Maria Pieters

DVM, PhD, Associate Professor, Veterinary Population Medicine, Director, Swine Disease Eradication Center

Dr. Pieters obtained a DVM degree from the Central University of Venezuela in 2003, earned a PhD at the University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois's Institute for Genomic Biology in 2010. Dr. Pieters is an associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. She currently leads the Swine Disease Eradication Center (SDEC). Dr. Pieters is an internationally recognized researcher in Swine Mycoplasmas and is passionate about disease elimination. She has increased the industry’s understanding of these economically significant pathogens and has become the reference in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae eradication. She has worked closely with fellow researchers, swine practitioners and producers, and has published applied guidelines and protocols to be used in the field, making swine farms healthier throughout the country.

Her numerous publications have been accepted in some of the most prestigious veterinary journals and she has been invited to give keynote presentations across the world, from China, to Latin America, and Europe. She is editor of the Mycoplasmas in Swine book, a culmination of her research efforts for the past decade. As the Principal Investigator of the Mycoplasma Research Laboratory, she has been highly successful both in securing grant funding and in graduating Masters and PhD students. She is currently advising six graduate students and mentoring two veterinary students.

Additionally, she has been an active member of the research community within the College and has served for several years in the Program Advisory Committee of the VMED graduate program. Outside of the University, she is an active member of the International Organization for Mycoplasmology and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. She is giving back to the Minnesota community by coordinating the efforts to staff the Miracle of Birth at the MN State Fair with DVM students.

Dr. Pieters is an energetic, hardworking, dedicated faculty and her efforts to establish an impactful research program merit recognition. Her program focuses on studying M. hyopneumoniae, an economically significant pathogen of pigs. She has worked on characterizing the epidemiology of swine Mycoplasmas, which has set the basis for improving diagnosis, control and elimination. Her program has national and international recognition and her work has led the swine industry to fully embrace M. hyopneumoniae elimination. This advancement would not have been possible without Dr. Pieter’s efforts to address the questions to advance such programs. Her contribution to the field of swine Mycoplasmas cannot be underestimated!

In addition, Dr. Pieters continues to develop fruitful collaborations to explore the role of the microbiome in disease and well-being. One of the most important features of her research is the collaborative nature of it, which involves work with academic collaborators from all over the world, but equally important with swine practitioners, producers and DVM students. As a result of her efforts, the University of Minnesota is solidly positioned as a reference in swine Mycoplasmas in North America and the world (top Institution for Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae research by ExpertScape).