Nutrition
The overall goal of the nutrition research program at Prairie Swine Centre is to develop nutrition strategies that improve the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of pork production in Canada.
Areas of Research
- Impact of dietary composition on animal health and nutrient requirements
- The impact of disease on nutrient requirements
- Srategies to mitigate the negative effects of mycotoxins
- Incorporation of alternative ingredients in swine diets
- The effect of early-life nutrition on lifetime performance.
This includes research projects to improve our understanding of nutrition, metabolism, and physiology at all stages of production. We work closely with researchers in Saskatchewan, across Canada, and worldwide to create a multidisciplinary research program to address the needs of the pork value chain.
Current themes of the nutrition research program include 1) the impact of dietary composition on animal health and nutrient requirements, 2) the impact of disease on nutrient requirements, 3) strategies to mitigate the negative effects of mycotoxins, 4) incorporation of alternative ingredients in swine diets, and 5) the effect of early-life nutrition on lifetime performance.
Current projects are funded by the Government of Saskatchewan – Agriculture Development Fund, Swine Innovation Porc – Canadian Agricultural Partnership, Evonik Operations GmbH, CJ Bio, Mitacs, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Atta Agyekum, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Originally from Ghana, Atta earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology before moving to Canada to pursue both his master's and Ph.D. degrees in Animal Science at the University of Manitoba, studying under Dr. Martin Nyachoti. His Master’s research focused on growing pig responses to diets containing distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) supplemented with a multicarbohydrase enzyme. His doctoral research focused on understanding the nutritional and metabolic effects of feeding growing pigs a high-fibre diet supplemented with feed enzymes. Following his graduate training, Atta moved to the Prairie Swine Centre in 2016 to pursue postdoctoral research with Drs. Columbus and Beaulieu, where he investigated the potential of processed straw to enhance the welfare and reproductive performance of pregnant sows in a loose housing system and the benefits on their offspring's lifetime performance. He then worked as a Research Associate with Dr. Andrew Van Kessel on the Pig Gut Microbiome project at the University of Saskatchewan. In 2020, Atta was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. He was the principal investigator on a research project with a world-renowned feed additive company to investigate grapefruit extracts as a safer alternative feed additive to ractopamine for stimulating muscle tissue growth in fattening pigs. He was also a co-PI on a Danish pig levy fund to investigate the biological basis of feed efficiency in fattening pigs. Atta returned to Canada in 2022 to join Trouw Nutrition Canada as the Swine Validation Research Lead on several Local and Global projects. In July 2025, Atta took on the role of Research Scientist at the Prairie Swine Centre, where he leads the Nutrition Research Program. His research priorities include: 1) developing nutritional strategies to enhance pig resilience against environmental and management stressors; 2) improving nutrient use and efficiency in swine; and 3) evaluating alternative feed resources and quantifying their nutrients to maximize their use in pig feed.
Isis Lima, M.Sc.
Ph.D. Student
Originally from Recife, Brazil, Isislayne Estevão de Lima earned her undergraduate degree in Animal Science from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) in 2019. She completed her master’s degree at UFRPE in 2022, specializing in animal nutrition and feeding, with a research focus on alternative feeds for ruminants. In 2023, Isis participated in the Ohio International Intern Program at The Ohio State University, where she gained hands-on experience in swine production, working as a trainee at a farrow-to-wean company. In 2025, she began her Ph.D. studies at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Atta Agyekum and Dr. Deborah Adewole. Her current research focuses on evaluating and optimizing peri-weaning management to enhance piglets’ performance, welfare, and resilience, and will be conducted at the Prairie Swine Centre. After completing his graduate training, Dan moved to Houston, Texas, to complete post-doctoral training under Dr. Teresa Davis at the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Centre, Baylor College of Medicine, where his research focused on examining nutrient regulation of muscle growth and development of nutritional therapies to improve growth of low-birth weight infants, using the pig as a model for the human infant. Dan joined the Prairie Swine Centre in 2015 and leads the nutrition research program. Dan’s current research focuses on nutrition in the nursery and grower-finisher phase of pig production and on development of research studies utilizing the pig as a model for human nutrition and health.
Ke-Vaughn C. Chantilou, B.Sc.
M.Sc. Student
Ke-Vaughn Chantilou is from the beautiful and vibrant island of Jamaica, where his enthusiasm for animal science began at an early age. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Animal Science in 2020 from the College of Agriculture, Science & Education in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Throughout his undergraduate studies, Ke-Vaughn gained extensive hands on experience at the college’s livestock farm, working with dairy & beef cattle, small ruminants, poultry, and swine, while also developing skills in crop production and horticulture. After completing his degree, Ke-Vaughn entered the workforce in greenhouse production and construction, applying his practical training to real world agricultural environments. His quest to continue to grow professionally led him to travel to several countries, gaining diverse experience that eventually opened the door to new opportunities in Canada. Driven by his passion for animal science and nutrition, Ke-Vaughn is now pursuing his M.Sc. in Animal Nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Atta Kofi Agyekum. His research examines the benefits of precision feeding using blend feeding technology in growing pigs, including nutritional strategies for pigs with varying growth rates and split-sex feeding at the Prairie Swine Centre. Ke-Vaughn aspires to continue into a Ph.D., with the goal of making meaningful contributions to the swine industry and the broader agricultural community globally.
