PROVACUNO and UCAM create the chair "Research in Animal Protein, Nutrition, and Health"

The Spanish Beef Interprofessional Organization (PROVACUNO) has signed an agreement with the Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM) to create the University Business Chair "Research in Animal Protein, Nutrition, and Health," which will be based on the UCAM campus in Murcia.

The objective of the Chair is the continuous implementation of research, transfer, dissemination, teaching and innovation activities on beef as a natural source of protein , its maturation processes and release of essential amino acids and bioactive peptides with the aim of generating advances that improve product quality, optimize production processes and promote its positive impact on human health.

Collaboration with other beef research groups

The presidents of both institutions, María Dolores García Mascarell and Jaime Yartu San Millán, ratified this week the collaboration agreement for the launch of this Chair, which also aims to establish synergies between the university and the meat sector, promoting specialized training and facilitating the incorporation of the results into the market and social awareness . Furthermore, it was created with an open vision, allowing for the collaboration of other leading research groups in Spain and abroad in this field.

Jaime Yartu, president of PROVACUNO, expressed his satisfaction with the signing of this agreement, which aims to "boost research in an area as important as animal protein and encourage the transfer of knowledge, both for the sector, with improvements that contribute to optimizing production processes and product quality, and for society, through the dissemination of results." He also emphasized that "this Chair is just the beginning of other collaborations with UCAM in the near future."

Innovation and research in beef

For his part, José María Cayuela, dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the Catholic University of Murcia, defined the Chair as "an observatory for innovation and research in beef," highlighting its value as a source of amino acids and active peptides. It will also be a training forum , offering specialized courses in this field. "This Chair strengthens our important position in agri-food research," he added.

The training activities include, among others, the organization of conferences, seminars, and congresses; collaboration in teaching undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs taught at UCAM in the Chair's areas of interest; collaboration in postgraduate programs; and the call for awards for Master's Degree Final Projects and Doctoral Theses.

In terms of research, the Chair includes the development and development of joint research projects between both parties, technology transfer activities to the productive sector, the promotion of meetings of experts in the Chair's area of interest, and the provision of pre-doctoral scholarships to students to complete doctoral theses on topics related to the Chair.