Congratulations to Dr. Mo Saif, Professor and Head Emeritus, who was chosen by his American Association of Avian Pathologists colleagues to be honored on the cover of Avian Diseases for his many years of dedicated service to poultry health research. Avian Diseases is an international journal dedicated to publishing original basic or clinical research of the highest quality from various disciplines including microbiology, immunology, pathology, and epidemiology. The mission is to enhance scientific knowledge and promote avian health. Dr. Saif served as Editor-in-Chief of this journal until December of 2023.
Read about Dr. Saif's cover biography and his contributions to poultry health research below:
DR. YEHIA MOHAMED (MO) SAIF (1934)
Dr. Mo Saif was born on December 23, 1934 in Minya, a small town in Egypt about 150 miles south of Cairo. While Mo lived in the town with his parents, they went frequently to a small village where his parents were born. There he was given two goats and a donkey to care for instilling an early desire to become a veterinarian. After finishing his primary and secondary education in Minya and passing a national exam, Mo was accepted in the Veterinary College of Cairo University. He received his DVM degree in 1958 and started his veterinary career working in a large government farm taking care of about 1000 imported heifers. Soon afterwards, Mo accepted an academic position at Cairo University specializing in infectious diseases with a growing interest in poultry diseases. In 1962, he started his graduate education at The Ohio State University (OSU) not knowing that he would remain at OSU for the rest of his career. After receiving his MS and PhD degrees in 1964 and 1967, respectively, he was offered an assistant professor position in the Veterinary Science Department at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) of OSU. Mo originally planned to return to Egypt after receiving his degrees, but meeting Linda (Marsch) was a major part of the decision to remain in the USA. Linda and Mo married in 1970. Two years later, they bought an old brick house with a big red bank barn on 70 acres of land. They renovated the house and are still living there at this time. In 1976, their son Justin was born. For many years they raised Simmenthal cattle on their farm.
Dr. Mo Saif successfully went through the academic ranks and retired in 2013 as Professor Emeritus. During his academic career, he worked on many diseases in chickens and turkeys. He is probably best known for his research on the many aspects of infectious bursal disease with over 40 publications on this disease. In addition, Mo and his many graduate students worked on many bacterial and viral diseases in turkeys including studies on poult enteritis mortality syndrome (PEMS) and other enteric diseases. The development of the only specific-pathogen-free turkey flock in the world by Dr. Saif and associates was essential for his highly successful research career.
Dr. Mo Saif was very active in many professional organizations such as the AAAP, ACPV, the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (ACVM) and the Conference of research Workers in Animal Diseases. He served as President of the AAAP (1995–1996), ACPV (1991–1993) and the ACVM (1983–1984). In addition, he represented the AAAP for many years in the House of Delegates of the AVMA and served as Editor-in Chief for the 11th and 12th editions of Diseases of Poultry. He became Editor of Avian Diseases in 2013 and served as Editor and Editor-in-Chief until 2023. He was inducted in the inaugural class of the Hall of Honour of the World Veterinary Poultry Association in 2013 and in the inaugural AAAP Hall of Honor in 2016. He received many awards during his career such as the AAAP Special Service Award in 2006 and the Phibro Animal Health Excellence in Poultry Research Award in 1996. He was granted life membership of the AAAP in 2013. The AAAP and the scientific community thank Dr. Mo Saif for his many years of excellent research and devoted service to the AAAP and other organizations.