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NEW PRAGUE, Minn. — The NMC Scholars Selection Committee awarded scholarships to eight graduate students to attend the 2026 NMC Annual Meeting, Jan. 26-29, in Birmingham, Ala. The recipients are Anna Acosta, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.; Elizabeth Plunkett, Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio; Emily Leonard, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis; Lara Juliano, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.; Mario Marin, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.; Delower Hossain, University of Milan, Lodi, Italy; Joanne Hanifin, Munster Technological University, Castlemaine, Ireland; and Karise Nogara, Federal University of Paraná, Paraná, Brazil. The NMC Scholars program strives to support the development of future udder health, milking management and milk quality specialists.
Acosta is pursuing a PhD in food science. Her research takes a two-pronged approach. First, she is using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to analyze Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus isolates collected from mastitic dairy cows on Puerto Rican farms. Through this genomic analysis, she seeks to determine whether antimicrobial resistance genes are located on the bacterial chromosome or on mobile genetic elements (e.g., plasmids, transposons, integrons). Second, Acosta plans to develop a series of short, bilingual videos in English and Spanish, tailored for Puerto Rican dairy farmers.
Plunkett gained early research experience at Iowa State University as an undergraduate. That research addressed dairy cattle nutritional physiology, bovine leukemia virus and the use of direct-fed microbials in calf starter grain. Plunkett’s PhD research focuses on characterizing how nutrient partitioning shifts in response to immune activation and how these changes impact milk synthesis, intending to identify key substrates that are required for successful immune cell proliferation and maturation. Last year, she won first place in American Dairy Science Association’s Undergraduate Paper Competition (original research).
Leonard, who grew up on a dairy farm, earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and continued as a graduate student. Her research is dedicated to exploring sustainable, immune-based alternatives to antimicrobials used for mastitis prevention and treatment. The goal of Leonard’s thesis is to evaluate a novel liposome-Toll-like receptor agonist complex immunotherapy to enhance the innate immune response in the mammary gland. By priming the natural immune defenses, this approach could serve as an alternative to long-acting antibiotics, which are traditionally used during the dry period.
Originally from Brazil, Juliano discovered cows during her veterinary education. She completed her master’s degree under Jose Pantoja, who was in the “inaugural class” of NMC Scholars in 2008. As a PhD candidate, Juliano benchmarks antimicrobial use in Michigan and Ohio dairy farms, and analyzes data from clinical and subclinical mastitis cases on dairy farms that have opted not to use antibiotics. The goal is to understand and assess the economic impact of this approach. Also, her research team plans to develop an algorithm that guides treatment decisions for clinical mastitis at the cow level.
Fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French, Marin studied agronomical engineering at National University of Cordoba, Argentina, before earning her master’s degree from the University of Florida. Marin’s PhD research addresses inefficient milking and its impact on productivity, udder health and farm profitability. Through her research, she is leveraging artificial intelligence and statistical modeling to analyze large-scale data from robotic and conventional milking systems. Her work combines a deep understanding of dairy physiology and herd management with cutting-edge computational techniques.
Growing up on a Bangladesh farm, Hossain witnessed the struggles of mastitis in his family’s dairy herd. Hossain earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree and master’s degree in Bangladesh, and is now pursuing a PhD. As a DVM student, Hossain conducted a study on subclinical mastitis (SCM) in goats, identifying Staphylococcus aureus and non-aureus staphylococci as prevalent pathogens. When pursuing his master’s degree, he investigated SCM across 102 dairy farms. Hossain’s career goal is to establish an international center of excellence in mastitis control and milk quality in South Asia.
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At a young age, Hanifin became interested in dairy health and welfare as a “dairy farm kid.” Hanifin’s PhD research focuses on using marine and plant bio-extracts for bovine udder health in mastitis. Her research aims to create antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory technologies from marine and plant bio-extracts. Creating alternative marine or plant bio-extracts technologies will help minimize antimicrobial use and resistance. Also, her research revolves around applying a novel biosensor to help farmers detect subclinical mastitis. Early detection will foster suitable treatment to prevent disease progression.
Nogara grew up on her family’s farm in rural Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and completed an animal science degree at the Federal University of Santa Maria, where she researched and evaluated compost-bedded pack barns (CBPB) and their influence on milk composition and udder health. After graduation, she worked for Group Lactalis. This experience showed Nogara how animal health and milk quality directly affect dairy product safety for consumers. Currently, she is a PhD candidate – leading a microbiome study to evaluate the microbial communities in CBPB bedding and their relationship with udder health.
NMC: The Global Milk Quality Organization is a non-profit professional organization devoted to reducing mastitis and enhancing milk quality. NMC promotes research and provides science-based information to the dairy industry on udder health, milking management, milk quality, animal welfare and food safety. Founded in 1961, NMC has about 1,000 members in more than 40 countries throughout the world.
—NMC: The Global Milk Quality Organization
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