Ryan N. Dilger

Associate Professor
Animal Sciences
University of Illinois at urbana champaign
United States of America

Biography

He has done his Ph.D., 2007, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, M.S., 2004, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, B.S., 2001, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

Research Intrest

The research in our laboratory integrates the interdisciplinary fields of animal nutrition, immunophysiology, and neuroscience, including the ability of nutrients to impact metabolic, immunologic, and developmental patterns. We focus on comparative animal nutrition, with an emphasis on biochemical aspects of proteins and amino acids, but also strive to integrate immunological and behavioral outcomes as related to overall animal health. One notable project in our lab is the use of a translational piglet model for studying the impact of nutrient intake and infection during the neonatal period on brain development and cognitive function (i.e., learning and memory). Overall, research projects in this laboratory can be broadly categorized into two areas: 1) practical nutrition issues facing animal agriculture, and 2) fundamental nutrition questions studied using translational animal models to improve human/animal health and well-being.

List of Publications
Rochell, S. J., J. L. Usry, T. M. Parr, C. M. Parsons, and R. N. Dilger. 2016. Effects of dietary copper and amino acid density on growth performance, apparent metabolizable energy, and nutrient digestibility in Eimeria acervulina-challenged broilers. Poult. Sci. doi:10.3382/ps/pew276 [In press]
Mudd, A. T., J. Salcedo, L. S. Alexander, S. K. Johnson, C. M. Getty, M. Chichlowski, B. M. Berg, D. Barile, and R. N. Dilger. 2016. Porcine milk oligosaccharides and sialic acid concentrations vary throughout lactation. Front. Nutr. 3 doi:10.3389/fnut.2016.00039
Jacob, R. M., A. T. Mudd, L. S. Alexander, C.-S. Lai, and R. N. Dilger. 2016. Comparison of brain development in sow-reared and artificially reared piglets. Front. Pediatr. 4 doi:10.3389/fped.2016.00095
Mudd, A. T., L. S. Alexander, S. K. Johnson, C. M. Getty, O. V. Malysheva, M. A. Caudill, and R. N. Dilger. 2016. Perinatal dietary choline deficiency in sows influences concentrations of choline metabolites, fatty acids, and amino acids in milk throughout lactation. J. Nutr. 146:2216-2223. doi 10.3945/jn.116.238832
Fleming, S. A., and R. N. Dilger. 2016. Young pigs exhibit differential exploratory behavior during novelty preference tasks in response to age, sex, and delay. Behav. Brain Res. 321:50-60. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2016.12.027