Ben Swift recognised with Royal Dairy Innovation Award

The Royal Dairy Innovation Award recognises research and development in the field of dairy farming, and has been awarded to Royal Veterinary College academic Ben Swift and Cath Rees, an expert in microbiology at the University of Nottingham School of Biosciences, for their collaboration on a bTB test. The test can identify mycobacteria in the blood and milk of cattle within six hours using a bacteriophage-based technique, facilitating quicker diagnoses of Mycobacterium bovis, the bacteria that causes bTB, and more effective disease management in herds. Marketed as Actiphage, the test is now licensed to PBD Biotech, and has been used to detect another dairy cattle illness, Johne’s disease. It can also be used as a highly sensitive quality assurance test in milk and dairy products.
Dr Swift, a research fellow in antimicrobial resistance, said: “It is really exciting to be recognised with this award. Translating technology from the bench to be used in real-world scenarios is a great thing and really shows the impact of our research. Hopefully, this will help manage two extremely difficult diseases in the UK and worldwide.”