Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem for both animal and human health. Over time, disease-causing bacteria like Salmonella have evolved to evade commonly prescribed antibiotics.
To address the problem and help prevent the development of even more resistant strains, scientists have been investigating other ways to keep food produced from animals like poultry safe.
Mary Anne Amalaradjou, associate professor in the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, has established a distinguished research program investigating how probiotics can improve the health of chickens, which in turn makes the food that comes from them safer for consumers and more profitable for farmers.
“You look at the entire continuum when you talk about food safety,” Amalaradjou says. “It really starts with raising the animal and making sure it’s healthy, and it goes all the way to what you see in the store or on your plate. Every step matters to make sure the food is good, nutritious, and safe.”
Amalaradjou’s career has recently been recognized through two prestigious awards: American Society for Microbiology 2026 Alice C. Evans Award for Advancement of Women, and the Petit Family Foundation’s Women in Science Leadership Award.
“It’s very humbling,” says Amalaradjou. “I feel a responsibility to do more, to pay it forward by building an inclusive, supportive environment where my students can thrive now, succeed in their own time, and carry that success with them into the future.”
Amalaradjou found her path to poultry research by way of her training in food microbiology.
“It started with microbes,” Amalaradjou says. “I was always fascinated by biology. How and why things work and what they do. I was interested in tiny bugs, microbes – that kind of David and Goliath situation. How do you beat a bully, which microbes can be.”
Amalaradjou combined this interest with her training as a veterinarian, having earned her DVM from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute.
At UConn, Amalaradjou has been investigating how probiotics, beneficial microorganisms that live in the gut, can be used to develop sustainable, organic poultry production methods.
Amalaradjou’s work has delivered promising results showing that applying her patented probiotic spray to eggs before they hatch leads to a higher hatch rate and healthier chicks once out of their shells, without relying on antibiotics.
Amalaradjou demonstrated that when the eggs were sprayed with probiotics, there was an approximately 5% increase in hatchability. The hatchlings were also healthier and more active.
Amalaradjou has also evaluated this method for its ability to prevent Salmonella infection.
Most Salmonella-control strategies primarily target breeding flocks and older birds. However, hatchlings are the most vulnerable to Salmonella colonization. If a hatchling picks up the bacteria, it can spread through the flock quickly.
In her study, Amalaradjou applied probiotics at multiple stages of development – unhatched eggs, chicks on their way to grow out farms, and more mature chickens on the farm.
She has also found that chicks sprayed with probiotics put on more muscle, particularly in the breast and legs, the two most important parts for farmers.
Now, Amalaradjou is interested in better understand how exactly the probiotics are providing these benefits.
Early results indicate that the probiotics support the molecular pathways involved in muscle growth from the embryo stage to adulthood.
“They modulate how these pathways work so that at the end of the day, pathways that are needed for muscle growth are amplified, and the ones that inhibit muscle growth are downregulated,” Amalaradjou says.
By understanding these mechanisms in greater detail, probiotic dosage and application regimen can be modified to maximize the benefits for farmers.
“If we can figure out that sweet spot, where we can support bird health and performance and at the same time maintain quality, that is what the industry is looking for,” Amalaradjou says. “Understanding how and why things happen will help us fine-tune the application process.”
Amalaradjou is expanding her work to laying hens that produce table eggs for human consumption to see if probiotic application has benefits for them too. She has also started working with fresh produce like spinach and microgreens with the same aims to create a high-yield, healthy product for human consumption.
A critical part of Amalaradjou’s work, she says, is the valuable interactions she has with her students.
“Working with students is the best part of my day,” Amalaradjou says. “You always learn something new. We enter each moment believing we are the teachers, only to discover that they are teaching us, quietly, constantly, through every interaction.”
This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Ensuring a Vibrant and Sustainable Agricultural Industry and Food Supply.
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