Stephen LeBlanc

BSc(Agr), DVM, DVSc

sleblanc@uoguelph.ca
Office: Stewart Bldg. 2543
519-824-4120 Ext. 54594

@dairyresearch1
Stephen LeBlanc on LinkedIn
Stephen LeBlanc on ResearcGate

Profile

I am a veterinarian and professor working in dairy cattle health management. I received a BSc(Agr) in Animal Science from McGill University in 1992, and a DVM (in 1997) and DVSc (in 2001) from the University of Guelph. After five years of private practice in veterinary medicine, I joined the faculty at OVC. My research focuses on transition dairy cow metabolic and reproductive health and management. I teach veterinary and agriculture students and provide clinical farm service. I was coordinator of the Dairy Health Management Certificate Program, an advanced continuing education program for dairy veterinarians and I organize the annual DHMCP continuing education meeting. I serve as the Director of Dairy at Guelph - The Centre for Dairy Research & Innovation, a network of faculty, postdocs, and graduate students across all disciplines at the university who do dairy-related research. I was a section and senior editor for the Journal of Dairy Science for six years and am a member of the American Dairy Science board of directors (2022-2025).

Research Interests

My research focus is dairy cattle health and performance. My focus is in the area of dairy cattle reproduction and metabolic health, specifically in improving reproductive performance through better prevention and treatment of reproductive disease and development of reproductive management programs. My research program integrates applied physiology of the peripartum period with prevention of reproductive and metabolic disease. My research addresses the interactions of applied energy metabolism, reproductive physiology, and management in the context of production economics. I collaborate extensively with colleagues in the department and in other institutions, with a research approach that integrates animal science, applied physiology, and nutrition with veterinary medicine. We use large-scale randomized controlled trials, complemented with more intensive studies to address questions that are relevant for veterinarians and farmers. My research links epidemiology, metabolism, reproductive physiology, and immune function into applied management practices that support animal health, productivity, and welfare.

Current Graduate Students

• Tony Carreira Brulnjé - PhD
• Lucio Campora - MSc
• Rocio Malet - MSc

Teaching

DVM Phase 4: Ruminant Health Management (Farm Service); coordinator for Dairy Health Management and Food Animal Theriogenology rotations

DVM Phase 3: Food Animal Medicine & Surgery - lectures on mastitis and vaccination programs

DVM Phase 2: Health Management II - lectures and case study on herd problem investigation

Graduate course: coordinator for Dairy Health Management and Directed Studies courses in Dairy Cattle Reproduction and Applied Immune Function

Professional Experience & Honours

Zoetis Award for Research Excellence, OVC, 2013

Merck Veterinary Award for food animal medicine, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, 2017

American Dairy Science Association Zoetis Physiology Award, 2019

Clarivate Analytics Highly-Cited Researcher, 2018, 2019, 2021

Service to Society

President, Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council (2016)

Section and senior editor, Journal of Dairy Science 2016 - 2021

Board of Directors, American Dairy Science Association 2022 - 2025

Links

Google Scholar

Selected Publications

Couto Serrenho R, Bruinjé TC, Morrison EI, DeVries TJ, Duffield TF, LeBlanc SJ. Controlled trial of the effect of negative dietary cation-anion difference on postpartum health of dairy cows. J Dairy Sci. 2021 Jun;104(6):6929-6943. doi: 10.3168/jds.2020-19389.

Couto Serrenho R, Bruinjé TC, Morrison EI, DeVries TJ, Duffield TF, LeBlanc SJ. Controlled trial of the effect of negative dietary cation-anion difference prepartum diets on milk production, reproductive performance, and culling of dairy cows. J Dairy Sci. 2021 Jun;104(6):6919-6928. doi: 10.3168/jds.2020-19390. Epub 2021 Mar 11. PMID: 33715852.

Cobo-Angel C, LeBlanc SJ, Roche SM, Ritter C. A Focus Group Study of Canadian Dairy Farmers' Attitudes and Social Referents on Antimicrobial Use and Antimicrobial Resistance. Front Vet Sci. 2021 15;8:645221.

Van Schyndel SJ, Dubuc J, Pascottini OB, Carrier J, Kelton DF, Duffield TF, LeBlanc SJ. The effect of pegbovigrastim on early-lactation disease, production, and reproduction in dairy cows. J Dairy Sci. 2021 104(9):10100-10110.

