ARBL NATIONAL NEEDS FELLOWSHIPS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1009555
• Grant No.: 2016-38420-25289
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $262,500.00
• Proposal No.: 2015-10849
• Project Start Date: May 15, 2016
• Project End Date: May 14, 2021
• Grant Year: 2016
• Program Code: [KK]- National Needs Graduate Fellowships Program

Recipient Organization
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
FORT COLLINS,CO 80523

Performing Department
Biomedical Sciences

Non Technical Summary
This National Needs Fellowship (NNF) proposal addresses the USDA NIFA Targeted Expertise Shortage Area: Animal and Plant Production with graduate training in a Veterinary Medicine College (V). Relevant USDA Strategic Goals within Animal Reproduction are: gonadal function (including production, function, and preservation of gametes); hypothalamic-pituitary axis; or embryonic and fetal development (including interaction between the conceptus and its uterine environment). Focus is on improving reproductive efficiency in ruminants, which limits productivity in these farm animals. Goals are to: 1) recruit three PhD trainees with emphasis on underrepresented groups into the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory (ARBL); 2) mentor, train and retain these PhD students (3 yrs) with research emphasis in animal reproduction. ; 3) place these globally competitive students in career tracks such that they meet the emerging market demands in animal production; and 4) carefully track progress and outcomes at each stage of development and placement to ensure a successful training experience. In addition to emphasis on training in ethics in science, students will submit a grant proposal to the USDA AFRI and will be formally trained in at least one specialized state of art technique, weekly laboratory meetings, journal clubs and seminars. Specialized leadership training will be supported and an international research experience will further enrich the PhD training experience. Outcomes will be measured through future employment and success of these students in agricultural sciences. Students will be tracked using social media and direct contact. This NNF will address the national need to develop scientific and professional expertise in the food and agricultural sciences. The research expertise and leadership developed in these young scientists also will address the National Farm Bill Priority of Animal Health and Animal Production.

Animal Health Component

20%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

80%

Applied

20%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
301	3999	1020	100%

Knowledge Area
301 - Reproductive Performance of Animals;

Subject Of Investigation
3999 - Animal research, general;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;

Keywords

national

needs

fellowship

Goals / Objectives
Goals are to: 1) recruit three students with the Master of Science and emphasis on underrepresented groups into the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory (ARBL); 2) mentor, train and retain these PhD students (~3 yrs) with research emphasis in animal reproduction. ; 3) place these globally competitive students in career tracks such that they meet the emerging market demands and leadership in animal production; and 4) carefully track progress (using direct contact and social media) and outcomes at each stage of development and placement to ensure a successful training experience. After passing a qualifying PhD exam, students will submit a predoctoral grant proposal to the USDA AFRI and will be formally trained in leadership as well as global perspectives through an international research experience that will further enrich the PhD training experience. This NNF addresses the national need to develop scientific and professional expertise in the food and agricultural sciences. The research expertise and leadership developed in these young scientists also will address the National Farm Bill Priority of Animal Health and Animal Production.

Project Methods
The base research training will foster: 1) delineation of a hypothesis to be tested that is integrated with critical selection and validation of methods, analysis, correct interpretation and timely and concise publications; 2) mastering state-of-the-art techniques to examine new concepts with fidelity/accuracy; and 3) development as independent as well as team scientists. Our students are enriched and succeed because they become involved with several projects besides their own, and collaborate and interact with research teams within the ARBL and throughout the general agricultural and biomedical community at CSU. Our students learn through teaching in the classroom, but also through mentoring students in honors thesis projects and participating in outreach activities such as open houses (field day) and short courses that have a direct impact on the public. Our students participate actively in local-regional seminars and attend national and international meetings. Consequently, they are better equipped to face global challenges in Animal Production/Reproduction.Our funding sources are diverse and include federal as well as industry and private giving. Thus, students gain an appreciation for the importance of diversity of funding, but also the concept of directing basic and fundamental research towards application in translational or clinically relevant science. Through these teaching approaches, we prepare students who are uniquely trained as leaders to address the USDA TESA and advance our global competitiveness in Animal Sciences and Biomedical Sciences.Each fellow will have two faculty co-mentors who monitor daily activities of the student, and two additional faculty members that will serve on the graduate committee. A senior PhD or post-doctoral student will also mentor the new NNF student in context of monitoring progress but also navigating the complex nature of starting a PhD program from a senior student's perspective. As the NNF student matures, the NNF student will then become a mentor for a new PhD students.In weekly laboratory meetings, fellows will describe progress and plans for the next week, and will receive feedback and direction. More formal meetings with the graduate committee will occur on a semi-annual basis where a written report and progress on coursework and research will be evaluated with feedback and direction. Each mentor will track yearly progress by the NNF trainee, report to the NNF advisory board and ensure that the teaching efforts are scheduled and succeeding. Academic progress will be monitored carefully and on the first hint of any concerns, students will be paired with professional counseling.A very strong sense of community and family exists at the ARBL and we will nurture this environment so that our students succeed and feel comfortable reaching out for help when it is needed. Research, and any special technical and leadership training will be planned so that it is directly relevant to the USDA TESA. The international research experience will be based on a large animal research model with relevance to the TESA as well. Core competencies will include passing a closed book qualifying PhD exam after the first year of study. This exam tests competences in our core coursework in Animal Reproduction, but also in any specialized areas based on research focus. NNF then proceed on to PhD candidacy and a focus on research and preparing and defending their research proposal. A pre-doctoral research proposal will be written and submitted to the USDA AFRI by the student with assistance from the mentors as well as other faculty in the ARBL research focal areas. Students will join professional societies such as the ASAS, SSR, ADSA and ESS and participate in student leadership opportunities.Mentors introduce students to scientists and students from other programs (networking) at these national meetings. ARBL faculty collaborated with over 100 national and international scientists over the last 5 years; many of whom have visited our facility or completed sabbatical leave at CSU. This networking helps significantly when placing students following graduation. Our students will be strongly encouraged to attend leadership symposia at our national scientific meetings, but also to become active student officers in these societies, Students will publish at least 2-3 referred manuscripts as the primary author and each year will publish an abstract and attend a national or international meeting to present their research. Through this later activity, it will be possible to develop networking with other faculty and institutions for future placement into a career with impact on the USDA TESA. Students will graduate with a 3.0 GPA or greater. All PhD students will be expected to teach at least one semester in one of the courses that are offered by ARBL faculty. Salary offset will be provided by home departments for time teaching.By using the previously described strategies, we plan to maintain our 100% graduation rate for our NNF students who were multicultural or first-generation college students. Mentors, with monitoring by the PD, will track our NNF students for at least 5 years and will keep these former students aware of ARBL activities through distribution of newsletters and general publications quarterly. Each graduate will be invited to attend our annual Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium. Each NNF graduate will also meet our new recruits in person, or via social media such as Skype and Facebook, to discuss the program with them. Students also will be encouraged to stay connected through mechanisms such as Linkedin. Measurable outcomes will include success in publishing and securing positions in academia or industry that allow them to develop successful research programs related to the TESA. Heads of home departments will mediate exit interviews of NNF students and assess the training program, which will be discussed with the ARBL NNF advisory committee and used to modify and improve opportunities and training for our future fellows. The ARBL is critically reviewed by CSU as a Center (2 yrs) and a PRSE (4 yrs) in context of our graduate education and impact on research and teaching. Also we are reviewed as a graduate program and faculty within BMS (5 years). All of these positive reviews continue to result in recognizing the ARBL as a first, but also longer-term historical and viable PRSE and Center with significant impact at CSU.

