Poultry Science Doctoral Student Wins Poster Competition at International Meeting

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Left to right, Seong Kang, Gurueswar Nagarajan and Wayne Kuenzel.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gurueswar Nagarajan, a doctoral candidate in the University of Arkansas Department of Poultry Science directed by physiologist Wayne Kuenzel, won first place in the graduate student poster competition at the International Symposium on Avian Endocrinology held Oct. 11-14 in Niagara, Ontario, Canada.

Nagarajan's poster was titled "Corticotropin Releasing Hormone Containing Neurons in the Nucleus of the Hippocampal Commissure are Involved in the Neuroendocrine Regulation of stress in Birds." Utilizing the technique of immunohistochemistry to provide neuroanatomical data and real time quantitative RT-PCR, a molecular procedure that documents gene expression changes, Nagarajan obtained both structural and functional information to suggest that a new structure, the nucleus of the hippocampal commissure, should be included in the traditional hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis that regulates the stress response in avian species. Others who contributed to this effort included Seong Kang, a research associate in poultry science department, and Alex Jurkevich, Molecular Cytology Research Core Facility, University of Missouri, and Kuenzel.

ISAE is an event that takes place every four years in a rotation system between Asia, Europe, and America, and is dedicated to showcase up-to-date advancements in the field of avian endocrinology, while bringing together scientists from all over the world.