SLU news

SLU Aquaculture welcomes Øystein Evensen - new guest professor in fish health

Published: 28 September 2020
Portrait of Professor Øystein Evensen. Photo.

For two years, from 1 September 2020, Professor Øystein Evensen from Norway will join the SLU-community of aquaculture researchers. This will be an important contribution to our aim of strengthening research and education within fish health at SLU and within Swedish aquaculture in general.

- We are very happy to be able to announce this guest professorship in fish health, says Dirk-Jan de Koning, chair SLU Aquaculture. We need in-depth expertise on fish diseases in the Swedish aquaculture and our aim is to develop teaching both externally and for students and doctoral students within SLU. 

As guest professor, Øystein Evensen is affiliated to the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, SLU, but has the task of working for the entire university closely connected to SLU Aquaculture. His mission will be to support education in fish health at undergraduate and doctoral level as well as post-university education, and he hopes to inspire students at SLU to specialize in aquatic health and medicine. Collaboration with Swedish aquaculture researchers and interaction with the aquaculture industry in Sweden will also be part of his guest professorship. 

 

Facts:

Øystein Evensen got his degree in veterinary medicine from the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science in 1984 and his PhD in pathology in 1987. He is currently professor in in aquatic medicine at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and head of the research group "Host-pathogen interactions in infection and immunity". 

Major research interests concern viral and bacterial diseases of farmed salmon, mechanisms of infection, and vaccine development. A special area of interest over the last years has been cardiomyopathy syndrome of Atlantic salmon. The research group also works on immunoprophylactic principles against sea lice infection in Atlantic salmon. To study infection mechanisms and pathogenic events of disease (pathogenesis) related mainly to viral infections, the research group also uses model fish. Here the group has used reverse genetics made viruses to understand virulence mechanisms and virulence factors that the virus employs to circumvent antiviral responses of the host.  

In addition to research linked to Norwegian salmon production, Evensen's research group is involved in research and capacity building in Africa (Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda), with focus on tilapia lake virus, diagnostic methods and pathogenesis studies. 

More information about Øystein Evensen and links to his publications.