Dr Elham Assadi Soumeh is a senior lecturer in Animal Science and Production within the School of Agriculture and Food Science. Her background is in monogastric animal nutrition -poultry and swine. Her PhD research was about branched-chain amino acids requirements and metabolism in pig post weaning and characterization of metabolic profile of high performing pigs when were fed with optimum dietary branched-chain amino acid levels. After conducting her PhD in Aarhus University in Denmark and prior to joining UQ, Dr Soumeh worked as a senior scientist in animal feed industry (Cargill BV, Netherlands) for 2 years, where she managed different customer-focused research portfolios within the area of monogastric animal nutrition and production e.g. nutrient requirements and metabolism, gut health, nutritional strategies and management. Dr Soumeh has completed a BSc in Animal Science, MSc in Animal Nutrition and a PhD in Animal Nutrition and Physiology. The scientific outcomes have been published in high-impact journals and/or presented in conferences and symposiums around the world.
Industry Engagement and Current Collaborative Research:
Alternative ingredients to replace soybean meal in poultry feed Metex Noovistago & UQ:
Black Soldier Fly Larvae as a protein feed ingredient in broiler chicken nutrition
Industry funded project by Ajinomoto Animal Nutrition Europe SAS:
Industry funded project by Bioproton Pty Ltd:
Journal Article: Implications of the storage conditions and production system on the physical properties of eggs: a multivariate data analysis study
Cozzolino, Daniel, Sanal, Pooja, Soumeh, Elham Assadi, Dekkers, Milou Helene, Anderson, Molly, Boisen, Sheree and Hoffman, Louwrens Christiaan (2024). Implications of the storage conditions and production system on the physical properties of eggs: a multivariate data analysis study. International Journal of Food Science and Technology. doi: 10.1111/ijfs.17069
Journal Article: An investigation into the influence of fermented cottonseed meal on the productive performance, egg quality, and gut health in laying hens
Ashayerizadeh, A., Jazi, V., Rezvani, M.R., Mohebodini, H., Soumeh, E.A. and Abdollahi, M.R. (2024). An investigation into the influence of fermented cottonseed meal on the productive performance, egg quality, and gut health in laying hens. Poultry Science, 103 (5) 103574, 103574. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103574
Journal Article: Predicting Egg Storage Time with a Portable Near-Infrared Instrument: Effects of Temperature and Production System
Cozzolino, Daniel, Sanal, Pooja, Schreuder, Jana, Williams, Paul James, Assadi Soumeh, Elham, Dekkers, Milou Helene, Anderson, Molly, Boisen, Sheree and Hoffman, Louwrens Christiaan (2024). Predicting Egg Storage Time with a Portable Near-Infrared Instrument: Effects of Temperature and Production System. Foods, 13 (2) 212, 212. doi: 10.3390/foods13020212
Natural compounds and essential oils to enhance the productivity of poultry and promote food safety
(2024–2025) Acacia Natural Science Pty Ltd
(2023) South Australian Research and Development Institute
Sustainable Precision Feeding in Broiler Chickens in Australia
(2022–2026) AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program Nutrition, Gut Health and Environment Research Program
Alternative protein ingredients to replace soybean meal for sustainable livestock production systems
Doctor Philosophy
The effects of different dietary ingredients on microbiome and metabolomics response in broiler chickens and laying hens
Doctor Philosophy
Heat Tolerance (HT) in lactating sows: dietary strategies, metabolic biomarkers and microbiome signature
Doctor Philosophy
Essential oils to improve gut health and immune response in broiler chickens
