Gisèle LaPointe has joined U of G this month from Laval University as the holder of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) Professorship in Dairy Microbiology in the Department of Food Science. Her position is funded by a $2-million gift from DFO.
LaPointe spent 2009 at U of G as an invited professor at the Guelph-based Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety. She has also been an invited research scientist for the Bureau of Microbial Hazards at Health Canada and an invited professor at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France.
She was selected for her expertise in food microbiology; especially her focus on microbial molecular genetics of dairy ecosystems.
DFO made the gift to U of G in 2013 through the BetterPlanet Project, the University’s $200-million fundraising campaign for teaching and research in food, environment, health and communities.
At the time, DFO also funded a $1-million research chair in dairy cattle health at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), which is held by population medicine professor David Kelton.