Editorial: Lifetime achievements in avian physiology - PMC Skip to main content An official website of the United States government Here's how you know Here's how you know Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Search Log in Dashboard Publications Account settings Log out Search… Search NCBI Primary site navigation Search Logged in as: Dashboard Publications Account settings Log in Search PMC Full-Text Archive Search in PMC Journal List User Guide PERMALINK Copy As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health. Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice editorial Front Physiol . 2026 Apr 1;17:1816782. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2026.1816782 Search in PMC Search in PubMed View in NLM Catalog Add to search Editorial: Lifetime achievements in avian physiology Colin G Scanes Colin G Scanes 1 Department of Biological Science, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing Find articles by Colin G Scanes 1, * , Sandra G Velleman Sandra G Velleman 2 Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, United States Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing Find articles by Sandra G Velleman 2 Author information Article notes Copyright and License information 1 Department of Biological Science, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, United States 2 Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, United States * Correspondence: Colin G. Scanes, [email protected] Roles Colin G Scanes : Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing Sandra G Velleman : Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing Received 2026 Feb 24; Accepted 2026 Mar 4; Collection date 2026. Keywords: growth hormone, intestinal development, met-enkephalin, mitochondria, neuroendocrine, satellite cells, sexual dimorphism, stress Copyright © 2026 Scanes and Velleman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. PMC Copyright notice PMCID: PMC13079150 PMID: 41994052 Lifetime Achievements in Avian Physiology topic provides a tantalizing account of achievements and philosophy of a series of senior avian physiologists. These papers represent only a fraction of the giants in research in avian physiology, specifically the physiology of chickens and other poultry species. The senior researchers are considered in alphabetical order of their last names. Walter Bottje has had an illustrative research career. He states his passion as “physiology was really what floated my boat”. His research career in avian physiology began with a series of studies on heat stress in broiler chickens. Among his achievements include the following: Relationships between celiac blood flow and prostaglandins Oxidative stress/glutathione (GSH)/Reactive oxygen species (ROS) The functioning a of mitochondria in muscle and how this affects feed efficiency Mitochondrial dysfunction including defects in the electron transport mechanism and what he describes as “the gene and gene product landscape associated with feed efficiency”. Erf has had a distinguished research career in basic and applied avian physiology. Among her research achievements in poultry included the following: The role of maternally derived immunoglobulins Relationships between genetics and stressors on the immune system Improving poultry health by immunomodulators. Wayne Kuezel spent sabbaticals at the Roslin Institute (Scotland), Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany) and Nanjing Agricultural University (China). During these, he gained from immersive collaboration catalyzing his overall research career going from strength to strength. Among the stellar contributions of Wayne Kuezel are the following: The development of a stereotaxis atlas for the chicken’s brain. The distribution of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) containing neurons and fibers in the avian brain. Advances in our understanding the neuroendocrine basis of stresses such as feed deprivation and restraint in chickens. Krystyna Pierzchała-Koziec has had an outstanding research career. Her achievements have been in four, somewhat overlapping, areas: Stress physiology in chickens and livestock The physiology of Met-enkephalin Hormonal and neuroendocrine control of metabolism Fostering world-class basic and applied research in Poland and throughout Europe. Scanes was drawn to avian physiology by two wonderful mentors: the late Professor John Phillips and Professor Sir Brian Follett in the UK. His research has included a prolonged focus on growth hormone (GH). His paper discusses GH effects in chickens on growth, lipid metabolism, reproduction, neural development and angiogenesis together with the control of GH release. He also introduces a series of questions that have not been addressed. Production of chicken meat has expanded greatly over the last 50 years. According to FAOSTAT, production was 7.56 Mt (megatonne) in 1961, increasing to 15.9 Mt in 1974, 56.9 Mt in 1999 and 123.8 Mt in 2024. These dramatic increases can be attributed to genetics (growth being moderately heritable), nutrition, poultry health and management. We were delighted that Siegel agreed to contribute to this topic. He is the “father of poultry genetics”. He chose to focus on one aspect of his long and on-going research career, namely; sexual dimorphism in body weight in chickens. When this is considered on a proportional manner, there is continuing sexual dimorphism in chickens selected for growth (high body weight and low at eight weeks old) over 67 generations. This work and the physiology of sexual dimorphism in birds is also discussed in a commentary