8:14 a.m., Aug. 18, 2010----Milos Markis, a graduate student in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at the University of Delaware, has been awarded the Richard B. Rimler Memorial Paper Award by the American Association of Avian Pathologists.

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Markis, who conducts research with Robin Morgan, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) and professor of molecular biology, and Joan Burnside, professor of avian genomics, studies the Marek's disease virus (MDV), which causes cancer in chickens.

“While an undergraduate biology major here in the CANR, Milos worked on many projects and learned everything he could from others in the lab,” says Morgan. “He has been able to combine training in molecular biology and genomics with whole organism biology, and I very much look forward to his future contributions in animal health.”

The AAAP scholarship allowed Markis to attend their national conference in early August, held this year in Atlanta, to present his research.

“I had the honor of meeting one of the founders of my field, Dr. Bruce Calnek, and we had dinner together with several other very famous scientists from the field,” Markis says. “That was the highlight of my trip.”

Markis said he attended dozens of scientific talks on poultry diseases while at the conference. “I got to hear about other diseases, what challenges scientists in that field faced, and how they overcame them,” he says. “It is very inspiring.”

In addition to his work in the lab, Markis has collaborated with commercial chicken growers to monitor MDV in live chickens. He has also studied micro-RNA molecules that might affect the replication and spread of the virus.

“I really enjoy the variety of my research,” he says. “I get to see how the molecular work I do impacts the life of a real chicken.”

Markis works with AviServe LLC, a local poultry diagnostic company, studying emerging viruses that can cause disease of the gut in chickens.

Markis also received a graduate scholarship from Delmarva Poultry Industry, the nonprofit trade association working for the continued progress of the broiler chicken industry in Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia.

Markis is completing his masters' degree and will pursue a doctorate in animal science at UD.