US National Animal Disease Centre in Ames has new director

Kurt Zuelke, an animal reproductive physiologist, is the new head of the US Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Disease Center in Ames.


Zuelke has served as research leader at a biotechnology laboratory in Maryland for the last five years. He was officially appointed in April after a yearlong international recruitment process.


Zuelke’s recent research focused on discovering and understanding the molecular mechanisms that lead to early embryonic death in swine. Zuelke also oversaw research at the Maryland lab, employing biotechnology to combat disease in dairy cattle.