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MB Professor Michael Kent Leads Pioneering Course on Zebrafish Disease Management in Spain

MB Professor Michael Kent Leads Pioneering Course on Zebrafish Disease Management in Spain

Dr. Michael Kent, pictured with all the participants of the course.

Dr. Michael Kent, pictured top left, with all of the people who participated in the course.

Dr. Michael Kent, along with fellow Microbiology professor Dr. Jan Spitsbergen, have taught a 1-week course entitled "Health and Colony Management of Laboratory Fish" every year since 2005 at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, Marine. This last May, Dr. Kent lead a version of the course at Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Lugo, Spain.

The course garnered local media attention, with articles published in the IPac Acuicultura, the Campus Terra da Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, the El Progreso, and the Galicia Press.

The innovative training program, introduced with the help of other course colleagues, focuses on addressing diseases that affect zebrafish, a key model organism in scientific research.

Participants study cultures and conduct experiments in the lab to better understand zebrafish diseases.

Participants study cultures and conduct experiments in the lab to better understand zebrafish diseases.

Manuela De Azevedo Gomes, Michael Kent, and Maribel Quiroga Berdeal.

Professors Manuela De Azevedo Gomes, Michael Kent, and Maribel Quiroga Berdeal.

About the research efforts, Professor Maribel Quiroga explained, "this will make it possible to better understand the main differences in the response to diseases of this species compared to mammals and to know the most frequent lesions in the organic systems that can be of diagnostic importance and in the context of research".

Participants in the interactive program were able to conduct hands-on research and in-depth study into the diseases that affect zebrafish, both common and rare. Zebrafish, which share a significant genome homology to humans, are precious in understanding how diseases may evolve and affect the human body.

This initiative is part of ongoing efforts to support cutting-edge biomedical research and provide valuable training to researchers and students, with positive potential impacts on the scientific community.