Heidi Mathiessen

I am a Ph.D. Student in my final year at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Section for Parasitology and Aquatic Pathobiology at the University of Copenhagen. I come from an aquaculture production background having spent many hours helping on different fish farms. Spending time on the farms and interacting with people working with fish have given me insight into some of the challenges they face. I find it interesting and challenging and it has motivated me into wanting to work within the aquaculture industry. I have a Masters in Animal Science with focus on aquaculture production. Following the completion of my Masters, I was employed as a research assistant prior to my Ph.D. My research focuses on fish, integrating fields such as diseases, bioinformatics, biotechnology, fish treatment and immunology. My work involves planning and execution of experiments, analyzing samples, and conducting statistical analyses on the gathered data. I am familiar with dissemination of results through reports, submitting articles in peer-reviewed journals, and presentations at conferences, as well as meetings with collaborators and stakeholders. Moreover, I am involved in different teaching activities such as theoretical and practical lectures, assisting and teaching during practical courses, instructing and helping students working on projects within our group. My hope is to find a position where I can combine my passion for research and fish production to make a difference for the aquaculture industry.

• Oral presentation at the following conferences: ICOPA, 2022; ISFSI, 2022; ISDCI, 2023; EAFP, 2023
• Oral presentation at the Annual immunology and infectious diseases meeting 2023
• Poster presentation at the Conference of the Scandinavian-Baltic Society for Parasitology
• Presentation of result from ReCirkVet project during a workshop with all stakeholders and other relevant personal
• Presentation of results at the ReCirkVet leadergroup meeting November 2019 + June 2020

• M.Sc. in Animal Science – Department of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen with primary focus on aquaculture and parasitology
• B.Sc. in Animal Science – Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen

• High throughput sequencing (transcriptomic analysis)
• Evaluating efficacy of feed additives on disease resistance
• Analysis of metabolomics data
• Immunology
• Infection challenges of fish
• PCR and qPCR
• CRISPR/Cas
• Parasitological examination of fish
• Toxicology test
• Assessing stress and immunology parameters such as lysozyme in plasma
• In vitro experiments on both amoebae and parasites
• Staining and preparing histological slides
• In vivo imaging and cell count

• Experience as a member of a research group, involved in both research and day-to-day activities
• Completed course in laboratory animal science complying with the EU function ABD, qualifying to obtain licenses and plan experiments as well as work with experimental animals and performing in animal experiments