by Scanes . Uni has an outstanding record of achievement in avian physiology. Her research can be classified as comprehensive and impactful. Development of the gastro-intestinal tract of chickens In ovo feeding in chickens and how in ovo feeding influences the proliferation, differentiation and maturation of epithelial cells in the small intestine The molecular basis of taste. In 1955, U.S. Air Force Major General Frederick C. Blesse stated “No Guts, No glory”. This adage became one of Zehava Uni’s principles for a successful researcher. She also included the importance of resilience to adversity, flexibility and following “your true passion”. Sandra Velleman’s interest in science was fostered from a very young age by her mother. One teacher recognized her research skills at a time of life when she was not even sure what a research scientist was. We are fortunate that she went on to an exemplary research career. Throughout her career, Sandy Velleman’s guiding predisposition was that extracellular matrix is a critical important component in non-connective tissues including muscle despite the then paradigm that extracellular matrix was not. She took the “risk” to challenge the prevailing paradigm. Her laboratory was the first to demonstrated that satellite cells produce extracellular matrix proteoglycans using chicken breast muscle satellite cells. Velleman has a series of other land-mark achievements, namely, the following: 1. satellite cells are heterogeneous; 2. muscle development of muscle and consequently meat is influenced by extrinsic conditions (temperature and nutrition) and 3. maternal inheritance of aspects of muscle morphology. There are some common themes from the papers and the distinguished avian physiologists. These include the following: The importance of mentors, collaborators and others providing the stimulus for research direction and the development of research programs. The importance of passion and willingness to challenge prevailing paradigms and/or develop a focuses research program(s). Collaborators and collaboration play a pivot role in research in avian physiology. A common theme is the role of mentors. Examples of the sway of mentors include the late Paul Harrison (University of Illinois) for Walter Bottje and both Robert Etches and Robert Marsh for Gisela Erf. Turning to collaboration, the partnership between Sandy Velleman and Douglas McFarland was very fruitful building on the strengths of both researchers. Another example of close, successful and ongoing collaboration is that between Pierzchała-Koziec and Scanes on stress and opioid peptides. Bottje highlights the effect of a single discussion with Robert Wideman. Research lives have been changed by people and environments. It is interesting to note that three of the contributions come from the University of Arkansas, Center of Excellence in Poultry Science. There are two quotations that provide insight into to the role of luck in research “Give me lucky generals” and what is a pertinent rejoinder “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it”; these being attributed, albeit falsely or at least without supporting evidence, to respectively to Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826). We are left with the statement from Louis Pasteur stated that “In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind” in 1854 ( Leonard, 2013 ). Editorial on the Research Topic Lifetime achievements in avian physiology Funding Statement The author(s) declared that financial support was not received for this work and/or its publication. Footnotes Edited and reviewed by: Monika Proszkowiec-Weglarz , United States Department of Agriculture, United States Author contributions CS: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. SV: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Conflict of interest The author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The authors CS, SV declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision. Generative AI statement The author(s) declared that generative AI was not used in the creation of this manuscript. Any alternative text (alt text) provided alongside figures in this article has been generated by Frontiers with the support of artificial intelligence and reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, including review by the authors wherever possible. If you identify any issues, please contact us. Publisher’s note All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. Reference Leonard W. (2013). Serendipity and the prepared mind: an NHLBI intramural researcher’s breakthrough observations. Available online at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/directors-messages/serendipity-and-the-prepared-mind (Accessed March 14, 2026). Articles from Frontiers in Physiology are provided here courtesy of Frontiers Media SA ACTIONS View on publisher site PDF (288.7 KB) Cite Collections Permalink PERMALINK Copy RESOURCES Similar articles Cited by other articles Links to NCBI Databases Cite Copy Download .nbib .nbib Format: AMA APA MLA NLM Add to Collections Create a new collection Add to an existing collection Name your collection * Choose a collection Unable to load your collection due to an error Please try again Add Cancel Follow NCBI NCBI on X (formerly known as Twitter) NCBI on Facebook NCBI on LinkedIn NCBI on GitHub NCBI RSS feed Connect with NLM NLM on X (formerly known as Twitter) NLM on Facebook NLM on YouTube National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20894 Web Policies FOIA HHS Vulnerability Disclosure Help Accessibility Careers NLM NIH HHS USA.gov Back to Top