Progress 05/15/16 to 05/14/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences are cattle and sheep producers/stakeholders, industries supporting food animal production, state outreach specialists, food animal veterinarians and students. Research also has relevance to human pregnancy, embryo-fetal development and perinatal care. Specific audiences reached during this funding period were Society for the Study of Reproduction, Western Regional USDA Project W3112: Reproduction in Domestic Ruminants, International Embryo Transfer Society, American Society of Animal Science, Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium, Perinatal Research Society, Society for Reproductive Investigation and Conference for Workers in Animal Disease. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Georges. Ms. Georges attended the Society for the Study of Reproduction annual meetings each year from 2017-2020, the International Embryo Technology Society meeting in 2020, as well as the CSU Demo Day meeting, and presented her research in both poster and flash talk platforms. Through SSR, she has been awarded the USDA-NIFA-AFRI Merit Award in 2017 and 2020. She has also attended the Conference for Research Workers in Animal Disease and presented a poster on future BVDV studies. During her time at CSU, Ms. Georges received pedagogy, bioinformatic, and Research to Market training to assist in advancing her career. Ms. Georges was a co-PI on a successful State of Colorado FUEL grant focused on embryo development, which furthered her grant writing and presentation skills. Gonzalez-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios virtually attended training by the State of Colorado FUEL program. As a team member of the Open Cow Test and as part of the Colorado Fuel grant, she participated in conducting interviews that evaluated if there is a justified market for a particular new technology. This experience has aided her to continue developing presentation and grant writing skills. Tanner. Ms. Tanner attended a three-week training through the USDA Meat Animal Research Center. This training included all the bioinformatic training and analysis necessary for specific aims through her USDA NIFA Predoctoral Fellowship (2019-67011-29614). This training has already resulted in a conference proceedings paper which will be presented in October 2021 at the Western Section American Society of Animal Sciences in the graduate student competition. Ms. Tanner also attended the 2021 Society for Reproductive Investigation Meeting (SRI) where she gave a platform talk and received the SRI President's Presenters Awards. Furthermore, she received additional training in the asceptic surgical placement of catheters into fetal and maternal circulation at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School. She received this training with her doctoral committee member and neonatologist, Dr. Paul Rozance. This technique is crucial to her long-term goals of investigation placental function to improve long term health outcomes associated with pregnancy complications. Kennedy. None reported for this cycle. Martin. Dr. Martin contributed to abstracts and attended virtual conferences by the World Association for Veterinary Anatomists and the Western Consortium Regional Teaching Academy. He also attended and helped to deliver the Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium. Other seminars outside of his graduate program have included clinical communication seminars, and memory in medical education. He delivered a guest lecture on the topic of animal dentition, oral and nasal anatomy in BMS305 and provided laboratory instruction in undergraduate, graduate, and veterinary anatomy. He has also been involved in the development of a new food and fiber animal anatomy course that integrates newly developed virtual bovine anatomy learning tools. In addition, Dr. Martin has assisted with sheep studies evaluating the role of obesity in estradiol induced LH surge. Menjivar. Mr. Menjivar has attended the American Society of Animal Sciences 2020 annual meeting and presented a poster on his research at the Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium 2021 and the American Society of Animal Sciences 2021 annual meeting. He recently submitted an abstract for the 2022 annual conference for the International Embryo Technology Society. Mr. Menjivar is continually improving his skillset in handling oocytes/ embryos and is the driving force in embryo production for projects within the lab. He plans to assist Dr. Pablo Pinedo this fall, serving as a teaching assistant for ANEQ 510, bovine reproduction management, as part of his teaching requirements. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?NNF students disseminate their research through public speaking , written format and more recently through virtual on line format. Presentations at local/regional conferences as well as national/international meetings and symposia are required. Platform talks, posters, written abstracts, proceedings, journal papers, book chapters and popular press articles are all encouraged. All NNF students present and discuss their research on a weekly basis in research laboratory meetings. Georges. Two first author peer reviewed articles have been published in 2020. Two more manuscripts are being edited for publication and will be submitted for review in August 2021. Additionally, she has presented these works at the 2017-2020 Society for the Study of Reproduction Meeting, 2019 Conference for Workers in Animal Disease, and 2020 International Embryo Technology (IETS) meeting. Gonzalez-Berrios. Two co-authored manuscripts will be submitted this Fall. She will be presenting a poster at the Western Section Animal Science meeting this Fall. Tanner. Ms. Tanner published two manuscripts this year and is working on other manuscripts while finishing her dissertation. Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy is collecting data for presentation and publication. Martin. Dr. Martin co-authored one manuscript and is a first author on one manuscript. Menjivar. Mr. Menjivar is writing two manuscripts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is a final report for this grant. There is no next reporting period. Although we will be tracking each ARBL NNF for the next five years to be sure that they are suceeding.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1. Recruit three USDA NIFA NNF PhD students We recruited three PhD students on the NNF grant. All three of these students submitted USDA-NIFA international travel awards, that were funded and completed training outside of the USA. Each of these students submitted predoctoral grant proposals to the USDA-NIFA program and each of these proposals were funded and provided room in the budget to recruit/start three new PhD students. In total, this award assisted in the training of six PhD students. One of the new PhD students submitted and was awarded a pre-doctoral award from the USDA-NIFA program. Goal 2. Mentor, train and retain each USDA NNF PhD student Two of the original students will complete the PhD this year, while the remaining student will graduate in summer of next year. The other students have started their first year in training. All NNF students wrote abstracts and presented research either in person or in virtual platforms last year. All students participated in the 2021 Rocky Mountain Research Symposium. Specific accomplishment in 2020-2021 under this goal are provided for all ARBL NNF Students. Georges. Ms. Georges is finishing her investigation of bovine fetal immune development following BVDV infection and has completed analyses on splenic RNA and methylation as well as placental protein. She has published two peer reviewed articles for this work and is in the process of submitting two more manuscripts from these studies. These studies have been supported by the USDA NNF from 2017-2019 and by a USDA Predoctoral NIFA grant from 2019-2021. Gonzalez-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios continues study of why early embryo mortality occurs in Holstein Dairy cows by using RNA-Seq and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis Software. Furthermore, she will be submitting a cohort of five-hundred cows to be genotyped for diagnostic and non-diagnostic SNPs that may be associated with and aid in identifying which cows are prone to embryo mortality and/or selecting those that are reproductively superior. Tanner. Ms. Tanner is completing her investigations on the effects of chorionic somatomammotropin (CSH) deficiency on placental function. These studies have resulted in two peer-reviewed publications, documenting the physiological responses (blood flow, nutrient uptakes, hormone profiles) of CSH deficiency in the sheep, with and without fetal growth restriction. Ms. Tanner is currently in the process of drafting and submitting two additional manuscripts pertaining to the consequences of CSH deficiency on maximal placental glucose transfer and impacts of CSH deficiency on the placental transcriptome Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy studies ramifications of placental glucose transporter (specifically SLC2A1 and SLC2A3) deficiency on placental function and fetal growth at mid-gestation. She successfully tested multiple constructs for use in generating SLC2A1 deficient pregnancies in cells and well asin vivo, and produced the ovine model used in Fall/Winter 2020/21 (NIH R21 HD094952). She continues training in surgical transfer of lentiviral infected embryos, ultrasonographic assessment of pregnancy (including Doppler ultrasound measures of umbilical blood flow), and terminal surgical sample collection. Ms Kennedy also submitted and was awarded a USDA AFRI-NIFA Pre-doctoral fellowship, which will include mentorship and training in using RNA-Seq analysis. She will complete her preliminary exam by defending a research grant proposal to investigate and compare the physiological impacts of SLC2A1 and SLC2A3 deficient pregnancies. She will also continue her investigation and comparison of the two different glucose transporter deficient models while also assisting in producing the next cohort of in vivo ovine models of CSHand SLC2A3 deficient pregnancies. Martin. Dr. Martin investigates how virtual anatomy tools can facilitate the interface between producer and medical professional by examining strategies implemented in undergraduate, graduate, and professional level anatomy programs. He also examines the role of virtual anatomy tools in student outcomes and how virtual animal anatomy facilitated a successful transition to online instruction and supported student learning during the coronavirus pandemic. He is currently collaborating to develop an applied food and fiber animal anatomy course in Biomedical Science. Case studies will be used to explore how relevant anatomy is associated with significant diseases common to producers and how to effectively communicate about animal care. Menjivar. Mr. Menjivar studies how extracellular vesicles and their molecular cargos regulate various reproductive functions in cattle. He has been working to mitigate the detrimental effects of thermal stress on cumulus oocyte complexes through granulosa cell derived extracellular vesicle supplementation at the time of maturation using a bovine in vitro model. . He also studies heat stress associated miRNAs and how preferential loading into extracellular vesicles attenuates stress tolerance in granulosa cells. Mr. Menjivar is collaborating with ARBL faculty to investigate the role of extracellular vesicles released from organoids produced from bovine oviductal epithelial cells. He will ultimately continue to generate preliminary data for a USDA NIFA grant submission collectivelylooking to assess the impact of modulating embryonic oxidative stress on survivable and viability. Goal 3. Place NNF students in leadership roles in agricultural animal production One student was placed in a post-doctoral position (fetal/maternal) in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine-Anschutz. Another student has been placed in a post-doctoral position (impact of maternal infection on fetal development) in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale School of Medicine. The final student will be finishing her PhD in one year and is focused on bio-informatic tools and genetic markers that aid in the selection of reproductively competent cows. The three new students are progressing towards completing PhD research and publishing papers. Goal 4. Tracking students after they graduate Students will be tracked to monitor progress towards professional goals for the next 5 years.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Knapek KJ, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Attenuated lymphocyte activation leads to the development of immunotolerance in bovine fetuses persistently infected with BVDV. Biol Reprod 2020.103:560
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Knapek KJ, Georges HM, Van Campen H, Bishop JV, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Smirnova NP, Hansen TR. Fetal lymphoid organ immune responses to transient and persistent infection with bovine viral diarrhea virus. Viruses 2020. 12:816
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Bishop J, Van Campen H, Barfield JP, Hansen TR. A delay in maternal zygotic transition may lead to early embryonic loss in poor quality bovine blastocysts. International Embryo Technology Society 2020; 46th Annual Conference: Page 23. New York, NY. Poster presentation and student poster contest finalist.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Georges HM, Barfield JP, Hansen TR. Healthy Embryo, Healthy Pregnancy: mRNA markers for assessing embryo quality. CSU Demo Day 2021. Fort Collins, CO.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. BVDV infection epigenetically alters T-cell transcription factors in persistently infected fetal spleens. 53rd Society for the Study of Reproduction Annual Conference 2020. Davis, CA. Abstract Submission and Virtual Poster
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Barfield JP, Hansen TR. Dont judge an embryo by its cover. CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 21st Annual Research Day 2020. Fort Collins, CO, Poster Presentation
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Hansen TR, Thomas MG. Analysis of the interferon-tau genes: bovine genome assembly UCD1.2vsUMD3.1. American Society of Animal Science-Western Section 2021. Fort Collins, CO. Abstract Submission.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL. How does early pregnancy loss occur in Holstein-Friesian cows? American Society of Animal Science-Western Section 2021. Fort Collins, CO. Graduate Student Three-Minute Video Competition Submission.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Tanner AR, Lynch CS, Kennedy VC, Ali A, Winger QA, Rozance PJ, Anthony RV. 2021. CSH RNA Interference Reduces Global Nutrient Uptake and Umbilical Blood Flow Resulting in Intrauterine Growth Restriction. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jul 29;22(15):8150. doi: 10.3390/ijms22158150. PMID: 34360913.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Tanner AR, Lynch CS, Ali A, Winger QA, Rozance PJ, Anthony RV. 2021. Impact of chorionic somatomammotropin RNA interference on uterine blood flow and placental glucose uptake in the absence of intrauterine growth restriction. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. Feb 1;320(2):R138-R148. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00223.2020. Epub 2020 Nov 4. PMID: 33146554
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2021 Citation: . Martin JF, Arnold OR, Jones JD, Garrett AC, mango DW, Juarez KA, Gloeckner G, Magee C. How Virtual Animal Anatomy Facilitated a Successful Transition to Online Instruction and Supported Student Learning During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Anatomia, Histologia, Embryologia. Volume: page # pending. Manuscript sub
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Menjivar N, Gebremedhn S, Tesfaye D. Preferential loading of thermal stress associated miRNAs into extracellular vesicles: Attempt to mitigate effects of heat stress in bovine granulosa cells. International Embryo Technology Society 2022 (IETS); 48th Annual Conference: Page # pending. Savannah, GA, USA. (Abstract Submission + Poster Presentation)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Tesfaye D, Gebremedhn S, Menjivar N. Extracellular vesicle coupled molecular signaling in mammalian reproduction. International Embryo Technology Society 2022 (IETS); 48th Annual Conference. Savannah, GA, USA. Proceedings, (Conference Paper)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Menjivar N, Gebremedhn S, Tesfaye D. The role of granulosa cell derived extracellular vesicles in bovine oocytes exposed to thermal stress during in vitro maturation. Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium 2021 (RMRSS); 14th Annual Conference: Page 38. Fort Collins, CO, USA. (Abstract Submission + Poster Presentation)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Gebremedhn S, Menjivar N, Tesfaye D. Targeted loading of heat-stress associated miRNAs into extracellular vesicles: Potential application to modulate response to heat stress in bovine granulosa cells. Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium 2021 (RMRSS); 14th Annual Conference: Page 37. Fort Collins, CO, USA. (Abstract Submission)
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Menjivar N, Gebremedhn S, Tesfaye D. Potential application of granulosa cell derived extracellular vesicles to mitigate the effects of heat stress in bovine oocytes. American Society of Animal Sciences 2021 (ASAS-CSAS-SSASAS) Annual Meeting & Trade Show; Volume: Page # pending. Louisville, KY, USA. (Abstract Submission + Poster Presentation)

