Latest Dairy Research and Innovations Showcased at CDR Research Forum

A record number of attendees joined the Center for Dairy Research (CDR), November 4-5, for its annual Research Forum, which featured current, cutting-edge research projects from several Universities of Wisconsin campuses. The Research Forum is open to members of the CDR Industry Team (CIT), which is composed of industry organizations and companies from all sectors of the dairy industry. CIT members support the work of CDR and receive early access to research and other resources from CDR.

In total, more than 150 professionals from leading dairy processing companies attended the two-day event in Madison, Wisconsin.

“This was our largest crowd in the more than 20 years of hosting this event,” said Dr. John Lucey, CDR Director. “Our Research Forum showcases the incredible breadth and depth of dairy foods related research work across our campus.”

Graduate students and UW professors presented updates on 20 different ongoing dairy-related research projects. The sessions included:

Health and Nutrition of Dairy
UW-Madison research is helping to highlight and identify dairy components that may have positive impacts on human health and nutrition.

• Dr. Joseph Pierre (Department of Nutritional Sciences) shared research work that his lab is conducting that is measuring the human health benefits of bovine milk exosomes and colostrum. Dr. Pierre explained that exosomes are small particles in milk (poorly studied) that include bioactive materials that can promote immune functions.
• Graduate student Kevin Shih (Bolling Lab) presented his research on whey protein phospholipid concentrate, which shows several promising health benefits, including serving as a good source of dietary choline, which is important for population groups like post-menopausal women.

Bioprocessing and Biofermentation
Another exciting area of research taking place at UW-Madison is on using bioprocessing and biofermentation to produce high value materials like bioplastics, low calorie sweeteners and fuel from low value dairy co-products.

• CDR Director John Lucey shared updates on CDR's capabilities and work on valorizing dairy co-products. This includes the commissioning of a new 400L bioreactor, which will be crucial in bridging the gap between benchtop scale technologies and industrial/commercial scale.
• Graduate student Ethan Yee (Majumder Lab) presented research on producing bioplastic co-polymers from dairy co-products.
• Graduate student Shriya Sharma (Huber Lab) shared research on utilizing lactose streams for production of a new low-calorie sweetener: D-Tagatose.
• Dr. Victor Ujor (Department of Food Science) presented his lab's research work on converting whey permeate into biofuels like butanol.

Focus on Cheese
There were a number of presentations featuring research looking at improving and developing new natural cheese products.

• Graduate student Jason Pronschinske (Lucey Lab) shared his research on converting natural cheese into shelf-stable, high protein puffed snacks.
• Graduate student Danielle Chasten (Lucey Lab) provided an update on a project aimed at developing a dairy-based antifungal ingredient to help inhibit unwanted mold growth in cheese.
• Graduate student Erin Levinson (Lucey Lab) presented her research on processing steps that are critical to achieving top grade eye development in Swiss cheese, especially those made from concentrated milk. This is important not only for the retail market but also school lunch programs.
• Dr. Rodrigo Ibanez (CDR researcher) collaborated with the Teagasc Food Research Centre (Ireland) and analyzed the peptide profiles of retail cheeses made with beta-casein A1 versus A2 variants. This found that both types of cheeses produced similar total amounts of bioactive peptides called beta-casomorphins.

Animal and Dairy Science Updates
New this year, the Research Forum included a track focused on animal and dairy science.

• Dr. Victor Cabrera (Animal & Dairy Sciences) shared an update on the Ruminant Farm System (RuFaS): which is a new open-source paradigm for research and decision making (modeling) in dairy farming.
• Dr. Francisco Peñagaricano (Animal & Dairy Sciences) shared his lab’s research on breeding strategies to reduce the environmental impact of U.S. dairy cattle.

Improving Dairy Beverages, Safety and Quality and More
Other presentations at the Research Forum covered important topics including dairy beverages, quality and safety issues, yogurt and more.

• Graduate student Julianna Lopez (Lucey Lab) presented her research work focused on improving the stability and reducing sedimentation in shelf stable dairy beverages.
• Dr. Tu-Anh Huynh (Department of Food Science) shared research that found that wood boards used to age specialty cheese can harbor natural anti-listeria bacterial communities, which may lead to novel antimicrobials.
• Dr. Zifan Wan (UW-Platteville School of Agriculture) is researching the use of cold plasma as a method to treat cheese brines to improve the safety and quality of those brines.
• Dr. Grace Lewis (UW-River Falls Animal and Food Science Department) shared research examining the digestibility of dairy proteins.
• Dr. Elise Ale (CDR post doctoral researcher) presented research on high protein products like yogurts and compared different methods of concentration and the impact of exopolysaccharides on graininess and astringency in these products.

The Research Forum featured the many talented graduate students; attendees were provided with a booklet profiling each of the graduate students and a student networking reception gave industry professionals an opportunity to meet with students.

Organizers also used the Slido software throughout the event to collect questions and poll attendees. They were also asked to provide a word to describe how they use CDR (see image below).

Finally, in addition to providing an early, peek at innovative research, the Research Forum is a valuable event for members of the dairy industry to network, connect and share ideas.

Posted 12/17/2025