Joshua (Jianhua) Gong receives the Evonik Award for Achievement in Poultry Science

The Evonik Corporation award is an annual award given as an achievement award, i.e., for distinctive contributions to poultry science advancement, covering a period of not more than seven years preceding the annual award.

Dr. Joshua (Jianhua) Gong is a senior Research Scientist with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).  He is an adjunct professor at the University of Manitoba, University of Guelph, and Nanchang University (China).  He has served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Canadian Poultry Research Council (CPRC) since 2004 and was the first-term Lead of CPRC’s AviMicroNet (Canadian research network for avian microbiology).  Dr. Gong’s research is focused on the interactions between gut bacteria and animal hosts to improve gut health and replace in-feed antibiotics, poultry in particular.  The outcomes from his research have significantly advanced the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic-substitutes, pathogenesis of critical enteric pathogens targeted by in-feed antibiotics, and development of viable antibiotic-alternatives that have generated several license agreements for technology transfer including two product registrations in Canada for poultry use.  Dr. Gong has co-authored 172 peer-reviewed publications with a cumulative h-index of 58, five issued patents and 18 patent applications, and 236 conference abstracts, and delivered 77 invited speeches at various symposiums and institutions to date.  He has trained over 60 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scientists with multiple trainees appointed to faculty/scientist positions in animal and food science at different universities and industries.  Dr. Gong has received three Awards from the Canadian Society of Animal Science, including the Award for Technical Innovation in Enhancing Production of Safe Affordable Food (2012), the Award for Excellence in Nutrition and Meat Science (2019), and the Fellowship Award (2022).  The poultry necrotic enteritis research and the novel encapsulation technologies for delivering antibiotic-alternatives that Dr. Gong led or co-led have earned AAFC’s 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Science, respectively.  Dr. Gong is the only scientist who has been honored with the prestigious award at AAFC twice thus far.