Progress 05/15/19 to 05/14/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences are cattle and sheep producers/stakeholders, industries supporting food animal production, state outreach specialists, food animal veterinarians and students. Research also has relevance to human pregnancy, embryo-fetaldevelopment and perinatal care. Specific audiences reached during this funding period are Society for the Study of Reproduction, Western Regional USDA Project W3112: Reproduction in Domestic Ruminants, International Embryo TransferSociety, American Society of Animal Science, Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium, Perinatal Research Society, Society for Reproductive Investigation. Changes/Problems:As of July, 2020 all three original PhD students will have secured their own funding through pre-doctoral grants that have been awarded. We are waiting for final confirmation of one of these awards during this recent funding cycle. For this reason, each of these students will have graduated from the ARBL NNF program. We request permission to train 2 additional graduate students with funds remaining in this award because of our existing student sucess in graduating from the program. Specifically, we request one year of funding for one new PhD student who is a first generation college student. We also request two years of funding for a to-be-determined new MS student that we hope to recruit by the Fall, 2020 semester. The second year of funding for this MS student will be during a one year no cost extension of this grant, which will be from July, 2021 to July 2022. We will submit a formal request for use of remaining ARBL NNF funds to support these two new proposed NNF students and a one year no cost extension to Dr. Ali after approval of this progress report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Georges. Ms. Georges attended the Society for the Study of Reproduction 2019 annual meeting and presented her research in both a poster and flash talk. She also attended the Conference for Research Workers in Animal Disease and presented a poster on future BVDV studies. She received training in pedagogy and is working towards a teaching certificate. Finally, she audited a course and received training in bioinformatics using command line and R for RNA-sequencing, which will translate to the analysis of methylation sequencing. Ms. Georges was a co-PI on a successful State of Colorado FUEL grant, which furthered her grant writing and presentation skills. As part of this Colorado grant, she participated in a Research to Market training to train researchers how to take research products to market and to complete the appropriate market research to justify new technology and direct scientific research efforts. Gonzalez-Berrios. Unique training in surgery and necropsy was provided to Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios as part of a preliminary study from her laboratory. She performed surgery on ewes with the supervision of a veterinarian and successfully inserted an osmotic mini-pump with delivery of interferon tau to the corpus luteum. She then performed ewe necropsies to remove the reproductive system, collect corpus luteum for future assays and retrieve the osmotic mini-pump. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios taught two 3-hour laboratory sections of LIFE 102 with a total of 46 students during the fall semester. She has completed the Introducing Feminist Frameworks program's online courses (Identity Basics and Women Supporting Other Women) at CSU. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios is serving as part of the committee for the Trainee Mentor Luncheon at the 2020 national conference of Society for the Study of Reproduction in Ottawa, Canada during July 9th to the 12th. She also served again, as in previous years, as an abstract reviewer for Multicultural Undergraduate Research Arts and Leadership Symposium. As of this funding cycle, she will be graduating from the USDA AFRI-NNF program and commence funding for her predoctoral research project from July 2020 to July 2022. Tanner. During the current reporting period, Ms. Tanner improved her surgical skillsets by continuing to perform surgical embryo transfers, terminal surgery sample collections, and survival fetal cannulation surgeries. To augment Ms. Tanner's training at Colorado State University, she also attended the 50th Perinatal Research Society annual meeting and her research was selected for a platform talk at the 67th annual Society for Reproductive Investigations meeting but the meeting was cancelled due to COVID-19. Ms. Tanner also completed her teaching requirement as a teaching assistant for BMS 260- Biomedical Sciences. Outside Colorado, Ms. Tanner received training at the Liggins Institute in New Zealand on conducting postnatal sheep experiments to test pancreatic function. In addition, Ms. Tanner set up a visit with Dr. David Wells and Dr. Bjorn Oback's laboratories at the Ruakura AgResearch Center in Hamilton, New Zealand which specializes in using CRISPR for xenotransplantation and was instructed in a somatic cell nuclear transfer (zona free) cloning cycle in sheep. She also attended the 2019 LiFePATH Research Day in Auckland, New Zealand gaining valuable insight into neonatal medicine in New Zealand. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Georges. One manuscript is submitted to the journal Biology of Reproduction for publication and two more (of direct relationship to the fellowship) are in progress. Additionally, she has presented these works at the 2019 Society for the Study of Reproduction Meeting, 2019 Conference for Workers in Animal Disease and 2020 International Embryo Technology (IETS) meeting. Gonzalez-Berrios. She presented a poster at the 2020 International Embryo and Technology Symposium in New York, New York. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios also presented local talks at the 2020 College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science Research Day (10-minute talk) and Animal Breeding and Genetics and the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Seminars (40-minute talks). Moreover, she presented a 2-minute flash-talk as well as a poster presentation at the 2019 Society for the Study of Reproduction Annual conference in San Jose, California. Tanner. Ms. Tanner's is in the process of submitting a manuscript to American Journal of Physiology and her work was selected for a platform presentation (10-minute talk) at the 2020 Society for Reproductive Investigation meeting in Vancouver, BC but she did not get to present as the meeting was cancelled due to COVID 19. She has also submitted an abstract to the American Society for Animal Science Annual Meeting in Madison, WI. In addition to these meetings, Ms. Tanner attended the 50th annual Perinatal Research Society meeting in Minneapolis, MN and presented several local talks including the 2020 College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Research day (10-minute talk), the 2020 Mini Society for Reproduction meeting at Anschutz Medical Campus (10- minute talk), and the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Seminar (50- minute talk). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Georges. Study of transcriptome in BVDV persistently infected placenta compared to controls was planned. Unfortunately, the RNA from placental samples were unfit for both RT-qPCR and RNA-sequencing. Consequently, Ms. Georges submitted a small group of tissues for proteomic analysis and the tissue protein was stable and intact. She will continue with her placental studies by using proteomic analysis instead of RNA analyses. Once the institutional research suspension (due to COVID-19 pandemic) is lifted, all tissue samples will be submitted for proteomic analysis. We expect results and journal paper submission before the next reporting period. Ms. Georges also plans to attend and present this future data at annual conferences assuming they are not canceled. She will continue pedagogy and leadership workshops to further her professional development. Gonzalez-Berrios. She will be submitting her first manuscript to the Journal of Animal Reproduction and Genetics and begin writing her second manuscript. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios will also begin her research project from her USDA NIFA predoctoral award. This project includes use of Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction and Western Blots that will validate key genes that Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios has described to be involved in early embryo mortality. She will also be using a SNP chip to validate candidate genes from her SNP discovery data. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios will continue to present at seminars, local and international conferences and finish her certification on teaching through The Institute for Learning and Teaching program at CSU. Tanner. During the next reporting period, Ms. Tanner will conclude her USDA NIFA predoctoral research. This includes the completion of the bioinformatic analysis of RNAseq data on CSH deficient placentae with USDA Meat Animal Research Center, as well as the drafting and submission of that manuscript. Furthermore, she will also finish her in vitro analysis of placentae from year 2 animal studies of CSH deficient pregnancies which will conclude her angiogenic regulator analysis, then draft and submit that manuscript. In addition, Ms. Tanner will finish her analysis of metabolic data (from year 2 animal studies of CSH deficient pregnancies) that she will submit as an abstract to the 68th annual Society for Reproductive Investigation Meeting in Boston, MA as well as a manuscript. Lastly, Ms. Tanner will continue her training in fetal cannulations by continuing to work the Perinatal Research Facility at the University of Colorado- Anschutz Medical Campus on CSH deficient pregnancies that she will work to generate on year 3 of animal studies at Colorado State University, as well as SLC2A1 (GLUT1) deficient pregnancies.