Achievements

Su A presented "The Impact of Excess and Variable Calcium Levels in Ingredients” at the 2026 IPPE Nutrition Symposium by AFIA: New Understanding of "Old” Ingredients. (Jan. 28, 2026 in Atlanta, GA).

Personnel changes

Richard Mudarra is our new Ph D student, he is from Panama and is a professional in the animal science field. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering with a specialization in Animal Science from the University of Panama in 2016. He furthered his academic credentials in 2017 with a specialization in higher education at the University of Panama.  After this, he pursued a master’s degree in animal science (swine nutrition) at the University of Arkansas in 2020 under the guidance of Dr. Charles Maxwell.

Publications

Peer-reviewed publications:

Gomez-Marín, Cristina, Natalia S. Fanelli, Beatriz Miralles, Hans H. Stein, Isidra Recio. 2026. In vitro protein digestibility of plant-based foods and ingredients vs standardized values in growing pigs. Current Research in Food Science 12 (2026) 101311. doi.org/10.1016/j.crfs.2026.101311

Lopez, Diego A., Matt D. Miesner, Jordan T. Gebhardt, Charles R. Stark, Hans H. Stein, and Chad B. Paulk. 2026. Effect of pellet die thickness on standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids when pelleting diets fed to growing pigs. Translational Animal Science, 2026, 10, txaf163. doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaf163

Extension Publication:

Ibagon, J. A., H. H. Stein, and S. A Lee. 2026. Reducing dietary protein in diets for sows. National Hog Farmer. On-line edition. Jan. 29. 2026.

Doctoral dissertation:

Jessica Acosta, 2025, doctoral dissertation: Effects of exogenous enzymes alone or in combination with oligosaccharides on utilization of total dietary fiber, fermentation, growth performance, and health of weanling and growing pigs

Leidy Torres, 2025, doctoral dissertation: Determination of reactive lysine in soybean proteins via the homoarginine procedure or analysis for reducing sugars to determine nutritional value