Members of the ADSA community represent the full spectrum of careers in dairy science, from academia to industry, dairy production to dairy foods, and everything in between. Join us for an episode that takes us into the vast options and impacts of dairy science work as host Matt Lucy is joined by Pablo Ross, DVM, PhD, chief scientific officer at STgenetics and former professor of animal science at the University of California, Davis. Pablo, the son of a veterinarian, grew up in a small town in Argentina and found his career path through swine pathology research, which showed him what a life in science could actually offer. A conversation at a conference with Jose Cibelli, DVM, PhD, then led him to academia, where he spent years working on animal reproduction with an emphasis on gametes, early embryos, and embryonic stem cells. He explains his contributions to the explosion of efficiencies in animal genetic improvement, including the science of induced pluripotency—how an oocyte erases a cell’s epigenetic memory, sending a differentiated cell backward to an embryonic state and then forward into whatever tissue is needed. He and Matt trace that work to in vitro breeding, which could shorten the generational interval by keeping the whole cycle in a dish, generating embryos, isolating stem cells from the strongest candidates, and starting again without waiting on an animal to grow up. Along the way, he explains how he came to transition from research and teaching to his industry role at STGenetics. At STgenetics, Pablo works on how genetic improvements can help farmers and producers be more efficient and more profitable, highlighting his work on ECO$ and EcoFeed, selection indexes designed to help producers achieve these goals. He also makes the case for industry as a place to do serious science, approaching genetics, as he puts it, through the mind of a physiologist.
Episode Thirty-Nine Show Notes
Connect with Pablo on LinkedIn
ADSA is committed to creating spaces for the open exchange of science and information between all members of the dairy science community. The Discover Conference series is the perfect place for interdisciplinary conversations between researchers, academics, students, and industry professionals in a setting small enough to ask real questions and get real answers. Explore the program for the forthcoming Dairy and the Environment: Challenges and Opportunities session and register to join the event running from August 31 through September 3, 2026, at Eaglewood Resort & Spa in Itasca, Illinois.
Do you have emerging data you’re hoping to publish? Save on your article costs via the ADSA Loyalty Rewards Program for the Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications when you join the ADSA member community!
Explore the papers and resources discussed in theepisode:
Phase I/II trial of iPS-cell-derived dopaminergic cells for Parkinson’s disease, Nature (2025)
Watch Pablo’s interview with the University of California, Davis, Animal Science Advising Center
Improving feed efficiency with the EcoFeed index reduces greenhouse gas emissions in dairy cattle, Journal of Dairy Science (2026)
Effect of dose of fresh sex-sorted semen on fertility of lactating dairy cows, Journal of Dairy Science (2026)
