New Director Appointments at NARF

Dr Kellie Watson and Prof Nick Sparks have been appointed as co-Directors of The National Avian Research Facility (NARF) at Easter Bush Campus

NARF is a 'one-stop-shop' for poultry researchers worldwide.Its mission is to improve bird health and welfare, in particular of chickens, through research into host-pathogen interactions, avian physiology, developmental biology and genetics, in state-of-the-art infrastructures.

Dr Kellie Watson, currently Genomics manager at Aviagen, will be joining The Roslin Institute, at the University of Edinburgh, as co-Director of NARF and a group leader in avian biology on the 1st July.

From the 1st April, Prof Nick Sparks, will hold a joint SRUC/Roslin Institute appointment. He will continue as Animal & Veterinary Sciences manager for SRUC and have the Chair of avian biology at The Roslin Institute.

This appointment will further strengthen the relationship between SRUC and The Roslin Institute which has been instrumental in securing the funding for CIEL (The Centre of Innovation Excellence in Livestock), the UK's AgriTech Innovation Centre for livestock research, and the consolidation of poultry research facilities in the UK at Easter Bush to create a world leading centre for poultry research.

Having both Kellie and Nick as co-directors of NARF is a great opportunity to unite poultry genetic, health and welfare. They are both well known throughout the poultry world by academics and industry. We all look forward to their leadership in providing cutting edge facilities to everyone interested in poultry science in the UK and throughout the world.

The National Avian Research Facility (NARF) is supported by the University of Edinburgh, BBSRC, Roslin Foundation and Wellcome Trust.  

Visit the NARF website | Download the NARF brochure (PDF 563KB)