Lufenuron talk scoops student prize
This year's winner of Elanco's prestigious Young Scientist Award is a PhD candidate from the Atlantic Veterinary College, Jordan Poley, for his presentation on the effects of the novel louse treatment lufenuron.
From year to year, a large part of the scientific programme at the International Sea Lice Conferences is to showcase student research. The top three student poster presentations and oral presentations are recognized and awarded a prize.
Since 2012, the top oral presentation has been awarded a prestigious award by Elanco Animal Health (formally Novartis Animal Health). The award includes an all-expenses paid trip to Elanco Research & Development facilities, either in Basel, Switzerland, or Victoria, Prince Edward Island.
Poley's presentation was titled "Transcriptomic responses of Lepeophtheirus salmonis to lufenuron: a novel therapeutant for salmon lice control".
"I am very grateful to the organizers of Sealice 2016 for the opportunity to present my research," Poley told Fish Farming Expert. "There were so many fantastic talks this year, and I'm pretty honoured to receive this award."
A third-year PhD student, Poley has now received 3 presentation awards at international conferences, and has published 7 papers in prestigious journals including a recent publication in BMC Genomics identifying sex-differences in responses of the salmon louse.
His research focus spans a wide range of topics, including understanding resistance mechanisms of the salmon louse to various drugs, the potential of in-feed immunostimulants to help control infections with the parasite, as well as the role of mutation rates in driving genetic diversity within populations of salmon lice.
"It's really amazing that Elanco supports students and open science with this award", Poley said. "I am excited to visit the R&D facilities in Switzerland, and engage with world-leading scientists in my field."