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1. Recruit three USDA NIFA NNF PhD students Three PhD National Needs Fellow (NNF) students were recruited to Colorado State University with research interests in large animal models with relevance to USDA AFRI objectives at the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory. Goal 2. Mentor, train and retain each USDA NNF PhD student Two NNF PhD fellows have graduated from the fellowship program because they received independent pre-doctoral grants last year. Ms. Georges and Ms. Tanner were successful in obtaining independent funding and are graduating from the USDA AFRI NNF program this summer. The other student, Carolina Gonzalez-Berrios revised her USDA NIFA proposal and submitted this revision to the USDA NIFA Predoctoral program in July, 2019. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios' 2019 USDA AFRI predoctoral grant has been conditionally awarded. NNF students wrote abstracts and presented research at scientific meetings this summer. All students completed grantsmanship and mock grant study section classes. All students submitted and were awarded an International Research Travel Award (IRTA) from the USDA-AFRI. IRTA training has been completed for all NNF students in New Zealand and in Australia. The 2020 Rocky Mountain Research Symposium was canceled this year, but all students agreed to help with the Organizing Committee and manage this one-day regional research meeting (~150 attendees). All students passed preliminary exams, which entailed defense of NIH or USDA proposal on a topic that was outside of their PhD Dissertation research. Specific accomplishment in 2019-2020 under this goal are provided for Ms. Georges, Gonzalez-Berrios and Tanner, respectively below. Georges. Ms Georges is continuing her investigation of bovine fetal immune development following BVDV infection and has completed analyses on splenic RNA and methylation. She has submitted a manuscript for this work and is in the process of submitting a second manuscript from these studies. A third manuscript on the methylation studies is currently being written. As part of her USDA NIFA Pre-Doctoral fellowship, she will continue working on placental protein analysis from the same BVDV study as the splenic samples. Gonzalez-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios has been studying the mechanism of how early embryo mortality occurs in Holstein Dairy cows using RNA-Seq, the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis Software and scientific literature. She has discovered single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in cows with differing fertility and embryo mortality rates in collaboration with the University of Queensland at Brisbane, Australia using the CLC Workbench Software. From these data, she has been able to pinpoint genes in different tissues (conceptus, endometrium, corpus luteum and peripheral blood cells) that are associated with diagnostic SNPs to identify cows that may be prone to embryo mortality. Or alternatively, for use when selecting cattle for greater embryo/reproductive success. She successfully defended a research grant proposal as part of her PhD preliminary exam in 2019 and was favorably recommended to receive a USDA AFRI-NIFA Pre-doctoral Fellowship (2019-07133). Tanner. Ms. Tanner has continued her doctoral research on the ramifications of chorionic somatomammotropin (CSH) deficiency on placental function. She is in the process of submitting the first manuscript from studies concluding at the end of last reporting period, while managing year 2 of the animal experiments. These experiments included the generation of additional CSH deficient pregnancies (NIH R01 HD093701) to address a different specific aim, as well as a new study to produce SLC2A3 (GLUT3) deficient pregnancies (NIH R21 HD094952). Secondly, Ms. Tanner has continued her benchtop work examining the impacts of CSH deficiency on placental angiogenic regulators which has also involved supervising an undergraduate student's honors thesis on this topic. Furthermore, Ms. Tanner is also currently working to align and analyze RNAseq data from CSH deficient placentae as part of her USDA NIFA Predoctoral fellowship which includes a collaboration with the USDA Meat Animal Research Center (Dr. Robert Cushman). During the current reporting period, Ms. Tanner's studies were augmented by traveling to New Zealand to work on a cooperative project with the Liggins Institute at the University of Auckland investigating various neonatal nutritional interventions strategies in pre-term sheep (complimentary to human trials being conducted by the Liggins Institute) and their outcomes on yearling glucose homeostasis and pancreatic function. Goal 3. Place NNF students in leadership roles in agricultural animal production This goal is progressing very well with these PhD candidates succeeding in obtaining both IRTA travel awards as well as USDA AFRI pre-doctoral training grants. Each student is progressing towards their first journal papers and are well underway towards completing PhD research next year or the following year. Goal 4. Tracking students after they graduate This goal is pending.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Knapek KJ, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Attenuated lymphocyte activation leads to the development of immunotolerance in bovine fetuses persistently infected with BVDV. Biol Reprod 2020; Submitted.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Pierce CF, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Thomas MG, Hansen TR. Association of IRF7 and BOLA variants with Early Embryo Mortality Pregnancies in Holstein cows. Society for the Study of Reproduction Conference 2020, 53rd Annual Conference: page numbers pending. Ottawa, CA. Abstract submission and Virtual Poster Acceptance.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Tanner AR, Ali A, Winger QA, Rozance PJ,Anthony RV. 2020. In Vivo Impact of Chorionic Somatomammotropin RNA Interference in the Absence of Intrauterine Growth Restriction. Society for Reproductive Investigation 2020; 67th Annual Scientific Meeting. Reprod. Sci. 27 (suppl. 1):112A. Vancouver, BC, CA. Selected for platform talk but meeting canceled due to COVID-19.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Tanner AR, Ali A, Winger QA, Rozance PJ,Anthony RV. In Vivo Impact of Chorionic Somatomammotropin RNA Interference in the Absence of Intrauterine Growth Restriction. CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 21st Annual Research Day 2020, Fort Collins, CO. Platform talk and top scoring presentation in department.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Bishop J, Van Campen H, Barfield JP, Hansen TR. A delay in maternal zygotic transition may lead to early embryonic loss in poor quality bovine blastocysts. International Embryo Technology Society 2020; 46th Annual Conference: Page 23. New York, NY. Poster presentation and student poster context finalist.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Barfield JP, Hansen TR. Healthy Embryo, Healthy Pregnancy: mRNA markers for assessing embryo quality. CSU Demo Day 2020. Fort Collins, CO. Abstract Submission; event canceled because of COVID. Accepted but conference canceled because of COVID.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. BVDV infection epigenetically alters T-cell transcription factors in persistently infected fetal spleens. 53rd Society for the Study of Reproduction Annual Conference 2020; volume: page numbers pending. Davis, CA. Abstract Submission and Virtual Poster Acceptance
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Georges HM, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Barfield JP, Hansen TR. Dont judge an embryo by its cover. CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 21st Annual Research Day 2020. Fort Collins, CO, Poster Presentation
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Hansen TR, Georges HM, Van Campen H, Engle T. Fetal infection with BVDV, during late pregnancy, may create an immunocompromised animal after birth. 100th Annual Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases 2019. P104; page 214. Poster Presentation
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Georges HM, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Thomas MG, Hansen TR. A transcriptome perspective in Holstein cows. Peripheral transcriptome response to embryo mortality in Holstein cows. International Embryo and Technology Symposium 2020, 46th Annual Conference: Page 60. New York, NY. Poster presentation and student poster.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Georges HM, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Thomas MG, Hansen TR. Embryo Mortality and peripheral transcriptome response in Holstein cows. CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 21st Annual Research Day 2020: Page 9. Fort Collins, CO, Oral Presentation.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Tanner AR, Ali A, Winger QA, Rozance PJ,Anthony RV. In Vivo Impact of Chorionic Somatomammotropin RNA Interference in the Absence of Intrauterine Growth Restriction. Mini Society for Reproductive Investigation Symposium 2020. Denver, CO. Platform talk.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Tanner AR, Ali A, Winger QA, Rozance PJ,Anthony RV. Impact of chorionic somatomammotropin RNA interference on uterine blood flow and placental glucose uptake in the absence of intrauterine growth restriction. American Society for Animal Science Annual Meeting and Trade Show 2020. Volume: page # pending. Madison, WI.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Lynch CS, Ali A, Kennedy VC, Tanner AR, Winger QA, Anthony RV. Placental GLUT3 (SLC2A3) RNA interference: Impact on fetal growth at mid-gestation. American Society for Animal Science Annual Meeting and Trade Show 2020. Volume: page # pending. Madison, WI. Abstract submission.

