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2024 Midwest Section Young Scholar Award Receipients
Sponsored by United Animal Health

Hyunjun Choi	Hyunjun Choi is an animal science doctoral candidate at North Carolina State University. He was born and raised in South Korea, and received his B.S. and M.S. at Konkuk University. His Ph.D. research is aimed at the investigation of dietary interventions; acidifiers, medium chain fatty acids, and anti-nutritional compounds degrading enzymes, that could alter mucosal microbiota for the benefit of intestinal health with reduced pathogenic attachments and inflammation to enhance nursery pig growth performance. To date Mr. Choi has published 11 journal articles, with 8 articles as the first author, has co-authored a book chapter and presented numerous poster and oral presentations at Midwest and National American Society of Animal Science. He was President of the NCSU Korean Student Association (2022-2023), received the Pinnacle Award (2023) from the International Ingredient Company which is awarded to outstanding graduate students in the US and was selected by the NC Pork Council for their Communicators Graduate Fellowship (2022).
Olivia L. Harrison	Olivia L. Harrison is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Animal Sciences & Industry at Kansas State University. She is one of the leading scholars in feed safety and biosecurity, with 10 refereed journal articles and 17 scientific abstracts. Her research transcends from the fundamental, such as the development of laboratory methods for viral RNA extraction from contaminated fomites, to the applied, such as the role of boot baths for improving on-farm biosecurity. Olivia’s research and publications have served as the basis for feed biosecurity activities adopted by the United States Swine Health Improvement Plan and are referenced by FDA and USDA in their efforts to prevent foreign animal disease. Olivia has also been the primary instructor for multiple feeds and feeding courses and served as president of the department's graduate student association. Olivia is an impactful researcher, teacher, and leader. We look forward to her continued contributions as a young scholar.
Lauren L. Kovanda	Lauren L. Kovanda was born in Sacramento, California. She earned her B.S. in Animal Science at California State University, Fresno and received an athletic scholarship as a member of the women’s equestrian team. During college, she interned at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, where she disseminated legislative information on the Veterinary Feed Directive requirements by the Food and Drug Administration. Her interest in combatting antimicrobial resistance by reducing antibiotic use in livestock production led her to working in Dr. Yanhong Liu’s laboratory at University of California, Davis. She completed a master’s degree in the Animal Biology Graduate Group in 2020, with research evaluating the antimicrobial effects of organic acids against bacterial species. Her Ph.D. research is focused on investigating the effects of dietary short chain fatty acids on intestinal health and immunity using in vitro and in vivo porcine models.
Alison C. Neujahr	Alison C. (Bartenslager) Neujahr is a Ph.D. candidate in Complex Biosystems at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under the guidance of Dr. Samodha Fernando. She earned her B.S. in Animal Science with an emphasis in production livestock. In 2018, she began pursuing a M.S. degree in Ruminant Nutrition. Here, Alison investigated alternatives to prophylactics to reduce the occurrence of liver abscesses in fed cattle and studied the bovine ocular microbiome regarding Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK). Both projects laid the foundation for her Ph.D work. Alison has placed twice in the ASAS Midwest Oral Competitions and has published her work in 6 different peer reviewed journal articles. In addition to her own research, Alison is a laboratory technician for the non-ruminant group and enjoys mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students.
Jung Sung	Jung Sung is an exceptionally enthusiastic and prolific Ph.D. candidate. He is highly motivated with an innate curiosity for discovery. His research focuses on digestibility in monogastric animals and, to date, Jung Sung has published 20 peer-reviewed research articles. This is, by all metrics, outstanding. Importantly, his research is by-and-large immediately translatable allowing producers, large and small, to improve efficiencies with precise and affordable diets. Importantly, Jung Sung communicates these results very well to various types of audiences (on top of peer-reviewed publications).