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bioRxiv2024

Canadian science graduate stipends lie below the poverty line

Despite the critical role of graduate students in the Canadian research ecosystem1, students report high levels of financial stress2. We collected graduate minimum stipends and tuition data from all university graduate programs in Canada in Ecological Sciences/Biology and Physics, along with cost of living measures for the cities in which they reside. This data is heterogeneous, complex, and in many cases simply not publicly available, making it challenging for potential graduate students to understand what support they should expect. We show Canadian minimum stipends are at values almost exclusively below the poverty threshold. Only two of 140 degree programs offered stipends which meet cost of living measures after subtracting tuition and fees. For graduate programs which offered a minimum guaranteed stipend, the average minimum domestic stipend is short [~]Can$9,468 (international [~]Can$16,899) of the poverty threshold after accounting for payment of tuition and fees. On average, approximately 34% of a minimum stipend is returned to the university by a domestic Canadian student and 78% (57% median) by an international student, though there are important caveats with the international student comparison. While international comparison is difficult, the highest Canadian minimum stipend is roughly equivalent or lower than the lowest stipend within the largest dataset of United States of America (US) Biology stipends 3, and lower than the United Kingdom (UK) stipend. University endowment correlates with minimum stipend amount but intra- and inter-institutional differences suggest it is not solely institutional wealth which improves graduate pay. Canada is behind comparable countries in funding the next generation of scientists. Canadians who desire higher STEM education have three options: hope for significantly higher guaranteed support from a supervisor, department, or awards; incur substantial debts; or emigrate.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2018

Using vocational education to provide development solutions in the Pacific: An emphasis on climate change and health

This article reports on the results of the EU PacTVET project, which explored the use of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to provide a better understanding on the development solution for the impact of climate change on human health in the region. It describes the findings of a 2014-2018 project on the use of vocational education to provide development solutions in the Pacific with an emphasis on climate change and health. An exploratory design was used to investigate how vocational education developed solutions for climate change and health in the 15 Pacific - African Caribbean and Pacific (P-ACP) countries: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Information collected via personal communication with relevant stakeholders, qualitative interviews, documents review, and survey (n=48) of youths and young women in Fiji. Data analysis was performed using thematic analytical strategy and frequency analysis. The study found that vocational education plays a significant role in building the capacity of people to become more sustainable and resilient in their life now and in the future. Also, getting an accredited qualification on health resilience and/or job in the health sector may help them to respond effectively and efficiently in the event of climate change and/or disasters caused by natural hazards. The same factors were explored quantitatively using descriptive analytical strategy, and concluded TVET education, to have a positive influence on climate change and health. As a result, vocational education could provide development solutions for health adaptation in the Pacific. These results indicate global actions for vocational education, that would perfect the course of resilience for these 15 P-ACP in the Pacific and alike in the U.S.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2017

Three Decades as an NSF REU Site: Lessons and Recommendations

NSFs Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports thousands of undergraduate researchers annually. REU sites operate independently with regards to their research mission and structure, leading to a complex educational milieu distinct from traditional classrooms and labs. Overall, REU sites are perceived as providing highly formative experiences for developing researchers. However, given improved assessment practices over REUs three decades, best practices for student learning and evaluation of long-term impacts remain limited. To address this limitation, we recommend the use of systems-based theoretical frameworks when studying REU programs. We outline how one such framework, cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), could inform the collection of assessment data. Among other strengths, CHAT guides collection of quantitative and qualitative information that can help characterize REU programs in an educationally meaningful context. Adoption of CHAT and similar approaches by REU Sites could improve dialogue among programs, encourage collaborations, and improve evidence-based practices.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2025

Serving as an anatomy laboratory teaching assistant does not improve USMLE Step 1 performance

PurposeTeaching can enhance the teachers learning through retrieval practice, elaboration, and metacognitive engagement. In anatomy education, near-peer teaching roles such as laboratory teaching assistants (TAs) may therefore benefit not only learners but also the instructors. This study investigated whether serving as an anatomy TA is associated with improved performance on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1. It was hypothesized that medical students who taught anatomy would demonstrate higher Step 1 scores due to the cognitive benefits of teaching. MethodsSixty second-year medical students were identified who served as anatomy TAs in a donor-based physical therapy course over seven academic years. Each was matched to a peer from the same graduating class with similar anatomy course performance but no TA experience. De-identified Step 1 scores were obtained from institutional records. An independent samples t-test compared Step 1 scores between groups. ResultsThe mean Step 1 score was 238.0 (SD = 19.7) for TAs and 236.1 (SD = 16.5) for matched controls. This difference was not statistically significant (t(118) = 0.573, p = 0.568). ConclusionsMedical students who served as anatomy TAs did not perform significantly better on the USMLE Step 1 than their peers. These findings suggest that, under the conditions of this study, participation in a near-peer teaching role did not translate into measurable gains on standardized testing. Educators should consider that while teaching may support professional development and anatomical understanding, additional instructional design elements may be needed to align these experiences with exam-related learning outcomes.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2019

