PVAMU’s Adela Mora-Gutierrez Earns $300,000 USDA-NIFA Competitive Grant Award to Study Nutraceutical-Based Interventions for the Management of Mastitis as an Alternative to Antibiotics

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (April 25, 2023) –  Adela Mora-Gutierrez, Ph.D., a research scientist at the Cooperative Agricultural Research Center (CARC) at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) was recently awarded $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program for her project, Improvement Of Dairy Production And Quality By A Lactoferrin-Methyl-Sulfonyl-Methane Complex As Immunomodulator To Target Sub-Clinical Mastitis. Mastitis is an inflammatory condition of the mammary tissue and represents a major problem for the dairy industry worldwide. Dr. Mora-Gutierrez (CARC) will serve as the Project’s Principal Investigator (PI) in collaboration with Erdogan Memili, Ph.D., DVM, in Animal Systems, Executive Associate of Research Director and William B. Foxworth, Ph.D. in Veterinary Physiology, Director and Lead Scientist, International Goat Research Center (IGRC).

 “The awarded USDA-NIFA, National Research Initiative Competitive Grant under the Food Safety and Defense Program was a big surprise, but it exemplifies the vision and direction of our work at CARC,” said Dr. Mora-Gutierrez. “This brings us a step closer to boost immunity against sub-clinical mastitis that have plagued dairy ranchers in the USA for decades and are estimated to cost them $1 billion annually. The research seeks solutions to eliminate pathogens responsible for causing mastitis in commercially important dairy animals. Our nutraceutical-based interventions for the management of mastitis may be as efficient as antibiotics.”

The team will be working with American-bred, French-Alpine goats to evaluate the use of bioactive compounds, such as the methyl-sulfonyl-methane-lactoferrin complex having immunomodulatory properties. The aim of the research project is to compare the gene expression profiles of pro- and anti-inflammatory markers in dairy goats infected with mastitis-causing bacteria treated with the methyl-sulfonyl-methane-lactoferrin complex following intramuscular and intramammary administration.

“America’s food and agricultural producers operate in a global, diverse, and highly competitive marketplace driven by consumers,” said PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA. “As part of the nation’s public research system, researchers at PVAMU are working toward The University’s mission continuing and expanding the needs of the public by generating new knowledge and technologies that improve productivity and ensuring a safe and healthy food supply.”

The overall goal of this study is to generate new knowledge to develop a novel nutraceutical-based intervention to assist the dairy industry through the management of clinical mastitis – a common disease that frequently attacks dairy farm animals. The infection causes reduced milk production and quality, increases culling and mortality of cows and goats; and, therefore, has a negative impact on the efficiency and profitability of milk production.

According to Dr. Mora-Gutierrez, “Our food safety studies may reveal promising new tactics to minimize the threats of some of nature’s food demons-Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, and Streptococcus agalactiae that causes mastitis in commercially important dairy farm animals such as cows and goats. The study supported by this USDA-NIFA National Research Initiative Competitive Grant could offer an unprecedented opportunity to study the immune system.”

Impacts of the USDA-NIFA funded research will promote state-of-the-art nutraceutical research, and augment research skills of faculty and students in agricultural sciences for excellence in the land grant missions of PVAMU.