UK Graduate Student Spotlight: ChanHee Mok
Name: ChanHee Mok
From: Seoul, South Korea
Degrees and institute where received: MS in animal sciences, University of Kentucky
BS in animal science and environment, Konkuk University
Present position: PhD student in veterinary science, University of Kentucky
ChanHee Mok focused on swine nutrition while pursuing her bachelor’s degree and was able to conduct research during her undergraduate career. Mok decided to continue her education in research and pursue new opportunities. She chose equine science, specifically equine nutrition, as her emphasis area because there are no equine nutritionists with a master’s or doctoral degree in South Korea, even though horse racing is a growing industry.
Due to the lack of equine graduate programs in South Korea, Mok decided to study abroad to pursue her degrees. She said the University of Kentucky was her first choice because of the quantity of faculty members conducting research and the quality of the research and publications.
“By studying equine nutrition here for the past two years, I was able to gain more understanding of the horse species,” Mok said. “Now I recognize the importance of musculoskeletal physiology in horses, and I will be completing my doctoral degree in that area.”
During her master’s program Mok studied threonine, an amino acid, and requirements in feed for adult horses using the indicator amino acid oxidation method. Kristine Urschel, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Kentucky, was Mok’s advisor during her master’s program. She is currently at the beginning of her doctoral program with Jamie MacLeod, VMD, PhD, a professor at the University of Kentucky, and has not determined the focus of her research project on musculoskeletal physiology yet.
“Specific threonine requirements in mature horses were not determined, but I was able to narrow the range where the actual threonine requirements might be,” Mok said. “This research suggests a possibility that threonine might not be a limiting amino acid in mature horses fed a typical diet (timothy hay and soy/corn/oat-based concentrate).”
Mok said she appreciates both the research experience and the general horse knowledge she has learned during her graduate program. She gained practical experience working in the field and was surrounded by knowledgeable professors and students. After completing her doctoral degree, Mok plans to remain in academia to conduct equine research and to teach.
Author: Hannah Forte