WPSA Scholarship Awards
WPSA Scholarship Awards winners 2004
To mark the success of the 1992 World’s Poultry Congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Branch of the World’s Poultry Science Association established a series of special scholarship awards. The awards, worth €11,000, are normally made in each of three categories representing the WPSA’s three main areas of activity: Research, Education, and Industry/Organization. Award recipients or leaders of the group or organization must have been members of the WPSA for at least two years prior to the World’s Poultry Congress at which the awards are presented.
The WPSA Scholarship Awards Committee, under the chairmanship of Dr. Piet Simons, the Secretary of the WPSA, announced the third group of winners of these awards for 2004 at the XXII World’s Poultry Congress in Istanbul, Turkey.
WPSA Paul B. Siegel Research Award
Dr. Irit Davidson
The Awards Committee decided that the Research Award should go to Dr. Irit Davidson from Israel. Since 1981, Dr. Davidson’s scientific interest has been in avian oncogenic viruses, which include the causal herpesvirus of Marek’s disease (MDV) and several retroviruses: lymphoid and myeloid leucosis (ALV and ALV-J), reticuloendotheliosis (REV), and lymphoproliferative disease (LPDV). These viruses cause economic losses to the poultry industry due to their oncogenic and immunosuppressive properties. The research is not only important for agriculture but also because these viruses serve as excellent experimental models for human and animal virology, as they cause tumors in their natural hosts within a relatively short period.
Recently, Dr. Davidson has added another immunosuppressive virus, the chicken infectious anemia virus (CIAV), to her research. Dr. Davidson’s contribution to virology is well recognized in the scientific community, as reflected by citations in publications, invitations to international meetings, and her involvement in organizing international symposiums. Her publications include 83 articles and 88 meeting abstracts. The Research Award will be used to continue research on novel systems, particularly in ovo vaccination with Marek’s disease vaccines, a new approach that has not yet been explored.
WPSA Education Award
Alberta Poultry Group
The Education Award went to the Alberta Poultry Group from Canada. Drs. Frank Robinson, Rob Renema, Doug Korver, Gaylene Fasenko, Lynne McMullen, and John Feddes of the University of Alberta, along with Mr. Zuidhof of the Alberta government, formed the Alberta Poultry Group. Since the late 1980s, these educators and researchers have made the University of Alberta a premier site for poultry research and education in Canada. The Group has excelled in publishing research results and has become world leaders in nutritional management of broiler breeders.
The Alberta Poultry Group is known not only for its research but also for its educational contributions, recognized by 15 teaching awards, including four consecutive “Teacher of the Year” awards from the Faculty of Agriculture. The Group is currently working on a series of eight videos describing the poultry industry, aimed at university students and poultry producers in Canada and internationally. The WPSA Education Award will support this project, helping deliver up-to-date information on poultry production to a wider audience.
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