Donald Knowles

 

Knowles (r) and colleague: Link to scrapie story
More about Knowles:
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ARS also honored some nonscientists including Jean Larson, JoAnn Giamette and Aisha Gipson

Agency Scientists Win Top Research Awards

By Jan Suszkiw
February 13, 2002

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13—Medical veterinary officer Donald P. Knowles of Pullman, Wash., has been named "Distinguished Senior Research Scientist of the Year" by the Agricultural Research Service for his leadership in developing new methods to diagnose animal diseases. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.

Knowles, who heads ARS' Animal Disease Research Unit at Pullman, will be honored at a Feb. 13 ceremony at the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Md., where he and 15 other ARS researchers will receive plaques and cash awards in recognition of their scientific accomplishments.

"Dr. Knowles has been the driving force behind research leading to new diagnostic tools with which we can now more accurately detect infections caused by disease agents such as Anaplasma marginale in cattle," said Edward B. Knipling, acting administrator of ARS.

At the Pullman lab, Knowles led scientists in studies resulting in an accurate new test to detect A. marginale, the parasite that causes anaplasmosis, a tickborne disease that's responsible for an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 cattle deaths per year.

The Pullman scientists' test checks for natural antibodies that bind to parasite proteins in blood samples. In collaboration with ARS, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is using the test to survey cattle in tick-infested areas of the United States. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency also has used the test to diagnose infections in cattle as well as bison.

Other diagnostic tests developed under Knowles' leadership include tools for detecting scrapie in sheep, piroplasmosis in horses and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle. Knowles, who has been with ARS for 12 years, is senior inventor or co-inventor on five patents, and is an author or co-author on 63 scientific papers and 18 book chapters.

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On Feb. 13, ARS will honor three other agency researchers as Outstanding Senior Research Scientists. They are:

  • David Michael Glenn, ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station, Kearneysville, W.Va., for conceptualizing, developing and transferring to industry a particle film composed of processed kaolin, a type of clay that controls pests and boosts plant productivity in an environmentally safe manner.

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More about Inglett:
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  • George E. Inglett, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill., for creating four hugely successful technologies derived from grains--Oatrim, Nutrim, Soytrim and Z-trim, used as fat replacers, phytonutrients, and nutraceuticals--that have contributed to improved foods for greater health benefits to people around the word.

More about Meredith:
Award

  • William R. Meredith Jr., Crop Genetics and Production Research, Stoneville, Miss., for outstanding research to provide the cotton industry with valuable insights on improving fiber yield and quality.

More about Burton:
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ARS also is honoring four Area Senior Research Scientists:

  • Joseph W. Burton, Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research Unit, Raleigh, N.C., South Atlantic Area, for developing Satelite and other new varieties of soybean with low saturated fat, improved protein and oil quality, and other important traits.

More about Moore:
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  • Philip A. Moore Jr., Poultry Production and Safety Research Unit, Fayetteville, Ark., Southern Plains Area, for research to help solve major agricultural problems such as chicken manure runoff. He discovered that adding certain compounds, such as aluminum sulfate, to litter in commercial poultry houses greatly reduces phosphorus runoff.

More about Panter:
Award

  • Kip E. Panter, Poisonous Plant Research Laboratory, Logan, Utah, Northern Plains Area, for research on the mode of action and effects of plant toxins on livestock, including poisonous plant-induced birth defects in livestock and development of animal models to expedite the study of similar defects observed in humans.

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More about Solomon:
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  • Morse B. Solomon, Food Technology and Safety Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., Beltsville Area, for developing a process using water pressure to tenderize meat cuts and reduce spoilage from organisms and pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7.

More about Suarez:
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The winner of ARS' "Herbert L. Rothbart Outstanding Early Career Research Scientist" award is David L. Suarez, Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, Athens, Ga., South Atlantic Area, for research on the genetic mechanisms by which mild avian influenza virus strains become more virulent and cause disease in poultry.

More about Bergman:
Award

Other Area Early Career Research Scientist award winners are:

  • Christine J. Bergman, Rice Research Unit, Beaumont, Texas, Southern Plains Area, for research on genetic factors controlling milling properties, kernel structure, starch characteristics and other traits in rice and wheat.

More about Briggs:
Award

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More about Dayan:
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  • Franck E. Dayan, Natural Products Utilization Research Unit, National Center for Natural Products Research, Oxford, Miss., Mid-South Area, for ground-breaking discoveries on the use of natural products as pesticides.

More about Orts:
Award

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More about Palmer:
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More about Smith:
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  • Timothy P. Smith, Production Systems Research Unit, Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Neb., Northern Plains Area, for research to develop and use genetic maps of cattle and swine in support of the livestock industry.

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More about Sonstegard:
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  • Tad S. Sonstegard, Gene Evaluation and Mapping Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., Beltsville Area, for bovine genome research and molecular genetic tools leading to a better understanding of livestock reproduction and lactation physiology.

Story contacts
Food Technology and Safety Laboratory
Microbial Biophysics and Residue Chemistry Research
Bioproduct Chemistry and Engineering Research
Poisonous Plant Research
Rice Research
Crop Genetics and Production Research
Poultry Research
Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research
Jan R Suszkiw

U.S. Department of Agriculture
 


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