Mark A McGuireDr. McGuire is Professor and head of the University of Idaho’s Department of Animal and Veterinary Science, where he not only oversees an active research program but also works closely with the state’s dairy and other commodity industries to promote ducation and research that will benefit the state, region, and nation in this regard. His research is focused around milk. For instance his studies have described nutritional and metabolic means to enrich milk with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega-3 fatty acids in both cows and women. He has also conducted research related to how particularly fatty acids might be involved in protection against pathogens that cause mastitis – for instance Staphylococcus aureus. Other work has addressed the effect of exotoxins produced by S. aureus on the response by the mammary gland in its battle against infection. Along with his colleague, Dr. Shelley McGuire, Mark has also become interested in the possibility that milk may be an important source of healthy bacteria for the nursing neonate/infant. Their interdependent, interdisciplinary work shows that milk produced by healthy women contains many types of bacteria, and that this community structure seems to be personalized within a woman. The importance of the milk microbiome to development of the infant gastrointestinal tract and health of the breast are areas under current study. Dr. McGuire is a Council Member on the Executive Committee for the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML), and an active member of many professional societies including the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), American Society of Animal Science (ASAS), American Society of Microbiology (ASM), and the American Society for Nutrition (ASN). His research has been recognized by ADSA with the Richard M. Hoyt Dairy Research Award and the Agway Inc. Young Scientist award. Read More Read Less