Biography
Chinyere Ekine-Dzivenu obtained her BSc in Animal Science at the
Federal University of Technology Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria and MSc in
Quantitative Genetics and Genome Analysis at the University of
Edinburgh, Scotland. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Beef
Genetics and Genomics at the University of Alberta in the department of
Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science (AFNS) under the supervision
of Dr. Changxi Li. Her PhD project, funded by Alberta Livestock and
Meat Agency (ALMA), centers on improving the healthfulness of beef
fatty acid profile by using natural genetic variation among individual animals with emphasis on
estimating genetic parameters to access the presence of additive genetic differences for fatty
acids in beef tissues and the possibilities of simultaneous genetic improvements of fatty acids
with meat and carcass quality traits without antagonism. It also includes the identification of
single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers associated with beef fatty acid profile for potential
use as a tool to identify and select beef with healthier fatty acid profile for breeding instead of
having to slaughter cattle and sample their tissues (leading to the loss of potential parents) before
being able to tell if it has a good profile or not.
Chinyere has authored two peer reviewed papers, one of which is a result from this doctoral
work on the estimates of genetic parameters for fatty acids in the brisket adipose tissue of
Canadian commercial crossbred beef steers published in the Meat Science Journal 2014,
96(4):1517-1526. She has made three poster presentations and her poster on genetic parameters
for fatty acids in the intramuscular and subcutaneous adipose tissue of beef resulting from this
study won first place at the Livestock Gentec Conference, Edmonton, Alberta in October 2013.
Her abstract on an oral presentation titled “the Genetic influence of host animal on fatty acid
composition in beef tissues” also resulting from this study presented at the Canadian Society of
Animal Science (CSAS) and the Canadian Meat Science Association (CSMA) joint meeting,
Banff, Alberta in June 2013 was adjudged one of four winners of the CSAS travel award.
She has received several awards recognising her academic and scholarly achievements including
the John Prentice Graduate Scholarship in Beef Genomics, AFNS Winter 2011, 2012, 2014
Differential Tuition Scholarships, Graduate Student Association Professional Development
Award, AFNS Travel Award, Marie Curie Early-Stage Training Fellowship, and Shell PostPrimary and University Scholarships. She was nominated and invited by the president of the
University of Alberta to become a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, a
global collegiate society established to recognize university students for academic excellence.
Chinyere enjoys doing research and upon graduation hopes to work in both academia and the
meat industry as a researcher focusing on genetic improvement of carcass and meat quality traits
of economic importance in livestock.