{"id":59820,"date":"2020-11-03T15:19:05","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T14:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/univet.hu\/kat\/staff\/kerek-adam\/"},"modified":"2020-11-03T15:19:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T14:19:05","slug":"kerek-adam","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/univet.hu\/kat\/en\/staff\/kerek-adam\/","title":{"rendered":"Kerek \u00c1d\u00e1m"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professional Profile<\/h2>

Dr \u00c1d\u00e1m Kerek is a veterinarian, PhD, specialist veterinarian in porcine health management, and animal breeding engineer. He is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest.<\/p>

He obtained his BSc degree in Animal Breeding Engineering from the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of Szent Istv\u00e1n University in 2010. He subsequently studied veterinary medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, where he received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree summa cum laude<\/em> in 2020. In the same year, he joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He obtained his postgraduate qualification as a specialist veterinarian in porcine health management in 2023 and was awarded his PhD degree in 2024.<\/p>

His research focuses on the veterinary and One Health dimensions of antimicrobial resistance, the rational use of antimicrobial agents, and the phenotypic and genotypic characterisation of bacterial pathogens. His work integrates conventional microbiological and pharmacological methods with whole-genome sequencing, resistome and virulome analysis, molecular epidemiology, phylogenomics, and microbiome-based approaches. His research programmes encompass multiple animal species and production sectors, including poultry, swine, companion animals, pigeons, waterfowl, and honey bees. Particular emphasis is placed on the mechanisms underlying the emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance, the relationship between antimicrobial use and resistance, and the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance genes in animal, environmental, and food-chain-associated samples.<\/p>

Together with his research group, he conducts phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing, minimum inhibitory concentration determination, epidemiological cut-off-based interpretation, whole-genome sequencing, and bioinformatic analyses. His research also addresses bacterial evolution, co-selection, quorum sensing, and horizontal gene transfer, including the use of Microbial Evolution and Growth Arena, or MEGA-plate, experimental systems. Another major area of his research is the evaluation of antimicrobial alternatives, including propolis, bacteriophages, probiotics, plant-derived bioactive compounds, and antimicrobial peptides. His protozoological studies focus primarily on the drug susceptibility of Trichomonas gallinae<\/em>, Tritrichomonas foetus<\/em>, and Histomonas meleagridis<\/em>, as well as the identification of novel therapeutic approaches against these pathogens.<\/p>

His research in honey bee health investigates the microbiome and resistome of honey bees and apicultural products, bee-associated pathogens, the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance genes, and environmental, management-related, and geospatial risk factors affecting colony health. His teaching activities focus on veterinary pharmacology, antimicrobial therapy, and antimicrobial resistance. He supervises undergraduate research students and doctoral candidates and regularly participates in national and international scientific collaborations, conferences, peer review, and journal editorial activities.<\/p>

From 2022 to 2024, he served as President of the Doctoral Student Council of the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest. Since 2024, he has served as Secretary of the University\u2019s Doctoral School of Veterinary Science. In 2026, he was awarded a three-year J\u00e1nos Bolyai Research Scholarship to investigate the relationships between antimicrobial resistance and bacterial communication.<\/p>

Main Research Areas<\/h2>