ABOVE: Michael Leahy from Aviagen, Nick Rodgers from Ingham’s, Dr Mehdi Toghyani and Professor Mingan Choct.
THERE is plenty happening at Poultry Hub Australia, but the most significant update this month is the appointment of our incoming director Professor Mehdi Toghyani. We were delighted to recently welcome Mehdi to Armidale for a day-long familiarisation visit with the PHA team, UNE researchers and industry members.
Mehdi is well known across the poultry sector and brings extensive experience in poultry nutrition, science, production and industry collaboration. He also has a strong connection with UNE, having completed his PhD in poultry nutrition here before continuing his academic career at the University of Sydney. Mehdi will formally commence as director in January 2027. Over the coming months, I look forward to working closely with him and the PHA team to ensure a smooth transition and to introduce him further to our members, partners and wider industry.
His appointment represents an exciting next chapter for PHA, and I am confident his experience and strong industry connections will be a great asset to the hub. This positive news comes at an important time for the Australian poultry industry. The detection of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in migratory seabirds in June, followed by detections in endemic bird species and mammals, presents a significant challenge. To date, Australian poultry have remained unaffected, and we hope the industry’s strong biosecurity measures continue to protect commercial flocks.
PHA’s work also continues across research, education and industry engagement. We are progressing projects from our previous fully funded research round, alongside industry-funded research, co-investment in grant proposals and our growing student industry placement program.
It is an exciting period of change for PHA, and I look forward to sharing further updates as we move towards the end of 2026 and prepare to welcome Mehdi formally in the new year.
Professor Steve Walkden-Brown
Interim Director PHA