by Jo-Ann Geist
As highlighted last year, Deepak Subedi joined the Poultry Research Foundation in October 2025 to begin a PhD in the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney, bringing with him a broad grounding in poultry. He qualified as a veterinarian at Tribhuvan University in Nepal and worked as a technical poultry veterinarian across Nepalese broiler and layer farms, then completed a master’s degree in Poultry Science at the University of Georgia and a research fellowship in food safety and microbiology with the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Pennsylvania, USA.
That path, from the farm gate to the laboratory bench, shapes the question his doctoral research now asks. It sits at the interaction between nutrition and health in broiler chickens, examining how what a bird is fed shapes not only its performance, but its welfare, gut health and the microbial community it carries. Deepak began by mapping what is already known, publishing a review titled “Effects of reduced crude protein diets on footpad dermatitis, necrotic enteritis, and coccidiosis in broiler chickens” in Poultry Science (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.107442). Where the review found the literature inconsistent, he moved to quantify, completing a meta-analysis of the effect of dietary crude protein level on footpad dermatitis in broilers. Reduced protein diets are one of the most practical tools available to the industry for lowering nitrogen excretion, which makes their welfare consequences worth measuring carefully. He presented the meta-analysis at the 2026 Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada and is now preparing the manuscript. The same interest in what diet does inside the bird has taken him into the caeca, where he has been analysing 16S rRNA data from broiler trials in which field peas and faba beans replaced soybean meal, with a manuscript in development.
Conferences and travel awards
Alongside his research, Deepak attended four major scientific conferences during his first year, including the 2025 Australasian Veterinary Poultry Association Conference in Hobart, the 2026 Australian Poultry Science Symposium, the Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting and the World’s Poultry Congress in Toronto. He also received a PSA travel award to attend the 2025 Pacific Rim Scientific Conference in Macau. These opportunities provided valuable exposure to the Australian and international poultry science communities.
Service and leadership
Deepak has taken those connections into service roles on both sides of the Pacific. He was elected Student Director of the Poultry Science Association for 2026 to 2028, a two year term on the Association’s Board of Directors in which he represents the interests of student members and helps shape the Association’s student programs. Closer to home, he serves as the HDR Student Representative on the Faculty of Science Research Committee, and as the Camden representative of the School of Life and Environmental Sciences Postgraduate Society.
What comes next
Year two will bring Deepak’s own feeding trials at Camden and the completion of the microbiota and meta-analysis manuscripts, turning a year spent reading, analysing and observing into experiments of his own.
Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepak-subedi-48aa09138/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xN_OKmcAAAAJ&hl=en
