Dr Douglas Korver, a poultry nutrition expert, was
recently recognised for his professional achievements by the Poultry Science
Association.
Korver is an assistant professor of agricultural, food and nutritional
science at the University of Alberta in Canada.
The Poultry Nutrition Research Award, sponsored by the American Feed
Industry Association, was presented to Korver during a ceremony in Niagara
Falls, Ontario, on 23 July.
Korver, a native of Lethbridge, Alberta, received degrees from the
University of Saskatchewan and the University of Delaware. During his time at
the latter institution, he investigated the role of dietary fat stability on
feed quality and broiler chicken performance. He earned his doctoral degree at
the University of California, Davis, where he focused on the interaction of
nutrition and inflammation, as modulated by omega-3 fatty acids.
In 1996, Korver returned to the University of Saskatchewan to take up a
post-doctoral research fellowship. His initial work had a strong applied
research focus, and relevance of his research to the poultry industry remains
important to him.
In recent years, Korver has collaborated with other researchers at the
University of Alberta to develop the indicator amino acid oxidation method for
determining amino acid requirements of poultry. He currently uses this technique
to assess changes in protein synthesis during the inflammatory response in
broiler chickens.
Korver's other main area of research addresses avian bone metabolism. His
research group has validated the use of quantitative computed tomography to
measure distribution of bone mineral among various bone types in poultry.
Assessing bone mineral density in live birds allows for a more efficient use of
experimental birds than traditional methods. It also allows bone mineralization
in individual birds to be followed through the various stages of
production.
In addition, Korver won several teaching awards, and he shared the 2004
World's Poultry Science Association Education Award as a member of the Alberta
Poultry Research Centre.
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