Dairy Cattle Nutrition during the Transition Period

Dr. Luciano Caixeta shared his expertise with NutriNews International, shedding light on the crucial role of nutrition during the transition period in dairy cattle. Dr. Caixeta emphasized the importance of appropriate nutrition and efficient management in minimizing metabolic disorders and other health challenges during this critical phase, leading to improved dairy cow health and productivity. nutriNews International: Hello, everyone. Welcome to a new episode of our series of technical interviews. My name is Alvaro Guzman and I am part of the editorial staff at nutriNews International. Today I want to welcome our guest, Dr. Luciano Caixeta, who is an associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Caixeta, it is a pleasure to have you here with us. Dr. Luciano Caixeta: Thanks, Alvaro. It’s a pleasure to be here. nutriNews International: Before we start, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and give us a brief overview of your academic background and your current role at the university? Dr. Caixeta: Yeah, sure. It is always good to start with a brief introduction. I am from Brazil. I grew up in a family with many veterinarians. Hence, I grew up working and shadowing my dad on a beef cattle practice. During my veterinary degree in Brazil I did a lot of nutritional consulting and reproductive work in beef cows. Afterwards, in my last year of vet school, I had a chance to to do an externship in the US.  It was a great opportunity to learn more about veterinary medicine in the US and about the cattle industry here. I went to Cornell University, where I got to do some work on metritis with Dr. Robert Gilbert for six months. I then went back home, graduated, and came back. I started working with lameness and then transitioned into bacteriophages, mastitis, and all sorts of different areas. After a year of this type of work, I decided that I needed more clinical training. Therefore, I applied and was accepted for a residency also at Cornell. At the end of residency, I enrolled in a Ph. D program. I got both my residency and PhD training at Cornell.  Afterwards I moved to Colorado where I taught for two years as a clinical instructor in dairy production medicine at Colorado State University. Finally, six years ago I moved here to the University Minnesota, because I wanted to do more research.  As I wanted to focus on certain aspects and pathologies that I had faced during my clinical experience. Aiming to do more research to help prevent some of this ongoing problems… You can watch this interview on our youtube channel or read more about it here