Progress 05/15/18 to 05/14/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences are cattle and sheep producers/stakeholders, industries supporting food animal production, state outreach specialists, food animal veterinarians and students. Research also has relevance to human pregnancy, embryo-fetal development and perinatal care. Specific audiences reached during this funding period are Society for the Study of Reproduction, Western Regional USDA Project W3112: Reproduction in Domestic Ruminants, International Embryo Transfer Society, American Society of Animal Science, Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium, Perinatal Research Society, Society for Reproductive Investigations. Changes/Problems:Two of the NNF PhD students will graduate from this institutional fellowship program in the next funding period because they were successful in obtaining new independent funding from the USDA NIFA Predoctoral program. One student remains on this NNF program. She has a USDA AFRI Predoctoral grant pending. If funded, then she will graduate from this fellowship program in summer, 2020. After we learn about the status of the pending predoctoral award, we will request that any remaining NNF funds be used to either retain this last student on the NNF program for a fourth year and/or to train a new MS underrepresented student for the term of the grant award. A letter to Dr. Ali outlining this request will be submitted early next year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training and Professional Development. All NNF completed a one-day Leadership Workshop in May, 2018. Described below are other training and development activities for each student. Each student will also be completing the CSU TILT teaching training. Georges. Ms. Georges participated in her international training from Dr. Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann at the University of Queensland in Australia where she gained experience in immunohistochemistry of fetal tissues infected with BVDV. Dr. Bielefeldt-Ohmann not only trained Ms. Georges on tissue staining techniques, but provided Ms. Georges with insights on her project which helped her understanding of BVDV pathology and infection in fetal tissues. In addition to research, Ms. Georges concluded her required coursework and her teaching requirements. She taught two lab sections, a total of 48 students, in an introduction to biology course. Ms. Georges was also awarded the USDA NIFA pre-doctoral fellowship which began this summer and will fund her and her research until July 2021. Ms. Georges participated in teaching workshops and in conflict resolution workshops this past year. Finally Ms. Georges' volunteer efforts included Graduate Women in Science Outreach and the Society for the Study of Reproduction trainee-speaker guide for the 2019 conference in San Jose,CA. Gonzalez-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios submitted a USDA NIFA IRTA grant proposal. It was funded to support her travel to the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia for the month of June in 2019. She was mentored in Australia by Dr. Marina Fortes who is primarily known for establishing the Livestock Genomics group and developing genomic technologies to understand how genetics influence reproductive biology in mammals, specifically cattle. She was trained in performing network analysis, SNP discovery and analysis. Moreover, Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios submitted a revised proposal in July to the USDA NIFA Education and Workforce Development Pre-doctoral Fellowship program. She is interested in further training on how to work efficiently with student diversity, inclusion and supporting all genders at work/classroom. She will complete the Introducing Feminist Frameworks program's online courses (Identity Basics and Women Supporting Other Women). At CSU, she served as a judge and abstract reviewer for the CVMBS research day, CSU Undergraduate Research Day, Annual Colorado Science and Engineering Fair and the Multicultural Undergraduate Research Arts and Leadership Symposium. Also, she served as a volunteer, member of the women in reproduction sciences (WinRS) sub-committee and presenter of her research (flash-talk/poster) at the 2019 national Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR) in San Jose, California. In addition, she received the 2019 CVMBS award for Dr. Mark A. Gearhart Memorial Scholarship at Colorado State Univeristy and the 2019 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Travel Award for SSR. During the SSR conference she attended the Mentor-Trainee Luncheon where she met with Dr. Linda C. Giudice from the University of California of San Francisco. Tanner. Special training opportunities included instruction on fetal cannulation surgeries and metabolic studies at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and a 28-day training at the University of Auckland Liggins Institute under the guidance of Drs. Mark Oliver, Frank Bloomfield and Jane Harding. Her experiences at the Liggins Institute in Auckland and Research Farm in Rotorua, New Zealand included postnatal intervention studies in sheep delivered preterm, novel fetal surgery techniques and laboratory techniques new to Ms. Tanner including GSIS (glucose sensing and insulin secretion) technique in harvested pancreatic islet cells and mitochondrial respiration studies via Seahorse bioanalyzer. Ms. Tanner attended the 49th annual Perinatal Research Society meeting in Englewood, CO in September 2018 where she learned about cutting-edge clinical approaches and basic science research in perinatology and will be attending the 50th annual Perinatal Research Society in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN in September 2019 as well as presenting a poster at the Society for Reproductive Investigations in Vancouver, BC, Canada in March 2020. Ms. Tanner is graduating from this USDA AFRI NNF program in the next funding period and will start her predoctoral research grant project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dissemination of results The NNF results are disseminated through public speaking and written format. Presentations at local/regional conferences as well as national/international meetings and symposia are required. Platform talks, posters, written abstracts, proceedings, journal papers, book chapters and popular press articles are all encouraged. All NNF students present and discuss their research on a weekly basis in research laboratory meetings. See Target Audiences for the meetings attended by the students. Georges. Locally, Ms. Georges presented posters at the CSU graduate student showcase and the CVMBS research day. Additionally, she delivered a 15 minute platform presentation at the Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium. At the 2019 Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR) annual conference in San Jose, CA, Ms. Georges presented a 2 minute flash-talk as well as a poster presentation. Gonzales-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios presented talks at the ARBL seminar, CSIRO and at the Molecular Sciences in the University of Queensland (40-minute talks). Posters were presented at the Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium at CSU and SSR. Tanner. Ms. Tanner's priorities for the 2018-2019 year were centered around the completion of 3 in vivo, pregnancy biology projects. Each pregnancy had to be created and gestated to test the hypothesis. Sheep pregnancy studies for this year finished mid-May with tissue collections. During the 2019-2020 year, she will finish the in vitro analyses, work on manuscripts and submit abstracts, while also managing the 2nd year of animal work with her PhD project. She will submit an abstract to the Society of Reproductive Investigations (SRI) in Vancouver, BC, Canada in March 2020 and she will present at the 2020 USDA NIFA PD meeting in Washington, DC. Furthermore, Ms. Tanner will also be setting up a collaboration with the USDA Meat Animal Research Center for which any data generated will be presented to producer groups. Ms. Tanner was a co-author on data presented at the 2019 American Society Meat Science Association Reciprocal Meats Conference in Fort Collins, Colorado What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Plans during next reporting Period All NNF students will continue with PhD research and course work, complete CSU training in teaching through TILT, attend weekly lab meetings and journal clubs, present research at regional and national/international meetings, publish abstracts and prepare 1st manuscripts describing NNF research. They will be encouraged to provide service as well as continue with leadership training as opportunities are presented to do so. Also, each student will complete a formal supervised college teaching experience. Two NNF students will transition from the institutional NNF program to independent USDA NIFA predoctoral grants. One student will submit a revised proposal to the predoctoral grants program. Georges. Ms. Georges has submitted her first manuscript from the NNF program to Plos Pathogens. Ms. Georges is graduating from this USDA AFRI NNF program during this funding period and will start her predoctoral research grant. Her project will continue to the analysis of placental tissues infected with BVDV at different stages of gestation. Methods will include methylation sequencing, RNA sequencing, RT-qPCR, immunohistochemistry, and western blots. This will provide an in depth look at how the virus is able to cross the placenta for fetal infection. The hypothesis to be tested with that maternal cotyledons are unable to have a lymphocytic response to the virus for clearance, causing inflammation of the tissue and viral passage to the fetus. Ms. Georges also plans to continue presenting her work at seminars and symposiums as well as career development trainings throughout the year. Gonzalez Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez has completed her first manuscript from the NNF program and it is under review by her mentors. Ms. Gonzalez will be testing the hypothesis that early EM is associated with adaptive immune responses in the conceptus, and impaired IFNT production and anti-luteolytic action on the endometrium, corpus luteum and white blood cells to signal pregnancy recognition. During the month of June in 2019, Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios travelled for research collaborations with Dr. Marina Fortes at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. She learned to use different network analysis programs (RIF, PCIT, etc.), SNP Discovery (Galaxy) and analysis to determine cows who endure early EM with more frequency. Use of these bioinformatic tools will allow her to pinpoint specific SNPs in genes that are associated with reproductive traits and will be validated using RTQPCR. She has prepared her first manuscript based on NNF funding and it is under review by her primary mentors. Tanner. Ms. Tanner will test the hypothesis that CSH deficiency will alter placental metabolism for her NNF PhD research. She will begin the research in her USDA NIFA predoctoral award which includes a transcriptomic analysis of placental tissues generated from her PhD projects as well as examining altered placental vascularity (WB, RT-qPCR, and histology). She will collaborate with Dr. Bob Cushman at the USDA Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, NE to learn bioinformatic approaches. She will also assist with a project examining the role of SLC2A1(GLUT1) and SLC2A3 (GLUT3) deficiency in the transport of glucose in the fetal sheep. Ms. Tanner will TA the undergraduate class BMS 260 which introduces freshman to concepts in physiology. Regarding conferences and professional development opportunities, Ms. Tanner will submit abstracts to the 2020 Society for Reproductive Investigations (SRI), 2020 Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium and attend the 50th annual Perinatal Research Society meeting in September, 2019. She will also present the findings from her predoctoral project at the 2020 USDA NIFA PD meeting in Washington DC. Additionally, Ms. Tanner will complete manuscripts from the in vivo 2018-2019 studies.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1. Recruit three USDA NIFA NNF PhD students. Three PhD National Needs Fellow (NNF) students were recruited to Colorado State University with research interests in large animal models with relevance to USDA AFRI objectives at the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory. Each student is currently placed with a primary mentor and is actively completing PhD research. Goal 2. Mentor, train and retain each USDA NIFA NNF PhD student. These NNF students continue to be in excellent academic standing. During this reporting period, they became mostly independent and are applying basic laboratory skills to their PhD research. They continue to be engaged in scientific journal clubs and are preparing and submitting research abstracts that were presented locally/regionally as well as nationally. All three students submitted USDA AFRI Pre-Doctoral proposals for national review and competition by the July 17, 2018 deadline. Two of these students, Ms. Georges and Ms. Tanner were successful in obtaining independent funding and are graduating from the USDA AFRI NNF program this summer. The other student, Carolina Gonzalez-Berrios revised her USDA NIFA proposal and submitted this revision to the USDA NIFA Predoctoral program in July, 2019. NNF students presented abstracts on their research at scientific meetings this summer. Two students have completed grantsmanship and mock study section classes. The other will complete this class during the next funding period. One student submitted an International Research Travel Award (IRTA) proposal and was funded during the previous cycle to complete international studies in Australia. The other two students submitted IRTA proposals, which were funded in early 2019. One student completed her IRTA research training in Australia and the other student completed her IRTA research in New Zealand in summer, 2019. All NNF students served on the 2019 Rocky Mountain Research Symposium Organizing Committee and helped manage this one-day regional research meeting (~140 attendees). Two students developed and defended research proposals on a research topic outside of their PhD research as part of our training for the PhD. The third student will complete this requirement this Fall. Specific accomplishments are provided for Ms. Georges, Gonzalez-Berrios and Tanner, respectively below. Georges. During the last funding cycle, Ms. Georges continued her bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) research on fetal spleens, with a focus on late gestational splenic tissue. Her work used reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) of the transcriptome and western blot analysis of the splenic proteins. Additionally, immunohistochemistry results obtained from Ms. Georges' training in Australia were analyzed and reported. Throughout her work on splenic tissue, Ms. Georges was testing the hypothesis that fetal persistent infection with BVDV attenuated the fetal adaptive immune response thus causing immunotolerance to the virus. This work concluded the research on fetal spleens and is currently being reviewed for journal publication. Ms. Georges sucessfully completed her preliminary exam. Gonzalez-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios' research is focused on pinpointing the mechanisms through which early embryo mortality (EM) on day 16 or earlier of pregnancy occurs in Holstein dairy cows. She is testing the hypothesis that early EM is associated with adaptive immune responses in the conceptus, and impaired IFNT production and anti-luteolytic action on the endometrium, corpus luteum and white blood cells to signal pregnancy recognition. She has subjected her RNA-Seq data into the IPA software and has analyzed the results. She has also collaborated with the University of Queensland, QAAFI and CSIRO at Brisbane, Australia when performing additional network analysis and discovering unique single nucleotide polymorphism associated with differentially expressed genes. These approaches are being used to identify genetic markers that help select for cows with increased embryo viability and, consequently, pregnancy success. Tanner. During the 2018-2019 academic year, Ms. Tanner managed 3 sheep projects investigating placental physiology. Her responsibilities included herd reproductive management of 150 sheep, embryo harvest, assisting with surgical embryo transfers of gene edited embryos (n = 54), terminal surgeries (n = 12), and tissue collection (n = 12). She also worked with Dr. Paul Rozance at the University of Colorado, learning to perform maternal-fetal cannulation surgeries and metabolic tracer studies (n =13). She also performed in vitro verification of experimental models through PCR and Sanger sequencing, RT-qPCR, and Western Blot. Ms. Tanner also successfully completed her PhD preliminary exam, submitted and was awarded a competitive USDA AFRI-NIFA Predoctoral Fellowship (2019-67011-29614) and a USDA IRTA International Travel Grant to work with the University of Auckland Liggins Institute in July 2019. Goal 3 of placing students and Goal 4 of tracking students after they graduate are pending

