​Engineering novel, safe, and effective vaccines against Avian Pathogenic E. coli

​Supported by the BEMB with pump priming funds, Dr Jai Mehat, Senior Research Fellow in Microbiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Surrey University has recently completed a project seeking to find ways to engineer a novel vaccine against avian pathogenic E.coli and combine the beneficial properties of probiotics with vaccines.

The project which started in 2018 was centred on a novel concept for the production of immunogenic antigens using a scalable protein expression system that has a long history of use in the food industry. It aimed to generate hybrid proteins using an expression system in L. lactis, a food-grade bacterial species. These hybrid proteins would then be anchored to the surface of probiotic strains in a co-culture system. Resulting probiotics could be used as vehicles to deliver immunogenic antigens to mucosal surfaces of at-risk layer hens.
You can read the summary results of this project here.

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PhD Project Call
It is the policy of the BEMB Research and Education Trust to fund a Post Graduate Award every other year for research into projects relating to hen egg production.  Each Award is for a period of 4 years and sponsorship is based upon BBSRC rates.

The application window for new PhD projects to start in October 2022 is now open. Please find links to the invitation letter and an application form below.
Invitation letter.
​Application form.

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Dr Eleanor Karp-Tatham successfully completes her PhD at Royal Veterinary College

​Ellie started her BEMB Trust sponsored PhD project entitled “Understanding population, genetic and antigenic diversity of the poultry red mite to improve prospects for successful vaccine development.” in October 2016. Under the main supervision of Professor Damer Blake BSc, MSc, PhD, PGCVetEd, FHEA, Professor of Parasite Genetics, she completed it in December 2020, having received a small time extension due to Covid 19 delays. The BEMB Trust is very pleased to say that early in 2021, Ellie successfully defended her thesis and has been awarded the title of Doctor. 
Ellie has produced a lay summary of her project which you can download and read here.
 
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BEMB Trust sponsors new Nuffield Scholar for 2021
 
Adrian Marshall will be embarking on a BEMB Trust sponsored Nuffield Scholarship during 2021, looking into a study entitled "Can welfare expectations of consumers be met by the UK Commercial Egg Sector in the short and long term?" Adrian would like to consider what changes might be needed throughout the production chain from Breeding to Rearing and ultimately Production, to meet what might be challenging additional welfare standards. 
Adrian currently works in the egg sector for Lohmann GB as the Regional Technical Manager for the South East of England. He hopes to travel and study practices and trends in Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Scandinavia, France & North America, Covid 19 travel restrictions allowing.