Betsy Thering

Graduate Research Assistant
thering2@uiuc.edu
Department of Animal Sciences
A. A. S.: Dairy Production and Management, State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology, Cobleskill
B. T.: Animal Science, Dairy concentration, State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology, Cobleskill

Bio

Professional interests:

My professional interests are in dairy cattle, particularly concerning nutrition and transition cows.  My goals as a researcher are to ultimately reduce and/or eliminate metabolic disorders around the transition period by utilizing new technologies to better recommend feeding strategies.  My specific interest in this area is the study of how different sources of dietary lipids affect lipid metabolism as it pertains specifically to metabolic diseases such as ketosis and fatty liver.  Through my research, I want to be able to suggest certain feeding strategies to the farmer and help them to understand the changes that transition cows undergo, and in the end alleviate these metabolic stresses.

M.S. Projects:

1) Using liver from dairy cattle, we hope to discover liver-specific responses to elevated concentrations of specific non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in the blood.  These will be obtained by measuring global gene expression profiles using a bovine-specific microarray developed at the University of Illinois.  These profiles will be related to physiological measurements that are known to be present during high NEFA influx into the liver early post-partum.  Together, the data will give us a better understanding of which fatty acids might play a significant role in preventing or alleviating metabolic problems such as fatty liver around parturition.  This knowledge will allow us to better maintain overall cow health during this transitional period.

2) Transcriptional regulation in mammary and adipose tissue of cows fed a milk fat-depressing or milk fat-enhancing diet.