Laboratory members

Luciano Caixeta is an Associate Professor of Dairy Production Medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Luciano was born and raised in Brazil where he was involved in beef cattle production from a young age. He obtained his DVM degree from the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Universidade Federal de Goiás (EVZ-UFG) in his home town of Goiânia, Brazil. Upon completing his DVM training, he moved to Cornell University where he completed a residency in production medicine and a clinical fellowship at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. He also obtained his PhD degree in animal sciences from Cornell University. Before joining the U of M in 2017, Luciano was a clinical instructor in Dairy Population Health Management at the  Colorado State University for 2 years.

Anay Ravelo is a PhD student and research assistant in the department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Anay completed her undergraduate degree in animal science at the University of Florida in 2019. She continued to pursue her master's there in ruminant nutrition completing her degree in the summer of 2021. She has decided to pursue a PhD and moved to Minnesota to join Caixeta's lab starting Fall 2021. Her research will be focusing on transition period in dairy cows. 

Cainan was born in Brazil where he obtained his DVM degree in 2018 at Londrina State University (UEL-BRA). During the vet school he was involved with dairy production medicine (clinical service, milk quality, and theriogenology). From 2015 to 2016 he worked as an intern on a calf raising facility in Wisconsin and then as herdsperson in an 800-cow dairy in Minnesota. In November of 2019, he joined Caixeta's lab at U of M as a Senior Laboratory Technician and since then he has assisted with numerous projects, both past and ongoing. His interests include: transition period in dairy cows (how to minimize the challenge for the animals) and reproduction  management.

"My goal is to help farmers increase their production and profitability". 

Emily is a PhD student and research assistant in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine - U of M. 

Emily grew up working closely with dairy cattle on her family's farm located in Central Minnesota. After discovering her interest in research, she began working in the Caixeta Lab during the summer of 2021. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in December of 2021 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a minor in Animal Science. Emily is now a second year PhD student in the Veterinary Sciences Program. Her current research focuses on mastitis and exploring alternatives to antibiotics on dairy farms.

Born in Brazil, Marina obtained her DVM degree in 2020 from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC Minas - BRA). Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, she started a residency program in dairy inspection at the Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL - BRA), concluding it in March 2022. In her residency program, Marina focused in milk quality, working in the laboratory and dairy farms. In her Masters, Marina will work with management of fresh cows with an special focus in hyperketonemia treatments.

Marina is passionate about dairy industry, her goal is to continue deepening her knowledge to help producers be more profitable and ensure quality and safety for the industry and consumers.

Elise is a postdoctoral associate with the U of M Veterinary Population Medicine department.

Elise originates from the Chicago suburbs and obtained her BSc in Animal Science from the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign. Taking advantage of her Canadian citizenship, she went on to pursue an MSc in Animal Behaviour and Welfare at the University of Guelph. This was followed by a PhD at McGill University under the NSERC-Novalait/DFC/Valacta Research Chair in Sustainable Life of Dairy Cattle, with a thesis focus on the effects of movement opportunity on dairy cow health, behavior, and welfare. Between her research and academic careers, Elise has worked on a variety of research topics, all of which had one key goal in mind: finding feasible solutions for producers to improve the health, welfare, and longevity of cows in our dairy herds.

Elise joined the Caixeta Lab December 2020, working jointly with Dr. Caixeta’s lab and the lab of Dr. Gerard Cramer. She looks forward to expanding her knowledge and growing more as a researcher with the team as well as to contributing her skillsets and animal welfare knowledge on future lab endeavors.

João Pedro was born in Brazil and obtained his DVM degree in 2015, at Santa Catarina State University. As a student, he worked in the areas of animal reproduction, animal parasitology, and dairy cattle farming. In 2016, he began his master's degree at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, focusing on the nutrition of dairy cows during the transition period. After completing his master's degree, he moved to Minas Gerais, where he participated in a residency program in ruminant medical clinic at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Upon completing the program in 2021, he started his Ph.D. in the same institution. His current research focuses on developing a vaccine against bovine neonatal diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium parvum.

Megan is a researcher in the Caixeta Lab at the Veterinary Population Medicine Department, College of Veterinary Medicine - U of M.

Born and raised in the Upper Midwest of the United States, Megan's background was primarily in beef cattle before joining the lab in December of 2020. She received her Bachelor's in Animal Science from North Dakota State University, where she worked for years on metabolism, reproduction, and feeding studies. She even worked in cancer research before coming back to livestock research. 

"My goal is to help the farmers. I know that we must make it easier for them to obtain their goals and that's what I want to do: I want to help them in reaching their goals."

Edson was born in Goiania, Brazil where she is pursuing a degree in veterinary medicine from the Universidade Federal de Goias, Brazil. Throughout his veterinary training in Brazil, he worked with reproduction, production, and research of dairy and beef cows. Additionally, he actively contributed to research projects focusing on the application of additives to enhance the physiology of digestion working with both field and laboratory activities.  Since October 2023, Edson has been part of Caixeta Lab

Mellissa Ferreira was born in Brazil, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. She is a student of Agribusiness Engineering at Universidade Federal Fluminense. She has experience in vegetable processing, supply chain management, organic products, and handling both plants and animals. Mellissa has previously worked with data analysis and is now focusing on dairy farms to expand her knowledge of the entire agribusiness chain.

She has been a part of the Caixeta's Lab team since February 2024.

Bruno Horschut de Lima, originally from São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil, graduated in Agronomy from Unesp in Ilha Solteira. During his master's in Plant Nutrition, also at Unesp, he had the opportunity to provide consultancy services to local producers, where he had his first encounter with dairy farming, sparking admiration for its importance within the agricultural sector. In January 2024, he joined the Caixeta Lab as a MAST trainee focusing on the nutritional management of dairy cattle to optimize sustainable production. With the skills acquired, Bruno intends to assist the agricultural industry in Brazil as much as possible, in a sustainable and efficient manner.