Short Neurorobotics Workshop for High School Students Promotes Competence and Confidence in Computational Neuroscience

Understanding the brain is a fascinating challenge, captivating the scientific community and the public alike. The lack of effective treatment for most brain disorders makes the training of the next generation of neuroscientists, engineers and physicians a key concern. Over the past decade there has been a growing effort to introduce neuroscience in primary and secondary schools, however hands-on laboratories have been limited to anatomical or electrophysiological activities. Modern neuroscience research labs are increasingly using computational tools to model circuits of the brain to understand information processing. Here we introduce the use of neurorobots - robots controlled by computer models of biological brains - as an introduction to computational neuroscience in the K-12 classroom. Neurorobotics has enormous potential as an education technology because it combines multiple activities with clear educational benefits including neuroscience, active learning, and robotics. We describe an introductory neurorobot workshop that teaches high school students how to use neurorobots to investigate key concepts in neuroscience, including spiking neural networks, synaptic plasticity, and adaptive action selection. Our do-it-yourself (DIY) neurorobot uses wheels, a camera, a speaker, and a distance sensor to interact with its environment, and can be built from generic parts costing about $150 in under 4 hrs. Our Neurorobot App visualizes the neurorobot's visual input and brain activity in real-time, and enables students to design new brains and deliver dopamine-like reward signals to reinforce chosen behaviors. We have tested the Neurorobot Workshop with high school students (n = 3 workshops, 9 students total) and have found that students were able to complete all exercises in under 3 hrs. In a post-workshop survey, students reported having gained the ability to develop neural networks that perform specific functions, including goal-directed behavior and memory. Here we provide DIY hardware assembly instructions, discuss our open-source Neurorobot App and demonstrate how to teach the Neurorobot Workshop. By doing this we hope to accelerate research in educational neurorobotics and promote the use of neurorobots to teach computational neuroscience in high school.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2023

Curing GFP-itis in Bacteria with Base Editors: Development of a Genome Editing Science Program Implemented with High School Biology Students

The flexibility and precision of CRISPR-Cas9 and related technologies have made these genome editing tools increasingly popular in agriculture, medicine, and basic science research over the past decade. Genome editing will continue to be relevant and utilized across diverse scientific fields in the future. Given this, students should be introduced to genome editing technologies and encouraged to consider their ethical implications early on in pre-college biology curricula. Furthermore, instruction on this topic presents an opportunity to create partnerships between researchers and educators at the K-12 levels that can strengthen student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To this end, we present a three-day student-centered learning program to introduce high school students to genome editing technologies through a hands-on base editing experiment in E. coli, accompanied by a relevant background lecture and facilitated ethics discussion. This unique partnership aims to educate students and provides a framework for research institutions to implement genome editing outreach programs at local high schools.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2018

Improving Children’s and Their Visitors’ Hand Hygiene Compliance

BackgroundNumerous interventions have tried to improve healthcare workers hand hygiene compliance, however little attention has been paid to childrens and their visitors compliance.\n\nAimTo increase childrens and visitors compliance using interactive educational interventions.\n\nMethodsThis was an observational study of hand hygiene compliance before and after the introduction of educational interventions. Qualitative data in the form of Questionnaires and interviews was obtained.\n\nFindingsHand hygiene compliance increased by 21.4% (P <0.001) following the educational interventions, with childrens compliance reaching 40.8% and visitors being 50.8%. Compliance varied depending on which of the [fi]ve moments of hygiene was observed (P<0.001), with the highest compliance after body [fl]uid exposure (96%). Responses from questionnaires showed educational interventions raised awareness of the importance of hand hygiene (69%, 57%) compared to those who had not experienced the educational intervention (50%).\n\nConclusionEducational interventions may result in a significant increase in childrens and visitors hand hygiene (P <0.001).

