Elham Assadi Soumeh

Associate Professor Elham Assadi Soumeh is an expert in animal nutrition at the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, University of Queensland, where she serves as Associate Professor in Animal Science and Production. She earned her BSc in Animal Science from the University of Tabriz, MSc in Animal Nutrition from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, and PhD in Animal Nutrition and Physiology from Aarhus University in Denmark. Her doctoral research focused on the requirements and metabolism of branched-chain amino acids in weaned pigs and metabolic profiling of high-performing pigs. Following her PhD, she worked as a Senior Scientist at Cargill BV in the Netherlands, leading customer-focused research on monogastric nutrition, including nutrient metabolism, gut health, and strategies to enhance production efficiency. Her career emphasizes practical solutions for sustainable animal production.

Soumeh's research centers on the nutrition-microbiota-host axis, examining how dietary components shape gut microbiota and influence host metabolism, immunity, health, and productivity in monogastric animals like poultry and swine. Key areas include sustainable and functional feed ingredients such as insect-based proteins and microalgae, gut health strategies, nutritional physiology, and precision feeding with amino acids to optimize growth and efficiency. Her findings appear in high-impact journals, including 'Integrated faecal microbiota and blood metabolic changes following different dietary zinc oxide levels in weaned piglets' (Scientific Reports, 2025), 'Microalgae Production and Utilization as an Alternative Protein Source in Poultry Nutrition: A Comprehensive Review' (Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 2026), 'Assessment of apparent metabolizable energy, and ileal amino acid digestibility of full-fat black soldier fly larvae in broiler chickens' (Poultry Science, 2025), and 'Optimizing low crude protein diets with coated cysteamine hydrochloride and exogenous alkaline protease supplementation in broiler chickens' (Veterinary Sciences, 2025). She has contributed editorials, such as 'Nutritional impacts the health and physiology of the avian gastro-intestinal tract' (Frontiers in Physiology, 2024), and presented at international conferences like the Australasian Pig Science Association and the International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs. Her work advances sustainable feeding practices and animal welfare in agriculture.