University of Georgia Archives

Samuel Aggrey

Prof. Samuel Aggrey is a distinguished research professor in genetics and genomics at the University of Georgia (UGA), USA. He holds the Richard B. Russell Endowed Chair and is also a professor in the Department of Poultry Science at Athens, Georgia.

Prof. Aggrey is a co-editor of Poultry Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology and the lead editor of Advances in Poultry Genetics and Genomics. He has also authored numerous book chapters and over 200 peer-reviewed publications. He has trained postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers from around the world and maintains strong collaborative partnerships across Africa, Asia, and Europe.
His notable honors include the Jaap Memorial Lectureship at the Ohio State University; the D.W. Brooks Award for Excellence in Research (UGA); the UGA Student Career Influencer Award; the Broiler Research Award from the Poultry Science Association; the Changxin Chu Fund Award (China Agricultural University Educational Foundation/World’s Poultry Science Association); the Carnegie Fellowship; the World’s Poultry Science Association Siegel Research Award; and the D.W. Brooks awards for excellence in international agriculture and for excellence in diversity (UGA).

Prof. Aggrey serves as the capacity building pillar chair and as a member of the Executive Committee of the African Animal Breeding Network. He is also a member of the High-Level Think Tank on Technological Issues in African Agriculture, and contributes to the African Union’s Working Group on Animal Seed under the African Seed and Biotechnology Partnership Platform.

His current research interests include quantitative genetics and genomics of stressors (climate change and Eimeria spp. infection), as well as modeling and precision animal agriculture.

Prof. Aggrey’s Fulbright-Nehru project is examining the potential of polyamine-enhancing nutritional strategies as alternatives to pharmaceutical interventions in combating Eimeria spp. infection in poultry. It is integrating molecular biology, parasitology, and applied poultry science through multi-omics approaches to advance innovative health management strategies. The project aims to enhance host resilience, provide mechanistic insights into how polyamines improve poultry health, expand frameworks for nutritional immunomodulation, and develop biomarkers.

Javad Anjum

Dr. Javad Anjum is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education at the University of Georgia. He earned an MBBS, a bachelor’s in medicine, and a bachelor’s in surgery, in India. He subsequently worked as a junior resident in the Department of Psychiatry and later pursued clinical research in the Department of Neurophysiology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru, India. He then completed an MEd in educational research and evaluation and a PhD in speech-language science, both from Ohio University. Dr. Anjum also holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Dr. Anjum’s overarching research agenda focuses on enhancing cognitive and communication outcomes for individuals affected by aphasia, a language disorder that often occurs after focal brain damage such as a stroke, and for individuals with dementia, a neurodegenerative condition that commonly affects both cognition and communication. He approaches this work through three interconnected lines of inquiry: examining the cognitive and lexical-semantic mechanisms that underlie language performance in people with aphasia and dementia; advancing equitable, person-centered neurorehabilitation models for multilingual people with aphasia and dementia; and developing interdisciplinary training programs to strengthen clinical service delivery for people with aphasia and older adults experiencing cognitive decline and dementia. His Fulbright-Nehru Scholar Award extends this third line of inquiry.

The aim of Dr. Anjum’s six-month Fulbright-Nehru flex project is to develop, implement, and evaluate an interdisciplinary cognitive enhancement program for older adults in Mysuru district. Toward this, it is tailoring evidence-based cognitive stimulation activities (brain exercises) that are culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate for Indian families. Graduate students in public health and speech-language pathology are also part of the project; they are being trained to implement the program in 25 households, scaling up to an additional 50 households through telepractice at no cost to the recipients. The project is expected to create a sustainable model to improve cognitive health and delay dementia among older adults in India.

V.M. Balasubramaniam

Dr. V.M. Balasubramaniam is the Koehler–Ayres Professor of Food Processing and Sustainable Food Manufacturing Systems in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia (UGA), Griffin, GA. Prior to joining UGA, he served as professor of food engineering at Ohio State University (2002–2025) and as a faculty member at the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology (1995–2002). He also holds an emeritus professorship from Ohio State University.

Dr. Balasubramaniam’s research advances engineering-based multidisciplinary approaches for developing next-generation sustainable food manufacturing and sanitation technologies that enhance pathogen reduction while preserving nutritional quality. He also contributes to food waste reduction through valorization and circular bioeconomy concepts.

Dr. Balasubramaniam has provided extensive leadership services, including as chair, past chair, and secretary of the nonthermal processing and food engineering divisions of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). Since 2000, he has been actively involved with the IFT–EFFoST International Nonthermal Processing Workshop Committee.

Dr. Balasubramaniam’s laboratory has mentored over 30 graduate students and 20 visiting scholars. He has authored more than 180 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, four books, and over 270 professional presentations. His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the 2021 IFT Research and Development Award.

Jennifer John Britto

Jennifer Britto is from Alpharetta, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a double major in biochemistry and molecular biology, and women’s studies in the spring of 2023. Her passion for reproductive justice and women’s health led her to be a part of the Athens Reproductive Justice Collective Fellowship where she got the opportunity to work with local commissioners and do policy proposals. She is currently in the process of getting her paper, “The Significance of Researcher Positionality throughout the Research Process”, published in The Classics Journal. Courtesy her fellowship in the Public Service and Outreach Student Scholars Program, she has learnt to explore and engage with the Athens community. Due to this immersive involvement with the community, she won the Senior Leadership of Excellence Award in her women’s studies major. She hopes that the present Fulbright research project will support her in her aspiration to become a gynecologist and give her a global perspective on health inequity.

The Indian state of Tamil Nadu has vastly improved in increasing menstrual resource access to its population, which is reflected in its high ranking in the health index. However, the health of its population varies across regions, indicating that the intersectionality of factors like location, socioeconomic status, and gender creates discrepancies in access to resources like menstrual health education. For her Fulbright-Nehru project, Jennifer is conducting interviews with adolescent girls of marginalized communities in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli and Virudhunagar districts to develop an understanding of how disproportionate access to resources and the sway of social taboos shape their perceptions of menstruation. The interviews are also being analyzed thematically.