Donald C Beitz

Dr. Donald C Beitz is a Distinguished Professor at Iowa State University. His research focuses on animal nutrition, dairy science, and metabolic disorders in livestock.

Education: PhD, Michigan State University (1967); MS and BS, University of Illinois (1963, 1962).

Research Interests:

• Mineral and vitamin supplementation in livestock
• Fatty liver disease in dairy cattle
• Immune responses to pathogens (e.g., Mycobacterium avium)
• Impact of dietary interventions (e.g., CLA, DDGS) on animal health
• Metabolic adaptations in dairy and swine production systems

Recent work emphasizes in vitro disease modeling, microbiome analysis, and non-coding RNA functions in milk. He pioneered methods to detect viable pathogens in dairy products and explored vitamin D’s role in intestinal immunity.

Advancing feed efficiency and reducing metabolic disorders remain central to his research agenda.