Guilherme Madureira
Arrell Scholar Alumnus, Animal Biosciences
Guilherme completed his PhD in the Department of Animal Biosciences focusing on dairy cattle. Guilherme’s PhD program aimed to address the issue of pregnancy losses in dairy farming, which impacts profitability, competitiveness, and sustainability. Specifically, he focused on how the uterus supports early embryo development. Part of Guilherme’s studies investigated how fertile animals respond to pregnancy signals from the embryo, known as interferon-tau. He also explored a nutritional strategy using omega-3 fatty acids to enhance the health of lactating cows and create a better uterine environment for successful pregnancies.
Since his early days of growing up in Brazil, Guilherme Madureira dreamed of working with livestock. This passion led him to veterinary school where he spent five years studying and learning the intricacies of beef and dairy cattle production. During his time at the School of Veterinary Medicine, he actively participated in livestock farming research and extension activities. By the end of his time in the program, he knew he wanted to pursue a career in researching cattle production systems and expand his scientific knowledge in the field. Prior to his PhD. Guilherme acquired a Master’s in Animal Science, focusing on the development of novel strategies to synchronize the reproductive cycles of cattle’s, with a goal of maximizing their fertility outcomes.
Back to Our Experts“Translating basic science into practical applications can improve production, efficiency, and sustainability for farmers, the livestock industry and the Canadian and global food system.”
Research Interests and Future Goals
His passion for livestock and his background in veterinary medicine has driven Guilherme’s research goals, where he hopes to translate basic science in reproductive biology into practical applications. His main goal is to improve production, efficiency and sustainability of the cattle industry. At a deeper level, he is hoping to develop a fertility test associated with good reproductive performance which could be used to select fertile females. Not only will this research help dairy farmers, but it will also improve dairy production and help the food system at large. In the future, Guilherme plans to work on research development in the livestock industry, using applied research to solve problems faced by producers.
Why Arrell Food Institute
Madureira was drawn to Arrell Food Institute for a few reasons, most notably being the research conducted at the University of Guelph by Dr. Eduardo de Souza Ribeiro, his now supervisor. He recounts that Dr. Ribeiro used a unique approach coupling basic science knowledge, out of the box thinking, and practical application to work with farmers and consequently the world food system. Madureira was also very enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute to the program and was struck by the university’s vision to use sustainability and innovation when talking about the food system. Finally, Guilherme was excited to study at the University of Guelph because of the focus on both Canadian and global food systems.