FOSTERING ANIMAL HEALTH AND VETERINARY MEDICINE

1. “Kazakhstan is well ahead in the region in terms of making critical investments to
address large scale agricultural and environmental challenges facing the greater
Central Asia region.”
-Beau Ingle of Ohio State’s International Program in Agriculture
Kazakhstan and the state of Ohio share a natural connection
to agriculture. Vast natural resources and location in the
heart of Central Asia has fueled demand for Kazakhstan’s
agricultural products, with investments topping over $1
billion in 2019. In turn, agriculture contributes to more than
$105 billion to Ohio’s economy.
The threat of zoonotic diseases, climate change, and global
demand for food provide scope for U.S. and Kazakhstan
to expand new collaborations in agricultural education,
research, and outreach.
With a grant awarded through the Central Asia University
Partnerships Program (UniCEN), administered by
American Councils and funded by the U.S. Department
of State through the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan, The
Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and
Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and Kazakh National
Agrarian University (KazNAU) deepened a partnership
on safeguarding animals and agriculture to keep livestock
healthy and food safe.
TEAMWORK FOR NATIONAL RESEARCH PRIORITIES
Launched as a teamwork concept, the partnership
introduced teaching techniques, curricula, and distance
learning capacity for applied research and outreach. Cross-
disciplinary teaching, graduate research, workshops, and
online programs, and demonstrations positioned Ohio as a
global agricultural leader and Kazakhstan as an emerging
agricultural powerhouse.
In April 2019, Ohio State University scientists and KazNAU
peers exchanged ideas during a one-day idea generation
and grant writing workshop for the agriculture faculty
members, scientists, researchers, and PhD students.
KazNAU teaching faculty learned new techniques to
deliver and interact with their students more effectively.
“The workshop identified the current and existing
agricultural, environmental, and animal science research
problems in Kazakhstan, followed by in-depth discussion
on team building procedures,” says Dr. Rafiq Islam,
director of the Soil Water & BioEnergy program at
Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon, who
participated in the visit.
As a preeminent knowledge base, KazNAU serves
farmers and agricultural enterprises in Kazakhstan to
improve upon their growing technology for soybeans,
a critical export meeting demand for global protein
consumption. Since around half of Ohio cropland yields
soybeans, Ohio State University lent its expertise to
support KazNAU’s efforts to meet the priorities of
Kazakhstan’s agricultural industry.
Dr. Nurlan Kuldybayev, research scholar in plant pathology at
KazNAU spent two-months at Ohio State University South
Centers in Piketon, Ohio using sophisticated equipment
and field experiments to build his research capacity.
“Working with the OSU Soil Organic Matter Calculator, I
learned special concepts of soil health components and
soil quality,” recalls Dr. Kuldybayev, who brought back a
test kit and insights to protect soybean seedlings from
crop-destroying fungus.
MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION OF
AGRICULTURAL LEADERS
Researchers at Ohio State University served as mentors
to PhD students at KazNAU in animal health and disease
surveillance and climate-smart agriculture. The goal was to
develop and exchange joint teaching materials, as well as
to build innovative and effective approaches for teaching,
research, and extension programs across disciplines.
Dr. Renukaradhya Gourapura, Professor at the CFAES
Food Animal Health Research Program and Department
of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, formed a collaboration
with Dr. Kaissar Tabynov, Head of the International Center
for Vaccinology at KazNAU to strengthen ties in food and
animal health research.
FOSTERING ANIMAL HEALTH
AND VETERINARY MEDICINE

2. Dr. Tabynov visited Dr. Gourapura’s lab in November 2019
in Wooster, Ohio, and exchanged scientific knowledge of
cattle vaccines in Kazakhstan.
The team has been actively involved in collaborative
research, which resulted in three peer-reviewed joint
research publications in the past two years. Notably,
the team won Kazakhstan government funding in
June 2020 to develop a novel COVID-19 vaccine for
preclinical studies.
Dr. Islam mentored early-career KazNAU faculty members
to conduct new experiments in climate-smart agriculture
in Kazakhstan. Dr. Zagipa Sapakhova, a researcher in the
Department of Plant Protection and Quarantine, won
a competitive U.S. Department of Agriculture Norman
Borlaug Fellowship at Washington State University in fall
2019 as a result of the mentorship. Ohio State CFAES and
KazNAU faculty also jointly submitted research proposals
for external funding, including four research proposals and
13 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Ohio State CFAES and KazNAU continue to expand their
partnership activity in joint patents and licenses for novel
vaccine development to mitigate infectious and zoonotic
diseases in food animals, climate-smart agriculture, soil
quality restoration, and water-use efficiency.
“Kazakhstan is well ahead in the region in terms of making
critical investments to address large scale agricultural and
environmental challenges facing the greater Central Asia
region,” states Beau Ingle of Ohio State’s International
Program in Agriculture. “Kazakh scientists have very good
infrastructure to support high-quality research and have
demonstrated to be partners capable of collaboratively
tackling these challenges that have global implications.”
ABOUT UNICEN
Funded by the US Department of State through its missions
in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, UniCEN is a platform to
increase sustainable collaborations between US and
Central Asian higher education institutions. UniCEN builds
expertise in the areas of strategic planning, administration,
faculty policies and practices, student mobility, curriculum
development, and alumni relations to advance the
development of mutually beneficial partnerships.
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
The Ohio State University College of Food,
Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
The Ohio State University and the College
of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental
Sciences (CFAES) got its start in 1870, when the
Ohio General Assembly established the Ohio
Agricultural and Mechanical College. Today, its
world-class teaching, research, and outreach
impacts local, state, national, and global
communities. CFAES focuses on production
efficiency and technologies, food security
and safety, economic and policy analysis,
preservation of the environment, ecosystems,
and water quality. CFAES fosters economic
development through technologies and value-
added products, strives to ensure human, animal,
and environmental health, and prepares future
leaders and scientists.
Kazakh National Agrarian University (KazNAU)
Founded in 1929, the Kazakh National Agrarian
University (KazNAU) is an innovative oriented
institution of higher education, and a leader of
the agrarian sector in Kazakhstan and Central
Asia. The research university integrates science
and industry, creates intellectual property and
technology for commercialization, and trains
highly qualified staff through basic and applied
scientific research and other scientific technical
projects. KazNAU has become the core of
educational, scientific and innovative environment
for Kazakhstan’s country’s competitiveness in
agrarian-industrial development.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Adrian Erlinger | aerlinger@americancouncils.org