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2026

Uncovering Conceptual Biases in DNA Stabilization: A Student-Led Investigation

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) stands as one of the most foundational concepts in life sciences, essential for students to master. However, when surveyed about the forces that stabilize the double-stranded DNA structure, many students exhibited a conceptual bias-- favoring base pairing as the primary stabilizing force, while overlooking the equally critical role of base stacking interactions. To investigate the origins of this misconception, students conducted a comprehensive analysis of 35 widely used textbooks. Their findings revealed that one-third of these texts explicitly emphasized base pairing as the sole stabilizing force in their written content. Furthermore, two-thirds of the textbook contained illustrations that reinforced this bias, visually highlighting base pairing while neglecting base stacking. Recognizing this bias, students embarked on a literature review to gain a more accurate and nuanced understanding of DNA stabilization. Through this research, we identified three concept areas--DNA structure and function, environmental effects on DNA, and DNA-protein interactions--to illustrate how base pairing and base stacking work in concert to stabilize the antiparallel double helical structure of DNA. This interplay between base pairing and base stacking is crucial not only for the structural integrity of DNA, but also for its biological functionality. By addressing this conceptual bias, we aim to promote a more balanced and scientifically accurate representation of DNA stabilization in educational materials.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2026

It is not just about the science - the impact of undergraduate research projects and COVID-19 on graduate attributes and employability.

Over the past two decades, Higher Education Institutions have increasingly prioritised transferrable skills to enhance graduate employability. Graduate Attributes (GAs) now act as key indicators of student competencies for both learners and employers. Final-year research projects, typically high in credit value, represent capstone experiences that promote subject expertise and GA development through research, written work, and oral presentations. This study analyses pre- and post-project survey data from RQF Level 6 biomedical and biomolecular science students at a Russell Group University over four years (2019-2023). Most projects were laboratory-based, though the 2020-2021 cohort completed theirs remotely due to COVID-19. Students reflected on expectations and experiences of GA development, subject knowledge, and employability. Initial responses revealed anxiety and uncertainty, particularly among the 2020-2021 cohort, but most anticipated gains in skills and employability. Post-project feedback confirmed this, identifying critical thinking, confidence, resilience, collaboration, and future focus as key outcomes. Digital capability was notably strengthened, especially during remote delivery. The findings emphasise the importance of a shared understanding of GAs in bioscience education and the value of embedding structured reflection and preparatory support to help students recognise and articulate their evolving skills.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2021

Synchronization of iPS-derived cardiomyocytes to visitor heartbeat in an interactive museum exhibit

Science museums play an important role in science education, both engaging the public with science concepts and building support for scientific research. Designing museum exhibits to meet increasing public interests in the life sciences is particularly important, yet remains challenging. In this report we describe Give Heart Cells a Beat, a permanent interactive science exhibit that allows museum visitors to synchronize the beating of live stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to their own heart rate in real-time. Evaluation with museum visitors reveals that the exhibit engaged the public with the specimen and prompted curiosity in heart biology and, to a lesser degree, stem cells and electrophysiology. Give Heart Cells a Beat is the product of a close collaboration between a museum and a research laboratory, and, to our knowledge, the first example of the use of live human heart cells in an interactive exhibit. We hope this exhibit will serve as an example for the implementation of stem cell technology in the field of informal science education and encourage others to pursue close working relationships between academia and public science venues such as museums.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2019

The effect of competency-based education in obstetric emergencies on midwifery students in clinical skill lab, based on Kirkpatrick evaluation model: A randomized controlled trial One