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Tanner AR, Bauer ML, Kennedy VC, keomanivong FE, Kirsch JD, Reynolds LP, Stokka Gl, Rodas-Gonzalea A, Ward AK, Dahlen CR, Ominski KH, Vonnahme KA, Swanson KC. Influence of corn supplementation to beef cows during mid- to late-gestation: Maternal feed intake, body condition, plasma metabolites and calf growth. J Anim Sci 2019; Submitted.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Maharjan D, Rodas-Gonzalea A, Tanner AR, Kennedy VC, Kirsch JD, Gaspers J, Negrin-Pereira N, Fontoura ABP, Bauer ML, Swanson KC, Reynolds LP, Stokka Gl, Ward AK, Dahlen CR, Nevill B, Wittenberg K, McGeough E, Vonnahme KA, Schaefer AL, Lopez-Campos O, Aalhus JL, Gardiner P, Wang S, Ominski K. Influence of maternal corn supplementation of beef cattle on muscle fibre type and meat quality of their offspring. Meat and muscle Biol 2019; AMSA2019:1044.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Sinedino LDP, Georges HM, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Thomas MG, Hansen TR. A transcriptome perspective in Holstein cows. Society for the Study of Reproduction Conference 2019; July 18-21.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Sinedino LDP, Georges HM, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Thomas MG, Hansen TR. Transcriptome analysis of embryo mortality in holstein cows. Annual Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium 2019; 12:42.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Sinedino LDP, Georges HM, Bishop JV, Van Campen H, Thomas MG, Hansen TR. Early embryo mortality: A transcriptome perspective in Holstein cows. Society for the Study of Reproduction 2019; July 18-21:33.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Georges HM, Knapek KJ, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Attenuated lymphocyte activation leads to the development of immunotolerance in bovine fetuses persistently infected with BVDV. PLOS Pathogen 2019; Submitted.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Georges HM, Knapek KJ, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Development of Immunotolerance in Bovine Fetal Spleens Infected with BVDV. In: Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium. Fort Collins, CO; 2019.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Georges HM, Knapek KJ, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Development of Immunotolerance in Bovine Fetuses Infected with BVDV. In: Society for the Study of Reproduction. San Jose, CA; 2019.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Georges HM, Smirnova NP, Sinedino LDP, Knapek KJ, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Transplacental BVDV infection of bovine fetuses results in impaired immune development. In: CSU CVMBS Research Day. Fort Collins, CO; 2019.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Georges HM, Smirnova NP, Sinedino LDP, Knapek KJ, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Viral Infection of Bovine Fetuses Results in Impaired Immune Development. In: CSU Graduate Student Showcase. Fort Collins, CO; 2018.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Tanner AR, VC Kennedy, ML Bauer, KC Swanson, JD Kirsch, J Gaspers, N Negrin-Pereira, ABP Fontoura, GA Perry, G Stokka, A Rodas-Gonzales, A Ward, CR Dahlen, B Neville, LP Reynolds, KH Ominski and KA Vonnahme. Corn supplementation as a winter-feeding strategy alters maternal feeding behavior and endocrine profiles in mid-to late-gestating beef cows. Transl Animal Sci 2018; (Vol 2), p S106S111. https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txy059