An Honours projet is availabe to start in 2024. For further information please contact Dr Ellie Soumeh
e.soumeh@uq.edu.au
Cozzolino, Daniel, Sanal, Pooja, Soumeh, Elham Assadi, Dekkers, Milou Helene, Anderson, Molly, Boisen, Sheree and Hoffman, Louwrens Christiaan (2024). Implications of the storage conditions and production system on the physical properties of eggs: a multivariate data analysis study. International Journal of Food Science and Technology. doi: 10.1111/ijfs.17069
Ashayerizadeh, A., Jazi, V., Rezvani, M.R., Mohebodini, H., Soumeh, E.A. and Abdollahi, M.R. (2024). An investigation into the influence of fermented cottonseed meal on the productive performance, egg quality, and gut health in laying hens. Poultry Science, 103 (5) 103574, 103574. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103574
Cozzolino, Daniel, Sanal, Pooja, Schreuder, Jana, Williams, Paul James, Assadi Soumeh, Elham, Dekkers, Milou Helene, Anderson, Molly, Boisen, Sheree and Hoffman, Louwrens Christiaan (2024). Predicting Egg Storage Time with a Portable Near-Infrared Instrument: Effects of Temperature and Production System. Foods, 13 (2) 212, 212. doi: 10.3390/foods13020212
Ashayerizadeh, O., Dastar, B., Shams Shargh, M., A. Soumeh, E. and Jazi, V. (2023). Effects of black pepper and turmeric powder on growth performance, gut health, meat quality, and fatty acid profile of Japanese quail. Frontiers in Physiology, 14 1218850, 1-12. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1218850
Amirdahri, S., Janmohammadi, H., Taghizadeh, A., Lambert, W., Oliayi, M. and Assadi Soumeh, E. (2023). The optimum ratio of digestible leucine: lysine in wheat-based diets for female broiler chickens from 8 – 21 days of age. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 32 (2) 100289, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.japr.2022.100289
Sharifi, Fatemeh, Jazi, Vahid and Assadi Soumeh, Elham (2023). Elecampane rhizome extract alleviates methotrexate-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in male rats. Advances in Traditional Medicine, 23 (4), 1255-1264. doi: 10.1007/s13596-023-00679-1
How low can you go? Broiler breast muscle possesses a mitochondrial content of just 2%
Soumeh, Elham A., Bottje, Walter G. and Hudson, Nicholas J. (2023). How low can you go? Broiler breast muscle possesses a mitochondrial content of just 2%. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica A: Animal Sciences, 1-6. doi: 10.1080/09064702.2023.2262470
Huyan, Lingjun, Kumar, Arun, Manafi, Milad and Soumeh, Elham A. (2022). Effects of protease supplementation on growth performance, organ development, gut morphology, and microbial profile of broiler chicken. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A — Animal Science, 71 (1-4), 1-11. doi: 10.1080/09064702.2022.2113121
Soumeh, Elham A., Cedeno, Astrid Del Rocio Coba, Niknafs, Shahram, Bromfield, Jacoba and Hoffman, Louwrens C. (2021). The efficiency of probiotics administrated via different routes and doses in enhancing production performance, meat auality, gut morphology, and microbial profile of broiler chickens. Animals, 11 (12) 3607, 3607. doi: 10.3390/ani11123607
Bromfield, Jacoba I., Hoffman, Louwrens C., Horyanto, Darwin and Soumeh, Elham A. (2021). Enhancing growth performance, organ development, meat auality, and bone mineralisation of broiler chickens through multi-enzyme super-dosing in reduced energy diets. Animals, 11 (10) 2791, 1-18. doi: 10.3390/ani11102791
Leucine Requirement of Female Cobb Broilers from 8 to 14 Days of Age
Amirdahri, S., Janmohammadi, H., Taghizadeh, A., Soumeh, E. A. and Oliayi, M. (2021). Leucine Requirement of Female Cobb Broilers from 8 to 14 Days of Age. Iranian Journal of Applied Animal Science, 11 (2), 391-398.
