The Steering Committee of the Poultry CRC II, comprising representatives from the CRC's seven Essential Participants, has appointed Dr John Lowenthal as Manager for Program 1 (Health and Welfare), Dr Tim Walker as Manager for Program 2 (Nutrition and Environment), and Dr Patrick Blackall as Manager for Program 3 (Safe and Quality Food Production).

Dr Blackall has also been appointed Research Manager.

Poultry CRC CEO, Professor Mingan Choct writes:

I am delighted about these appointments as Drs Lowenthal, Walker and Blackall are well respected in the Australian poultry industry and highly regarded in their own fields of expertise.

Dr Lowenthal has 18 years of experience in avian immunology and development of poultry vaccines and therapeutics. He is a Program Manager in the current Poultry CRC and has an in-depth understanding of the CRC's objectives and the environment in which it operates.

Dr Tim Walker has a career as a commercial nutritionist, and has been responsible for purchasing ingredients, formulating feeds and implementing R&D strategies for Bartter Enterprises until recently. His knowledge of, and experience with, the commercial sector will be highly valuable for the CRC’s end-user focussed programs.

Dr Pat Blackall is a veterinary microbiologist with extensive experience in bacterial diseases of poultry. In recent times, his research interests have expanded to include food safety and the environmental fate of pathogens. Dr Blackall is an internationally respected scientist with extensive experience in determining R&D priorities for the Australian poultry industry.

We are fortunate to have three talented Program Managers who will be instrumental in ensuring the scientific quality of our projects, end-user engagement in our activities, and effective collaboration among our participants.