Progress 05/15/17 to 05/14/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Advertisements for USDA National Needs Fellowships at the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory were distributed via mail (hardcopy) and email nationwide to forty faculty contacts within programs in reproductive biology. Also, a PDF brochure was sent out to the Society for the Study of Reproduction (~1,000 members), Western Regional USDA Project W3112: Reproduction in Domestic Ruminants (40 members), International Embryo Transfer Society and the American Society of Animal Science advertising 3 PhD fellowships with special emphasis in recruiting underrepresented groups. For example, we contacted 50 MARC, 48 RISE and 63 SCORE representatives nationwide when recruiting for this National Needs Fellows program. In addition to these contacts, our NNF students have been giving talks and reports to Scientists at the Society for the Study of Reproduction and the American Society of Animal Science as well as the Western Section American Society of Animal Science meeting. Members of the audience in attendance for the talk included industry leaders, producers, extension specialist and scientists across the Western region of the United States. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All NNF completed a one-day Leadership Workshop in May, 2018. Described below are other training and development activities for each student. Each student will also be completing the CSU TILT teaching training. Georges. Ms. Georges served as a student volunteer at the national Society for the Study of Reproduction Meeting. She also received a USDA NIFA IRTA grant for summer (2018) and will travel to Australia to train under Dr. Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann, an internationally known virologist and histopathology expert in BVDV infected tissue analysis. She will be trained in histological and immunohistochemical methods, while gaining a better understanding of how BVDV fetal infection affects immune system development in utero. Gonzalez-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios has completed preliminary molecular biology laboratory analysis and training. She also learned sheep surgical preparation, surgical placentectomy and post-operative care. She completed training in using ultrasound for detection of early pregnancy in Angus cows at the CSU Beef Improvement Center (i.e., Rouse Angus Ranch). She served as a judge and abstract reviewer for the College (CVMBS) research day, CSU Undergraduate Research Day, Annual Colorado Science and Engineering Fair and the Multicultural Undergraduate Research Arts and Leadership Symposium, Brain Awareness week. From January 2018 to present, the fellow was involved in completing the Graduate Teaching Certificate Program at CSU (i.e., TILT). The program consists of participating in numerous workshops (pedagogical issues and course design) and seminars on teaching dynamics. Tanner. Special training opportunities entailed a weeklong training at North Dakota State University to learn new fetal surgical techniques, a Lunch-N-Learn workshop on "Navigating a career following higher education" at the Western Section American Society of Animal Science annual meeting, observation of surgical placement of maternal and fetal catheters (survival surgeries) for steady-state metabolic studies at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus. She will be attending the annual Perinatal Research Society meeting (Englewood, CO) September 14-16th, 2018. Ms. Tanner was invited to serve as a leader (expenses covered by the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute) for the 2017 Global Youth Institute as a part of the World Food Prize Laureate award ceremony and the Borlaug Dialogues in Des Moines, Iowa in 2017. She served as a Global Youth Institute Delegate Mentor to high-school aged delegates selected to represent their state or country by their youth institutes and present their research papers to the Global Youth Institute, attended the Borlaug Dialogues including presentations by one of the CRISPR Cas9 technology inventors, Dr. Feng Zhang and the former US Secretary of Agriculture, Dr. Tom Vilsak. She was also invited to be a leader at the 2018 Global Youth Institute. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?All NNF disseminate results through public speaking and written format. Presentations at local/regional conferences as well as national/international meetings and symposia are encouraged. Platform talks, posters, written abstracts, proceedings, journal papers, book chapters and popular press articles are all encouraged. All NNF present and discuss their research on a weekly basis in research laboratory meetings. Georges. Ms. Georges' results were presented on a weekly basis in laboratory meetings and on several occasions in platform presentations at CSU CVMBS Research day and CSU ARBL Seminar as well as poster presentations at the Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium (RMRSS), and the Society for the Study of Reproduction. She received a USDA-NIFA-AFRI Research Merit Award for the quality of her abstract and poster at the 2018 SSR meeting in New Orleans. She also attended the Mentor-Trainee Luncheon where she talked to Dr. Susan Nagel from the University of Missouri. Gonzales-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios presented a talk on Chemical Senses at Poudre and Rocky Mountain High Schools. She also received the Joseph P. Fontenot Travel Award to attend and present her research to the American Society of Animal Science meeting in Vancouver, BC where she presented a paper on her MS work. She presented her research at the CVMBS research day and the Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium. Tanner. Ms. Tanner was invited to give a 30-minute invited talk for the Western Section of the American Society of Animal Science (WSASAS) Young Scholars Award at the 2018 WSASAS annual meeting in Bend, Oregon based on her MS thesis work. She also submitted an abstract that was accepted to the 2018 International Ruminant Reproduction Symposium (IRRS) in Foz do Igaucu in Parana, Brazil. Her request for a travel award from the IRRS was not approved, so her former mentor is presenting these data. Her research also was presented as a co-author to the IRRS, as well as the American Society of Animal Science meeting in Vancouver, BC Canada and the Society for the Study of Reproduction meeting in New Orleans, LA. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?All NNF students will continue with PhD research and course work, complete CSU training in teaching through TILT, attend weekly lab meetings and journal clubs, present research at regional and national/international meetings, publish abstracts and prepare 1st manuscripts describing NNF research. They will be encouraged to provide service as well as continue with leadership training as opportunities are presented to do so. Also, each student will complete a formal supervised college teaching experience. Finally, if their USDA NIFA predoctoral proposals from this year are not funded, then they will either prepare a revision or write a post-doctoral proposal depending on the quality and input from the reviews. Georges. Ms. Georges will be testing the hypothesis that fetal spleen and placental gene expression is impaired/epigenetically altered in response to infection with BVDV in utero. She will be analyzing BVDV infected fetal spleen data from days 190 and 245 of gestation, as well as infected placental tissues from days 82, 97, 190, and 245 of gestation. These analyses will include RT-qPCR and western blot. She plans to complete preliminary RNA-Seq and initiate gene methylation (possibly methyl-Seq) analyses of these tissues to gain a better understanding of the attenuated fetal immune gene responses. She will prepare a panel of fetal placental and splenic histosections and analyze for histopatholgy under the supervision of Dr. Helle Bielefeldt-Ohmann. Immunohistochemistry of proteins associated with innate and adaptive immune responses will also be examined. Gonzalez-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios will be testing the hypothesis that embryo mortality is associated with increased T helper cell, dendritic cell maturation and macrophage nitric oxide increases in embryos and decreased type I IFNT and immune gene expression in endometrium by validation of RNA-Seq data by using RT-PCR and WB approaches.She also will determine if EM embryos release less IFNT in uterine flush which causes them to be less able to activate ISG expression in endometrium, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and the corpus luteum using IFNT ELISA, WB and RT-PCR approaches.Finally, she will test the hypothesis that day 16 EM endometrial proteins released into culture media have cytokine markers that are distinct from normal or estrous cycle cows. She is identifying an appropriate international collaborator with expertise in study of early embryo mortality and identification of gene markers for fertility. Tanner. CSH is necessary for normal placental vascularization and function. Ms. Tanner will be testing the hypothesis that CSH has a dual mechanistic role in regulating fetal growth: 1) it stimulates placental development and nutrient transport to the fetus, and 2) in the latter part of gestation it also directly stimulates fetal production of IGF1 and insulin and their circulating concentrations. She will make lentiviral constructs to knock-down oCSH gene expression in the placenta. She also will mange a flock of ~140 ewes, collect blastocysts for gene editing and surgical embryo transfers, and complete steady-state chronic maternal-fetal cannulation surgeries with Dr. Paul Rozance at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus-Perinatal Research Center. During the summer of 2019, Ms. Tanner will travel to Auckland, New Zealand for a planned collaboration with Dr. Mark Oliver at the Liggins Institute. She will complete postnatal assessment of lamb insulin sensitivity and pancreatic islet studies which provides in vivo context for some of Ms. Tanner's PhD work. Additionally, she will also submit abstracts to the 2019 Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium and the 2019 Aspen/Snowmass Perinatal Biology Symposium.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1. Recruit three PhD students Three PhD National Needs Fellow (NNF)students were recruited to Colorado State University with research interest in large animal models with relevance to USDA AFRI objectives at the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory. Each student is currently placed with a primary mentor and is finalizing their graduate committee structure. Goal 2. Mentor, train and retain each NNF PhD student These NNF students are in excellent academic standing after completing their first year of coursework. During this reporting period, they learned basic laboratory skills, participated in scientific journal clubs, submitted and published research abstracts based on their research that were presented both locally/regionally as well as nationally and have not only written their PhD research proposals but also submitted USDA AFRI Pre-Doctoral proposals for national review and competition by the July 17, 2018 deadline. All NNF students completed a required one-day Leadership Training (DISC analysis) on better understanding different personality styles, developing essential teamwork, creating trust, commitment and accountability as well as how to manage conflict in the work environment. Two students completed a grantsmanship and mock study section class. One student submitted an IRTA proposal and was funded to complete international studies in Australia. Other students will submit an IRTA in the next funding cycle. All NNF students served on the 2018 Rocky Mountain Research Symposium Organizing Committee and helped manage this one-day regional research meeting. Specific accomplishments are provided for Ms. Geroges, Gonzalez-Berrios and Tanner, respectively below. Georges. Ms. George's primary research project was focused on mechanisms of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) infection in fetal spleens in vivo (gestational days 82 and 97). She analyzed fetal spleen microarray data and then validated the microarray data using reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and western blot. She is testing the hypothesis that fetal exposure to flavivirus infection impairs fetal immune cell development and postnatal responses to secondary infections. BVDV is the most devastating viral infection in cattle in the USA. The research investigates molecular mechanisms of BVDV infection and the host cellular/molecular responses, allowing for the possible expansion of control and treatment options for this devastating viral disease. Gonzalez-Berrios. Ms. Gonzalez-Berrios contributed to analysis of IGFBP1-3, FOXO3 & RSU1 in cell lines using western blots and reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). She managed cell culture and passage, of Swan 71 and HEK cell lines and imaged human placenta tissue sections using immunohistochemistry. Her primary project is focused on understanding early embryo mortality which is one of the leading causes for economic loss, at an estimated cost at $1 billion dollars, for beef and dairy farms in the USA each year. She extracted RNA from bovine endometrium from successful compared to embryo mortality pregnancies on day 16. Her research tests the hypothesis that embryos die because of a lack of adequate IFNT production as well as activation of cell-death and both adaptive and innate immune responses within the conceptus. She also is focused on identifying genetic markers that help distinguish more fertile cattle. Tanner. Ms. Tanner contributed to managing reproduction in research ewes, collected embryos for lentiviral-mediated gene targeting approaches, terminal surgeries and fetal dissections of sheep on high fat diets and both RNA (RTPCR) and protein (Western blot) study of placental nutrient transporters and placenta vascular regulators. Deficiency in chorionic sommatomammotropin (CSH) is linked to fetal growth restriction that may be caused by placental insufficiency in sheep. Ms. Tanner is testing the hypothesis that CSH deficiency impairs placental vascularity and placental metabolic signaling leading to placental insufficiency. The research provides insights on intrauterine growth restriction and has relevance to improved food and fiber production in agricultural animals. Goal 3 of placing students and Goal 4 of tracking students after they graduate are pending.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Bouma GJ AA, McWhorter E, Tanner AR, West RC, Winger QA. KDM1A Regulates Sex Steroid Receptor Levels in Trophoblast Cells and is Possibly Involved in Placental Development. In: Supplement to Biology of Reproduction for the 51st Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction, New Orleans, LA. 2018; 51:Abstract #P182 Poster.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Georges HM, Smirnova NP, Sinedino LDP, Knapek KJ, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Spleens from bovine fetuses persistently infected with Flavivirus have an underdeveloped adaptive, despite upregulated innate immune responses. In: 51st Annual Meeting of Society for the Study of Reproduction, vol. 51. New Orleans, LA; 2018: 135, Abstract #P479 Poster.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Georges HM, Smirnova NP, Sinedino LDP, Knapek KJ, Van Campen H, Hansen TR. Bovine fetal spleens persistently infected with Flavivirus develop impaired adaptive despite upregulated innate immune responses. In: 11th Annual Meeting of Rocky Mountain Reproductive Sciences Symposium vol. 11. Fort Collins, CO; 2018: 41, Abstract #18 Poster.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Georges HM, Smirnova NP, Sinedino LDP, Knapek KJ, Van Campn H, Hansen TR. BVDV infection in persistently infected fetuses causes a robust immune system response in the fetal spleen. CSU CVMBS Research Day 2018; 19:9, Abstract 0-30 Platform Talk.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Casas-Guernica A, Sonstegard T, Pagan-Morales M. Segregation of a triple nucleotide insertion/deletion polymorphism in Activin II B-promoter and a transversion in the Myostatin promoter in Senepol cows. In: Annual 2018 American Society of Animal Science, vol. 19. Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada; 2018: Abstract 452036. Platform.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gonzalez-Berrios CL, West RC, Anthony RV, Bouma GJ, Winger QA. Regulation of tumor suppressors FOXO3 and RSU1 by miR-182 in human trophoblast cells. In: CSU CVMBS Research Day, vol. 19; 2018: 10, Abstract O-31, Platform
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Maharjan D, Rodas-Gonzalea A, Tanner AR, Kennedy VC, Kirsch JD, Gaspers J, Negrin-Pereira N, A.B.P. F, Bauer ML, Swanson KC, Reynolds LP, Stokka Gl. Impact of needle-free injection device on injection-site tissue damage in beef sub-primals. J Anim Sci 2018; Supplement to the Journal of Animal Science for the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science, Vancouver Canada:Abstract PSIX-14 Poster.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Maharjan D, Rodas-Gonzalea A, Tanner AR, Kennedy VC, Kirsch JD, Gaspers J, Negrin-Pereira N, Fontoura ABP, Bauer ML, Swanson KC, Reynolds LP, Stokka Gl. Corn supplementation of beef cows and its impact on growth performance and carcass outcomes of their progeny. J Anim Sci 2018; Supplement to the Journal of Animal Science for the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science, Vancouver Canada:Abstract PSI-35 Poster.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Tanner AR, Camacho LE, Lemley CO, Swanson KC, Caton JS, Vonnahme KA. Maternal nutrient restriction followed by realimentation in beef cows alters maternal and fetal circulating amino acid profiles. Animal Reprod 2018; Supplement to Animal Reproduction for the 10th Meeting of the International Rumninant Reproduction Symposium, Foz do Iguaco, Brazil:Poster.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Tanner AR KV, Bauer ML, Swanson KC, Kirsch JD, Gaspers J, Negrin-Pereira N, Fontoura ABP, Perry GA, Stokka G, Rodas-Gonzales A, Ward A. Winter feeding strategies: implications of corn supplementation on gestating beef cows. Western Section meeting of the Society of Animal Science 2018; Young Scholar Award:Platform
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Vonnahme KA, Tanner AR, Vasquez-Hildago MA. Programming of female reproduction by prenatal dietary interventions. Animal Reprod 2018; In Press
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2018 Citation: West RC, McWhorter E, Ali A, Goetzman LN, Russ JE, Gonzalez-Berrios CL, Anthony RV, Bouma GJ, Winger QA. HMGA2 is regulated by LIN28 and BRCA1 in human placental cells. Biol Reprod 2018:Submitted.

