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Dr. Jennifer Ronholm
Canada Research Chair in Agricultural Microbiology
Associate Professor, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Résumé : Antibiotic resistance (ABR) is an international crisis. In 2019 about 4.95 human
deaths were associated with ABR and this number consistently grows each year. The vast
majority of antibiotics produced are used in agriculture. Agricultural use of antibiotics
accounts for 70-80% of total production for most countries on Earth. The rates of human
illness and death are truly unsustainable – but if antibiotics are banned from agricultural use
food prices will rise and food security will decrease. My lab attempts to develop novel
mechanisms of preventing infections in agricultural animals to negate the requirement of
antibiotics in agriculture. We focus on novel probiotic discovery. We currently have several
prototype probiotics to prevent Salmonella in poultry and mastitis in dairy cattle. We also
attempt to monitor the movement of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)and develop novel
ways to keep ARGs from moving from farms into the human population. We currently have a
CRISPR-Cas9 system which can delete ARGs in vivo from dairy cattle. In the future, we will
continue to perform research aimed at reducing the proliferation and spread of AMR
originating from agriculture.