“If you want to be a productive researcher, then you should also be a teacher, particularly of graduate courses” Dr. T.G. Nagaraja says. These are more than just words of advice, but a way of life that is being passed down to newer generations of researchers/ teachers in the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Nagaraja, University Distinguished Professor of microbiology, has the track record to support his philosophy. One of his former students, Dr. Raghu Amachawadi is now a frequent research collaborator. Together they are exploring ways for livestock producers to have practical ways to detect and ultimately prevent liver abscesses in cattle. “The reason I got into liver abscess research was because I was getting ready to teach a course on the rumen for graduate students,” Dr. Nagaraja recalls. “It was the first time I learned about liver abscesses when I started teaching the class. Till then, I did not know anything about liver abscesses. The learning of liver abscesses gave me the idea that I should look into this problem.” The research conducted by Drs. Nagaraja and Amachawadi has tangible objectives and outcomes. Both have several projects to understand more on the etiology and pathogenesis of liver abscesses in cattle, including evaluating antimicrobial alternatives to control liver abscesses. “One of our goals is to develop a pen-side or chute-side diagnostic test,” Dr. Amachawadi says. “As of now, we don’t have a reliable diagnostic test to detect liver abscess in live cattle until after the animals are processed.”
From Bangalore to Kansas State University Drs. Nagaraja and Amachawadi share similar backgrounds and connections in India. “I was contacted by Raghu’s mentor in Bangalore, India,” says Dr. Nagaraja, who earned his Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc) in 1970 at the veterinary college in the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. “He said he had a person working in his group who was a good student. I told Raghu to submit his application for a master’s degree. At that time, I had a project looking at feeding copper and zinc to pigs and cattle to see how that would affect the antimicrobial resistance of gut bacteria.” After graduating from the veterinary college in 2003, Dr. Amachawadi worked part time for his mentor in India as an associate veterinarian at the Karuna Animal Welfare Association (formerly Bangalore Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). He worked on Gates Foundation
funded project on rabies eradication by spaying and neutering to control stray dog population, and conducted training camps to educate people on animal welfare, animal health and humane treatment of animals. Dr. Amachawadi also worked as a veterinary research scientist on livestock diseases at the National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics. “I always wanted to get my graduate degree and go back to India because I’m the only son in my family,” Dr. Amachawadi says. “Most of the scientists I worked with had all graduated from the US and UK. That’s where I thought I needed to go — and then after getting a higher degree, I wanted to go back home and work.” Dr. Amachawadi completed his master’s degree under Dr. Nagaraja and worked on his Ph.D. under Dr. Morgan Scott, who was then a professor of epidemiology at K-State [Dr. Scott is now at Texas A&M University]. “Dr. Nagaraja got me involved in teaching the bacteriology lab for second-year students, which lasted from 2009 for almost 10 to 12 years,” Dr. Amachawadi says “He played a major role in shaping my career. Even though I switched to working on my Ph.D. with Dr. Scott, I still work directly with Dr. Nagaraja. I consider him as my ‘forever mentor.’ Dr. Nagaraja has played a pivotal role in my professional development and I am truly grateful for his time and effort. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from someone experienced and dedicated as Dr. Nagaraja.” “After he completed his Ph.D., Raghu came back to my lab to work as a postdoc researcher” Dr. Nagaraja says. “And then he became a research assistant professor. That’s how we started working together on liver abscesses.”
A distinguished career at K-State Dr. Nagaraja’s path has been more circuitous than Dr. Amachawadi’s. He was not originally a master’s student in the veterinary college. “I was working on my master’s degree in microbiology in Bangalore,” Dr. Nagaraja says. “I was asked to give a seminar on a topic, so I chose bloat in cattle. I used to go to the library to search for literature on bloat, and the majority of the publications on bloat were from K-State. Dr. Erle Bartley was in fact a bloat expert in this country. That’s what prompted me to come to K-State.” The transition to studying in the US was not easy for Dr. Nagaraja. wildcatveterinarian | 33
