The Young Scholars Program recognizes and features the research accomplishments of recent Ph.D. graduates or current Ph.D. students in the advanced stages of their program. The program provides promising scholars with opportunities to present timely research findings to an audience of academic and industry professionals in a forum that allows in-depth discussion for contemporary research techniques and findings.

“There is a growing concern about the protein and essential amino acid balance in transition dairy cows,” explains Osorio. “My doctorial research hypothesis was that methionine supplementation with either of the rumen-protected methionines Metasmart® or SmartAmine M® would alleviate inflammation and enhance liver function partly via alterations of transcriptional mechanisms in liver and immunometabolic indices in blood. My research advisors were Dr. Juan J. Loor, Associate Professor, and Professor James Drackley of the Animal Science Department at the University of Illinois.

“The results indicate that supplementing methionine throughout the transition period may diminish inflammatory conditions, enhance liver function, and considerably impact the hepatic transcriptome, all of which may help the cow cope with negative amino acid balance early after calving.”