October 9, 2024 - Novus is remembering a founding member of its research team - and a pillar in the agriculture industry. Julia J Dibner, PhD, passed away the week of September 30, 2024. She dedicated nearly 30 years to poultry research, many of those spent at Novus where she served as Director of Biology Research and then Senior Research Consultant and Distinguished Science Fellow before retiring from the industry in 2014.
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| Dr Julia J. Dibner |
She earned her doctorate in cellular and development biology from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri in 1980. She was first employed by the Monsanto Company and moved to work for Novus when the company was created in 1991.
Authoring over 140 research papers and having presented at conferences and seminars around the world, Dibner's cutting-edge work touched nearly every part of the animal nutrition additive and health industry. Her research included 2-hydroxy-4 (methylthio) butanoic acid (HMTBa), a organic acids, antibiotic growth promoters, trace minerals, bone and tissue development, gut health, oxidative balance, early nutrition, nutrient formulation and pathogen challenge trials. While primarily focused on poultry, her studies also included swine and ruminants.
Dibner collaborated with universities and institutions, many in the United States, including The Ohio State University, University of Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health at the University of Aberdeen, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Research, North Carolina State University, Stephen F Austin State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her findings are still used by the research and industry communities globally.
Her dedication to animal research resulted in many patents, as well as the development of groundbreaking products Alimet Feed Additive, MHA Feed Additive, MFP Feed Supplement, Mintrex Bis-Chelated Trace Mineral, Activate DA Nutritional Feed Acid and former Novus products Oasis hatching supplement and Santoquin. She also helped develop the coccidiosis vaccine Advent.
She received numerous awards and recognition for her scientific achievements. She was repeatedly recognised with nominations to Monsanto's Science Fellow program and served as Novus' first Distinguished Fellow. In May 2003, a jury of scientists and technology experts from Washington University and St Louis University in the United States awarded her the St Louis Technology Award for her contributions to coccidiosis control.
She also served as an associate editor for the international journal Poultry Science.
As one of the few women in the industry in the 1980s, Dibner was a mentor to future industry leaders and advocated for women to pursue a career in science.
Novus President and CEO Dan Meagher, who worked with Dibner when he was President of Global Animal Nutrition Solutions at Novus, says Julia was an invaluable member of the Novus family and the entire animal agriculture industry.
"Julia is a prime example of an intelligent, innovative, enterprising, dedicated scientists whose ingenuity sparked new areas of study," he says. "She worked with partners around the world who held her in the highest esteem and her legacy is with us today in her research and our intelligent nutrition solutions. On behalf of the Novus team, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude and sympathy to her family and those who knew her."
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