An important indicator of change 

 in the direction and sophistication of 

 Station research is the number of in- 

 vestigations having as their objective 

 the improvement of heaUh of humans 

 and/or animals. As indicated earlier, 

 E. M. Gildow conducted the first re- 

 search on coccidiosis at the University 

 in 1928. The disease was becoming 

 increasingly important as flock size 

 increased and confinement rearing 

 became more prevalent in the rapidly 

 growing industry. He recognized that 

 a fuller understanding of the life cycle 

 of the causative organism [Eimeria] was 

 needed if control was to be achieved. 

 For over 30 years R. G. Strout, parasi- 

 tologist, has worked with coccidiosis, 

 still a serious parasitic disease of 

 chickens that is similar to malaria in 

 humans. He and his colleagues, 

 studying the basic biology of the or- 

 ganism, have succeeded in growing 



the intracellular parasite in cell culture 

 — no small accomplishment — mak- 

 ing it possible to monitor drugs and 

 conduct experiments not possible us- 

 ing chickens. Much of their research 

 has been basic and pertinent to the 

 development of improved anti- 

 coccidial drugs. Most recently they 

 have shown genetic control of the 

 immune response to the coccidia 

 Eimeria tenella, information which 

 ultimately may lead to development 

 of a vaccine to control the costly dis- 

 ease. 



S. C. Smith, lipid biochemist, and 

 coworkers have searched for some 25 

 years for causes of coronary heart 

 disease, or atherosclerosis, a major 

 health problem of the middle-aged and 

 elderly. The basic objective of the re- 

 search group has been determination 

 of the mechanisms underlying the 

 changes occurring in the arteries dur- 



W. E. Berndtson, Animal and Nutritional Sciences 



60 



