pilot Plant, to build on these opportunities. The review will identify specific areas of research strength and opportunity including application of synchrotron science to study feed structure – biological function relationships; use of nutraceuticals and biologicals such as enzymes, pre-and pro-biotics and immune supplements in feeds; plant breeding specifically for feed processing and animal nutritional traits; reducing environmental impact through nutritional and feed processing strategies, and; value adding to commodity crops and cogeneration by-products creating high value plant-based feed products for the global animal and aquaculture sectors.

Animal and Poultry Science in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources is part of a large internationally recognized interdisciplinary research group in animal nutrition and feed science at the University of Saskatchewan. The strength of this group lies in being able to address diverse facets of nutrition across the full spectrum from plant breeding, crop identity preservation and product tracking, feed processing, feed science, material science and engineering, nutrition, physiology, microbiology, pathology, and toxicology to animal and microbial genomics, animal health and infectious diseases. Typical target species include swine, poultry, dairy and beef cattle, small ruminants, horses, pets, fish, shrimp and specialty livestock such as elk. The research is both animal and feed ingredient focused. The group provides important R&D support to capture value through feed product development for the Prairie crop industries and the rapidly growing biofuel and crop processing sectors. The group targets regional, national and export market opportunities, and is very active in supporting R&D needs for international market development. Extensive high quality research infrastructure supports the R&D activities, and particularly the new Canadian Light Source synchrotron provides a unique capability. A national Feed Technology Research Pilot Plant will be constructed in 2007-08 to further support feed processing, animal nutrition and bioproducts research and commercialization. This new facility also will provide industry specific research services and research contracts, combined with product and market development consulting services provided through the Feeds Innovation Institute. Tailored plant breeding of crops for nutritional and processing characteristics is available through the Crop Development Centre.

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Jason Skotheim
VP Operations,
Horizon Pet Nutrition

Horizon Pet Nutrition officially opened its brand new, state-of-the-art production plant in Rosthern on September 6, 2006. The company is already starting to build a reputation for the quality of its product. “Our pet food stacks up with some of the best names in pet food out there.  We’re using nothing but the best ingredients that we can find. So it’s a very high quality food, and I think people are starting to realize that. We’re getting very good response back from consumers.”

Horizon is currently focusing on producing pet food for companion animals, such as dogs and cats.  The company produces a frozen raw product, and also has an extrusion line for manufacturing a dry kibble product. Among the products currently used in Horizon’s pet food are fresh de-boned chicken, chicken meal, hulless barley, hulless oats and rye. In the future, the company may expand its line to include beef ingredients, depending on rulings in the United States, which is being eyed by the company as a key market for growth. Most of the company’s product is marketed to specialty pet outlets through High Mountain Feed Distributors of Calgary. Their products are available in over 50 retail outlets from Victoria, B.C., to Selkirk, Manitoba, and they're in the process of signing up others. In Saskatchewan, Horizon pet food can be found in stores in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Tisdale and Rosthern.

Processing Technology
Jason Skotheim will share with us Horizon Pet Nutrition’s recent developments and opportunities in companion animal and livestock feed processing technology. >stay tuned for more details

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Richard Harland
DVM MVetSc, Director of Business Development
Novartis - Animal Health

Biography

• Graduated as a veterinarian from Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan in 1982.

• Practiced in Humboldt, Saskatchewan and focused on cattle and equine practice from 1982 to 1985.

• Returned to WCVM in 1985 and completed a Residency in Herd Medicine and a Masters of Veterinary Science (Epidemiology) in 1987.

• In 1988 held split position at WCVM Ambulatory clinician with students on farm calls and Veterinary Infectious Disease Organization for clinical research.

• From 1989 to 1992 as a Research Scientist at VIDO developing vaccines

• From 1992 to 1995 as a Manager of Clinical Research

• Moved to Biostar (a Biotech company) in 1996 as the Manager of Clinical Affairs and Technical Services; primary focus on vaccine research.

• In 2000 Biostar was purchased by Novartis Animal Health; became Director of R & D (vaccines) for North America.

• Since 2006: Director of Business Development and Head of Lead finding for Vaccines, acquiring new vaccine technology for Novartis Animal Health and especially working closely with human vaccine company Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics to build collaborations and share vaccine technologies between the human and animal health divisions.

Animal Vaccines and Immunostimulants - by Richard Harland DVM MVetSc
In general, the Animal Pharmaceutical global markets are only approximately 2.5 – 3% of the Human Pharmaceutical global markets. This is different however, in the vaccines markets where Animal Health markets are approximately 2/3 of the size of the Human market. The Animal Health market offers many unique advantages over the Human market in speed of adoption of new technologies. Animal vaccines and immunostimulants continue to grow in share of the total Animal Health markets and there are many opportunities for future growth.
 

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Scott Wright
Executive Director,
Feeds Innovation Institute

New Products from Bioproducts
Join Dr. Scott Wright to learn more about the opportunities to develop new co-products from the bioproducts industry (e.g., biofuels). >stay tuned for more details

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Albert Paszek
Director of Biotechnology,
Tyson Cobb Vantress

Biography
Dr. Paszek, who is now director of biotechnology with Tyson Cobb Vantress, began his career in Poland where he studied animal science and production at the Agricultural University of Warsaw. In 1986 he moved to the University of Minnesota in the U.S. where he undertook graduate and post-doctorate work on swine genome mapping. Dr. Paszek was a research manager for the Dekalb Swine Breeders, Inc. and later assistant professor in the department of veterinary pathobiology at the University of Minnesota in 1998. For the past five years he has managed a research program in animal productivity and genomics with the Cargill corporation.

Investment Attractions: an Industry Perspective
>details to come

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Sponsors

If you are interested in contributing to this workshop, please contact Jazmin Bolaños at 306-668-2659, or
Click here   to see the sponsorship opportunities available for your organization (pdf document).

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Media

We welcome credentialed, working journalists of the general media to attend Animal Health and Nutrition  Workshop. Media registration is complimentary for credentialed members of the news media. Public relations executives and consultants, authors, researchers, and editors of trade association publications and newsletters may not register as media.

Conference organizers will review all media registrations for authenticity and have the authority to decline registration of persons who do not meet eligibility criteria. Conference organizers will contact you concerning the status of your registration request.

For media guidelines, interview scheduling, or other information, please contact Darcy Pawlik, Communications Director of Ag-West Bio at 306-668-2656.

Thank you for your interest and participation!

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Contact
Ag-West Bio Inc.
101 - 111 Research Drive
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
S7N 3R2
Tel: 306-975-1939
Fax: 306-975-1966
E-mail: agwest@agwest.sk.ca

Visit the Ag-West Bio Inc. website:
www.agwest.sk.ca


Ag-West Bio, at the forefront of Saskatchewan ’s bio-economy, works as a catalyst for partnerships and industry growth through investments, aiding strategic alliances, providing regulatory advice and communications.

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Funding assistance for Ag-West Bio is provided by Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food.