Teymouri, Pouya, Jafari Khorshidi, Kaveh, Rezaeipour, Vahid and Assadi Soumeh, Elham (2021). Efficacy of natural alternatives to antibiotic on the growth performance, gut microbial population, intestinal morphology, and serum biochemical metabolites of broiler chickens. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 20 (1), 1801-1809. doi: 10.1080/1828051x.2021.1954558
Madigan-Stretton, Jacoba, Mikkelsen, Deirdre and Soumeh, Elham Assadi (2020). Multienzyme super-dosing in broiler chicken diets: the implications for gut morphology, microbial profile, nutrient digestibility, and bone mineralization. Animals, 11 (1) 1, 1-17. doi: 10.3390/ani11010001
Valine Requirement of Female Cobb Broilers from 8 to 21 Days of Age
Amirdahri, S., Janmohammadi, H., Lambert, W., Soumeh, E. A. and Oliayi, M. (2020). Valine Requirement of Female Cobb Broilers from 8 to 21 Days of Age. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 29 (4), 775-785. doi: 10.1016/j.japr.2020.04.005
Jazi, Vahid, Farahi, Majid, Khajali, Fariborz, Abousaad, Shaymma, Ferket, Peter and Assadi Soumeh, Elham (2020). Effect of dietary supplementation of whey powder and Bacillus subtilis on growth performance, gut and hepatic function, and muscle antioxidant capacity of Japanese quail. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 104 (3) jpn.13323, 886-897. doi: 10.1111/jpn.13323
Soumeh, E. A., Mohebodini, H., Toghyani, M., Shabani, A., Ashayerizadeh, A. and Jazi, V. (2019). Synergistic effects of fermented soybean meal and mannan-oligosaccharide on growth performance, digestive functions, and hepatic gene expression in broiler chickens. Poultry Science, 98 (12), 6797-6807. doi: 10.3382/ps/pez409
Excess dietary tryptophan mitigates aflatoxicosis in growing quails
Khanipour, Sousan, Mehri, Mehran, Bagherzadeh‐Kasmani, Farzad, Maghsoudi, Ali and Assadi Soumeh, Elham (2019). Excess dietary tryptophan mitigates aflatoxicosis in growing quails. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 103 (5) jpn.13167, 1462-1473. doi: 10.1111/jpn.13167
Nørgaard, J. V. , Soumeh, E. A. , Curtasu, M. , Corrent, E. , van Milgen, J. and Hedemann, M. S. (2017). Use of metabolic profile in short-term studies for estimating optimum dietary isoleucine, leucine, and valine for pigs. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 228, 39-47. doi: 10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2017.04.002
Soumeh, Elham A., Hedemann, Mette S., Poulsen, Hanne D., Corrent, Etienne, van Milgen, Jacob and Norgaard, Jan V. (2016). Nontargeted LC-MS metabolomics approach for metabolic profiling of plasma and urine from pigs fed branched chain amino acids for maximum growth performance. Journal of Proteome Research, 15 (12), 4195-4207. doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.6b00184
Evaluation of in situ valine production by Bacillus subtilis in young pigs
Norgaard, J. V., Canibe, N., Soumeh, E. A., Jensen, B. B., Nielsen, B., Derkx, P., Cantor, M. D., Blaabjerg, K. and Poulsen, H. D. (2016). Evaluation of in situ valine production by Bacillus subtilis in young pigs. Animal, 10 (11), 1796-1802. doi: 10.1017/S1751731116000781
Norgaard, J. V., Canibe, N., Soumeh, E. A., Jensen, B. B., Nielsen, B., Derkx, P., Cantor, M. D., Blaabjerg, K. and Poulsen, H. D. (2016). Effect of bacillus subtilis mutants on growth performance of piglets fed tryptophan- and valine-deficient diets. Journal of Animal Science, 94 (Supp. 3), 66-69. doi: 10.2527/jas.2015-9773
Requirement of standardized ileal digestible valine to lysine ratio for 8- to 14-kg pigs
Soumeh, E. A., van Milgen, J., Sloth, N. M., Corrent, E., Poulsen, H. D. and Norgaard, J. V. (2015). Requirement of standardized ileal digestible valine to lysine ratio for 8- to 14-kg pigs. Animal, 9 (8), 1312-1318. doi: 10.1017/S1751731115000695
The optimum ratio of standardized ileal digestible leucine to lysine for 8 to 12 kg female pigs
Soumeh, E. A., Van Milgen, J., Sloth, N. M., Corrent, E., Poulsen, H. D. and Norgaard, J. V. (2015). The optimum ratio of standardized ileal digestible leucine to lysine for 8 to 12 kg female pigs. Journal of Animal Science, 93 (5), 2218-2224. doi: 10.2527/jas.2014-8699
Optimum standardized ileal digestible tryptophan to lysine ratio for pigs weighing 7-14kg
Norgaard, J. V., Pedersen, T. F., Soumeh, E. A., Blaabjerg, K., Canibe, N., Jensen, B. B. and Poulsen, H. D. (2015). Optimum standardized ileal digestible tryptophan to lysine ratio for pigs weighing 7-14kg. Livestock Science, 175, 90-95. doi: 10.1016/j.livsci.2015.02.012
The optimum ratio of standardized ileal digestible isoleucine to lysine for 8-15kg pigs
Soumeh, E. A., van Milgen, J., Sloth, N. M., Corrent, E., Poulsen, H. D. and Norgaard, J. V. (2014). The optimum ratio of standardized ileal digestible isoleucine to lysine for 8-15kg pigs. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 198, 158-165. doi: 10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2014.09.013
