As part of a recently announced NSERC Engage Grant initiative to foster collaborations between industry and academia, Dr. Mark Fast, Novartis Research Chair in Fish Health, Dr. John Burka, Department of Biomedical Science, and Dr. Fred Markham, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, have received federal funding of $25,000 over six months for a pilot project with Northeast Nutrition. This project will investigate modes of immunostimulation in salmon and their potential anti-parasitic effects. With the increasing costs/losses in salmonid culture due to sea lice infections and the real threat of resistance to drug therapy, new methods for enhancing host immune responses against this parasite are of major importance to the industry. Northeast Nutrition (Cooke Aquaculture) will provide in-kind contributions as well as expertise to this project in the hopes of better understanding the mechanisms of anti-parasitic resistance. Click here for information.