K-State is growing as a center for plant and animal biosecurity research, as proven by the recent hire of a renowned zoonotic, or animal-born, diseases scientist.

Juergen Richt, the lead scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa, will come to K-State next April as a Regents Distinguished Professor.

Veterinary Medicine Dean Ralph Richardson said the College of Veterinary Medicine has three Regents professors, which the university chooses based on expertise and economic influence.

"University priorities mean two things - the professors are very prestigious in their field, and there is a potential for economic growth in that area," Richardson said.

Richt, also an adjunct professor at Iowa State University, said he hopes to establish a zoonotics research center at K-State's Biosecurity Research Institute.

"They offered a great opportunity at K-State with the new BRI," Richt said. "That's a very exciting opportunity."

Richt said the program would focus on four main areas of research: pathogenesis, the origination and development of a disease; vaccine development; diagnosis and therapy. The research would focus on four or five zoonotic diseases like animal flu and Mad Cow Disease, or BSE.

Richardson said the diseases Richt will research are infectious and possibly harmful if not contained.

"These diseases, if they were to infect our livestock, would be devastating to the economy," Richardson said.

Richardson said Richt could not research these diseases if the BRI did not exist at K-State.

Though the BRI will not be ready for research until early 2008, BRI Director Jim Stack said the institute will be ready for Richt and his staff, which will include at least a research technician and assistant professor. He said the institute is testing all equipment and facilities extensively. He said Richt provides assurance to the BRI.

"It's a tremendous shot in the arm," he said. "It gives us confidence that we have the proper infrastructure to attract doctors like Richt."

Richt said he has visited K-State numerous times and was impressed with the university administrator's commitment to biosecurity research.

"Their commitment to livestock research and their willingness to build on that research is great to me," he said.

Richt also said he was impressed with the community and regional support of the BRI and the possibility of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan.

"What I liked is not only the people at K-State but also the community," he said. "The community wants to help to attract people to the area and also supports the kind of research I plan to do."

Stack said Richt's research on infectious diseases will benefit the community and region, especially the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor - the area from Manhattan to Kansas City to St. Joseph's, Mo. that accounts for almost 32 percent of total sales in the global animal-health market.

"Kansas is a state where the standard of living and health and agriculture are integrally linked," Stack said. "The research should strengthen the relationship with K-State and the industry that supports Kansas."

Richardson said the College of Veterinary Medicine will help Richt as much as they can, including graduate and veterinary-student research. Richt said he was excited to work in a veterinary setting - a setting he said he was used to at Iowa State.

The hiring of Richt will affect the BRI, College of Veterinary Medicine and the university through more than just his research. Stack said Richt will attract other renowned scientists to the institute. Stack said he already has heard from scientists interested in the work at K-State.

"It becomes an attractor," he said. "If you see someone like Richt coming to K-State, it is because he believes he can be successful here. Other scientists see they can do that too."