Bogado Pascottini O,  SJ Van Schyndel, JFW Spricigo, MR Carvalho, B Mion, ES Ribeiro, SJ LeBlanc (2020) Effect of anti-inflammatory treatment on systemic inflammation, immune function, and endometrial health in postpartum dairy cows. Sci Rep 23; 10(1):5236.

LeBlanc, S.J. (2020). Review: Relationships between metabolism and neutrophil function in dairy cows in the peripartum period. Animal 14(S1):s44-s54

Winder CB, Churchill KJ, Sargeant JM, LeBlanc SJ, O'Connor AM, Renaud DL. Invited review: Completeness of reporting of experiments: REFLECTing on a year of animal trials in the Journal of Dairy Science. J Dairy Sci. 2019 Apr 17 doi: 10.3168/jds.2018-15797

Van Schyndel SJ, Bogado Pascottini O, LeBlanc SJ. Comparison of cow-side diagnostic techniques for subclinical endometritis in dairy cows. Theriogenology. 2018 120: 117-122. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2018.08.001.

Rearte R, LeBlanc SJ, Corva SG, de la Sota RL, Lacau-Mengido IM, Giuliodori MJ. Effect of milk production on reproductive performance in dairy herds. J Dairy Sci. 2018 101(8):7575-7584. doi: 10.3168/jds.2017-13796

Winder CB, Miltenburg CL, Sargeant JM, LeBlanc SJ, Haley DB, Lissemore KD, Godkin MA, Duffield TF. Effects of local anesthetic or systemic analgesia on pain associated with cautery disbudding in calves: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Dairy Sci. 2018 ;101(6):5411-5427. doi: 10.3168/jds.2017-14092.

Miltenburg CL, Duffield TF, Bienzle D, Scholtz EL, LeBlanc SJ. The effect of prepartum feeding and lying space on metabolic health and immune function. J Dairy Sci. 2018 101(6):5294-5306. doi: 10.3168/jds.2017-13481.

Lean IJ, Lucy MC, McNamara JP, Bradford BJ, Block E, Thomson JM, Morton JM, Celi P, Rabiee AR, Santos JE, Thatcher WW, LeBlanc SJ. 2015. Invited review: Recommendations for reporting intervention studies on reproductive performance in dairy cattle: Improving design, analysis, and interpretation of research on reproduction. J Dairy Sci. 2015 Sep  doi: 10.3168/jds.2015-9445

deBoer, M. W., LeBlanc, S. J., Dubuc, J., Meier, S., Heuweiser, W., S. Arlt, R.O. Gilbert, S. McDougall (2014). Invited review: Systematic review of diagnostic tests for reproductive-tract infection and inflammation in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 97 (7), 3983-3999.

LeBlanc, S. J. (2014). Reproductive tract inflammatory disease in postpartum dairy cows. Animal, 8 (Supp 1), 54-63.

Windeyer, M. C., LeBlanc, S., Leslie, K. E., Godden, S. M., Hodgins, D. C., K.D. Lissemore, S.J. LeBlanc (2014). Factors associated with morbidity, mortality and growth of dairy heifer calves up to 3 months of age. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 113, 231-240.

LeBlanc, S. (2012). Interactions of metabolism, inflammation, and reproductive tract health in postpartum period in dairy cattle. Reproduction in Domestic Animals, 47 (Suppl 5), 18-30.

Neves, R. C., Leslie, K. E., Walton, J. S., & LeBlanc, S. (2012). Reproductive performance with an automated activity monitoring system versus a synchronized breeding program. Journal of Dairy Science, 95, 5683-5693.

Chapinal, N., Carson, M., LeBlanc, S., Leslie, K., Godden, S., M. Capel, J.E.P. Santos, M.W. Overton, T.F. Duffield (2012). The association of serum metabolites in the transition period with milk production and early lactation reproductive performance. Journal of Dairy Science, 95 (3), 1301-1309.

Dubuc, J., Duffield, T., Leslie, K., Walton, J., & LeBlanc, S. (2010). Definitions and Diagnosis of Postpartum Endometritis in Dairy Cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 93, 5225-5233.

Sheldon, I., Lewis, G., LeBlanc, S. J., & Gilbert, R. (2006). Defining post partum uterine disease in cattle. Theriogenology, 65, 1516-1530.

LeBlanc, S. J., Lissemore, K. D., Kelton, D. F., Duffield, T. F., & Leslie, K. E. (2006). Major advances in disease prevention in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 89 (4), 1267-1279.

LeBlanc, S. J., Leslie, K., & Duffield, T. (2005). Metabolic predictors of displaced abomasum in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 88, 159-170.