Progress 05/15/16 to 05/14/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Over the last year we have been recruiting three PhD students. All students start in August, 2017. For this reason, there is nothing to report for this period. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The interview process was educational both for the students as well as our faculty and students. The three final candidates did an excellent job when presenting their MS research in public seminar/platform talks as well as in smaller discussion groups during their interviews. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting peroid, graduate committees for the NNF students will be finalized. Students will be attending weekly meetings with their advisors and also will meet with all co-PI for the NNF program 2 times per year to discuss structure and expectations of the program. Students will also be aligned with our departmental advisory staff and will be provided detailed information on the many diverse supportive groups, offices and personnel at Colorado State University. During the Fall Semester, students will be focusing on a research project and will be receiving in-lab training in many of the state-of-art technical approaches in the center. Students will be presenting research ideas in lab meetings so that research proposals evolve by the end of the Fall and begining of the Spring semester. All students will be enouraged to submit their research as abstracts to national meetings during the Spring semester. Likewise, students will be expected to attend a Fall and Spring seminar series and to described their research plans to our faculty and students in general during the spring semester. All students will be strongly mentored and encouraged to present their research to a national meeting during the summer months. The primary PI of this NNF grant fellowship will be meeting with all NNF students on a quarterly basis in order to track progress, but also to provide any assistance with direction of their PhD training programs.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Three students have been offered National Needs Fellows (NNF) after an extensive national search with very heavy emphasis on recruiting underrepresented students into the Department of Biomedical Sciences and the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory. Three finalists were selected out of the pool of students that applied. Each finalist has been paired with a primary mentor and a secondary mentor will be identified shortly after arrival at Colorado State University this Falll semester. Primary mentors were selected by the students based on their interviews with all of our faculty with research emphasis related to animal agriculture. Other goals of the project are pending because these students have not yet started at Colorado State University. However, we can report that all students have an idea of the general area of research that they will be completing. All students will be on site and employed by the 2017 Fall Semester.

Publications