Norgaard, J. V., Hansen, M. J., Soumeh, E. A., Adamsen, A. P. S. and Poulsen, H. D. (2014). Effect of protein level on performance, nitrogen utilisation and carcass composition in finisher pigs. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section A-Animal Science, 64 (2), 123-129. doi: 10.1080/09064702.2014.943280
Assadi, E., Janmohammadi, H., Taghizadeh, A. and Alijani, S. (2011). Nutrient composition of different varieties of full-fat canola seed and nitrogen-corrected true metabolizable energy of full-fat canola seed with or without enzyme addition and thermal processing. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 20 (1), 95-101. doi: 10.3382/japr.2010-00201
Coba, A., Müller, M., Navarro, M., Soumeh, E.A., Pluske, J.R., van Wettere, W.H.E.J., Cottrell, J.J., Dunshea, F.R., Gaughan, J.B. and Roura, E. (2023). 34. Low crude protein diets improve heat stress indicators in lactating sows under cyclic hyperthermal temperatures. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.035
Coba, A., Müller, M., Navarro, M., Soumeh, E.A., Pluske, J.R., van Wettere, W.H.E.J., Cottrell, J.J., Dunshea, F.R., Gaughan, J.B. and Roura, E. (2023). 39. Physiological responses related to acute heat stress decrease over time as lactating sows become acclimated to a hyperthermic environment. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 13 - 16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.040
Blood metabolic profile of sows fed high and low fibre diets prior to farrowing
Soumeh, E.A., Nastasi, J., James, S.E., Staveley, L.M., Plush, K.J. and Nowland, T.L. (2023). Blood metabolic profile of sows fed high and low fibre diets prior to farrowing. Manipulating Pig Production XIX, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 13-16 November 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.09.036
Blood metabolic profile of pigs fed different dietary zinc levels after weaning
Soumeh, Elham A., Curtasu, Mihai, Nielsen, Tina S., Gorji, Sara G. and Hedemann, Mette S. (2022). Blood metabolic profile of pigs fed different dietary zinc levels after weaning. 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs (DPP2022), Rotterdam, Netherlands, 17–20 May 2022. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2022.04.028
Ashayerizadeh, A., Dastar, B., Shargh, M. Shams, Shabani, A., Jazi and Soumeh, E. A. (2019). Effect of feeding fermented rapeseed meal on nutrients digestibility and digestive enzymes activity in broiler chickens. 6th EAAP International Symposium on Energy and Protein Metabolism and Nutrition, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 9-12 September 2019. Wageningen, Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers. doi: 10.3920/978-90-8686-891-9_85
Fermented soybean meal with or without mannan-oligosaccharides for broiler chickens
Soumeh, E. A., Jazi, Mohebodini, H., Toghyani, M., Shabani, A. and Ashayerizadeh, A. (2019). Fermented soybean meal with or without mannan-oligosaccharides for broiler chickens. 6th EAAP International Symposium on Energy and Protein Metabolism and Nutrition, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 9-12 September 2019. Wageningen, Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers. doi: 10.3920/978-90-8686-891-9_87
Natural compounds and essential oils to enhance the productivity of poultry and promote food safety
(2024–2025) Acacia Natural Science Pty Ltd
(2023) South Australian Research and Development Institute
Sustainable Precision Feeding in Broiler Chickens in Australia
(2022–2026) AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program Nutrition, Gut Health and Environment Research Program
Alternative protein feeds for Australian pigs and laying hens
(2022) Australian Eggs Limited
(2021–2024) Fight Food Waste CRC
(2021–2023) UQ Knowledge Exchange & Translation Fund
(2020–2024) Australasian Pork Research Institute Ltd
Effects of new bacillus strain probiotics and natural biosurfactants on broiler chickens production
(2019–2021) Bioproton Pty Ltd
(2019–2020) Bioproton Pty Ltd
(2019) UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
Alternative protein ingredients to replace soybean meal for sustainable livestock production systems
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
The effects of different dietary ingredients on microbiome and metabolomics response in broiler chickens and laying hens
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Heat Tolerance (HT) in lactating sows: dietary strategies, metabolic biomarkers and microbiome signature
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.
Essential oils to improve gut health and immune response in broiler chickens
An Honours projet is availabe to start in 2024. For further information please contact Dr Ellie Soumeh
e.soumeh@uq.edu.au