4 University of Padova

the Università degli Studi di Padova, Department of Agronomy Food Natural resources
Animals and Environment www.unipd.it/en/dafnae

Team in O+

Dr Massimo De Marchi. Massimo is leading WP4 LIVESTOCK. He is a Full Professor at the University of Padova. He supervised and co-supervised 5 successfully completed PhDs and more than 15 successfully completed MSc. He has more than 140 publications (>100 are peer-review scientific papers), more than 1,400 citations and an h-index of 33 (Scopus, May 2020).. He is secretary of EAAP cattle commission and currently working on new milk and meat phenotypes. Overall, his research projects can be broadly categorised into two main topics: (i) the use of infrared technology to predict new phenotypes for the beef and dairy industries and farmers, and (ii) the use of these phenotypes for herd management and for genetic and breeding purpose. www.researchgate.net/profile/Massimo_De_Marchi2

Dr Martino Cassandro. Martino is a Full Professor (2006 – continue). Supervised and co-supervised more than 12 successfully completed PhDs and more than 45 successfully completed MSc. More than 200 publications (>130 are peer-review scientific papers). More than 1,800 citations and an h-index of 24, and president of WPSA Italian branch. He is currently working on animal breeding and production for new animal product phenotypes. Overall, his research projects can be broadly categorised into two main topics: (i) the use of molecular markers to genotype individual animals (ii) to merge phenotypes and molecular markers for genetic traceability, genetic improvement and genetic conservation purposes.

Dr Mauro Penasa. Mauro is an Associate Professor (2017 – continue). Supervised/co-supervised 11 BSc and 12 MSc students, and co-supervised 4 PhD students. He is currently chief supervisor of 2 PhD students. 65 scientific papers published in international peer-reviewed journals (timespan 2007-2017), 818 total citations, and h-index of 18. As a co-author, Mauro Penasa has been the recipient of: 1) “Journal of Dairy Science® (JDS) Most Cited Award 2012” (Section: Dairy Foods) for the paper J. Dairy Sci. (2009; 92:423-432); 2) “Journal of Dairy Science® (JDS) Most Cited Award 2017” (Section: Genetics and Breeding) for the paper J. Dairy Sci. (2014; 97:1171-1186). The main research focus areas are: a) sources of variation and estimation of genetic parameters for innovative bovine milk phenotypes measured with reference analyses and predicted through mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS); b) phenotypic and genetic aspects of functional traits in dairy cattle populations, with emphasis on fertility and udder health. Mauro Penasa has participated to several regional and national projects, and he is currently principal investigator of a 2-year project funded by the University of Padova titled “Study of phenotypic and genetic aspects of β-hydroxybutyrate content in milk of Italian Holstein Friesian cows”.

Dr. Angela Costa. Angela is a Post-Doc researcher at the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural resources, Animals and the Environment (DAFNAE) of University of Padova (Italy). Her main research interests cover dairy cattle and buffalo breeding and novel phenotypes predicted from milk infrared spectra. She joined the team in October 2019 and is involved in the research activities conducted by the UNIPD team. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Angela_Costa14

Dr. Carmen L. Manuelian.

Carmen L. is a veterinarian Post-Doc researcher at the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural resources, Animals and the Environment (DAFNAE) of University of Padova (Italy) under Massimo’s supervision. Her main research interests cover ruminant production and infrared spectroscopy in animals derived products. She joined the team in June 2018 and is involved in conduction the organic livestock survey and given support to the WP4 coordination tasks. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carmen_Manuelian

About the the Università degli Studi di Padova

Dating back to 1222, the Università degli Studi di Padova (University of Padova – UNIPD) is one of the leading Universities in Italy and has a long tradition of scientific excellence. UNIPD offer its students 32 departments, 37 doctoral degree courses and 44 research and service centres across the spectrum of sciences, medicine, social sciences and humanities, with about 2,300 professors and researchers employed. UNIPD participated in 196 European Research projects within the 7th Framework Programme and in about 40 projects from other EU funds, accounting for more than 70 Million Euros. It currently manages 86 Horizon 2020 actions for a total budget of more than 26 Million Euros. UNIPD has specific expertise on the management of European projects: it coordinated 40 FP7 projects and it has suitable structures and resources dedicated to this end; in particular, the International Research Office is a reference point for departments and research centres that intend to apply for EU funds for research projects. The work will be carried out in the Department of Agronomy Food Natural resources Animals and Environment (DAFNAE). The “mission” of the Department is to promote the quality of human life, the competitiveness of the agri-food sector and the sustainable use of natural resources, biotic and abiotic, through the production and dissemination of knowledge on the management and improvement of plants, animals, soil and microorganisms for the production of quality food and biomass, ensuring the conservation of ecological systems, the protection of cultivated plants and enhancing the environment and biodiversity. Assuming that in the agro-food industry the close connections between the environment, crop and animal production, biomass and food require integrated and interdisciplinary approach, vision and methods, the Department DAFNAE develop excellent research and teaching in the fields of science and technology plant, animal and microbial soil, cultivation techniques and livestock, the environmental sustainability of agro-livestock and food biotechnology in agriculture and food and the environment, the preservation and enhancement of environmental resources and biodiversity, the properties technological products, and the evaluation and enhancement of the quality of the food. The main novelty in the cultural project of the department is to study the environmental and agri-food sector with a comprehensive approach, in order to consider and exploit the interconnections that exist within individual sectors and between different production chains. In particular, we are grouped in a logical system of scientific expertise, teaching and administration in the fields of knowledge and the production of vegetable and animal raw materials, the quality of the agricultural and forestry, including meadows and lawns, the study of components biocenotic plant and animal production, processing and exploitation of food and non-food products and services, using advanced methods of research, including biotechnology.