BackgroundObstetric emergency is one of the most important causes of maternal and neonatal mortality, and competency-based education is one of the efficient approaches to cover this. Objective structured clinical examination is one of the valid methods in measuring students competency and performance. Kirkpatrick evaluation model is a great method to assess a training impact.\n\nObjectivesThis study was designed to determine the effect of competency-based education on midwifery students based on Kirkpatrick evaluation model.\n\nDesignRandomized controlled trial\n\nSettingNursing and Midwifery School in Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran University of Medical Sciences)\n\nParticipantseighty students in third to fifth term of associate and bachelors degree in midwifery (intervention group=40, control group=40)\n\nMethodsUsing stratified random sampling, research team trained learners of intervention group in 4 sessions, 5 hours/day in a month in emergency obstetric cares. Both groups had been receiving the routine schedule of the faculty. Knowledge, skills, and self-confidence were assessed three times, before, immediately and 6 weeks after training by researcher made questionnaire, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and self-reported questionnaire respectively. Data were analyzed with descriptive, inferential statistics.\n\nResultsThe level of knowledge, skills, and self-confidence increased significantly in the intervention group, in immediate and 6 weeks after intervention (P<0.001). In intervention group, Mean {+/-} S.D of all variables were 5.05{+/-}2.074, 143.30{+/-}12.146 and 11.65{+/-}2.045, which increased to 10.17{+/-}1.318, 527.70{+/-}19.995 and 18.97{+/-}1.980 and remained at the same levels 6 weeks later, 9.37{+/-}2.215, 521.80{+/-}19.784 and 19.00{+/-}2.631; in the control group, this trend was not significant (P=0.380, P=0.455 and P=0.191).\n\nConclusionCompetency-based education can be used in midwifery education and in-service training. We need to use new educational approaches such as competency-based to have a valuable impact on knowledge skills and self-confidence. This may affect health indexes indirectly.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2026

Teaching adipose tissue as an organ system: addressing weight bias and enhancing anatomical understanding through AdipoAtlas

Adipose tissue (body fat) is increasingly recognized as a dynamic organ system essential to human health, with distinct depots that serve specialized biological functions. However, this understanding is not reflected in traditional human anatomy curricula, where adipose tissue is typically introduced only as connective tissue and treated in dissection as an obstacle to be removed rather than a structure worthy of study. Anatomy dissection courses have been identified as a source of negative weight bias in medical students, with students reporting disgust toward adipose tissue and frustration with its removal to visualize course-required anatomical structures. Here, we hypothesize that reframing adipose tissue as a functional organ system within anatomy curricula may improve students understanding of human anatomy and mitigate these negative perceptions. To test this, we created a human adipose atlas (AdipoAtlas) by identifying and photographing macroscopic adipose depots in an anatomical donor and organizing these images into an anatomical reference with evidence-based functional descriptions. The atlas was integrated into a human anatomy dissection course, followed by a survey assessing students perceptions of adipose tissue and attitudes related to weight bias, with a concurrent non-dissection anatomy course serving as a control. Students in the adipose-inclusive course reported more positive perceptions and improved understanding of adipose tissue as a multifunctional organ system, while responses related to weight-based discrimination and broader attitudes toward body size were similar between groups. These results support our hypothesis that integrating adipose tissue into anatomy education improves anatomical understanding and may reduce negative weight-related perceptions.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2019

PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED TO NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES IN KHARTOUM STATE

IntroductionNon-communicable diseases are multifactorial including genetic, physiological, environmental behavioral factors. Our research aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with Non-communicable diseases in two administrative units of Khartoum State.\n\nMethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in two administrative units of Khartoum State on a sample of 132 participants selected through multi-stage sampling technique. Firstly, a stratified random sampling technique was used to select Alshohada/Soba out of the six administrative units of Khartoum locality (mode of living was urban). In Jabaal Awliya locality of four administrative units, Al Jabal (with urban and rural mode of living) was selected. At second level, 50 households were selected in each of the two administrative units through the geographical information system to obtain a representative spatial distribution of households in each of the administrative areas. At third level, in each of the household selected participants experiencing at least one NCD were included in the study after obtaining his/her verbal well informed consent. The data collected were computerized through Epi Info 7 and analyzed through SPSS 23. The data were firstly summarized numerically and graphically. Association among variables were determined through chi-square tests and ANOVA. A multi-logistic regression was conducted to estimate the risk factors associated to NCDs. All statistical tests were considered significant when p < 0.05.\n\nResultsOur findings revealed that NCDs prevailed with an overall prevalence of 24/100,000 population. Of the fifteen risk factors associated to NCDs in the two administrative units, seven were statistically associated (p < 0.05) to NCDs.\n\nDiscussionIn our research the risk factors statistically associated with NCDs were age and gender of the participants, their profession, educational level, physical activities, follow-up visits and having meals outside home. In conclusion NCDs were public health priorities with particular attention to diabetes and hypertension to avoid premature deaths.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2020

The knowledge and practice towards COVID-19 pandemic prevention among residents of Ethiopia. An online cross-sectional study.

Background The Novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is now the international concerns and a pandemic, since the World Health Organization declared as the outbreaks. The objective of this study to assess the prevention knowledge and practices towards the COVID-19 among the residents of Ethiopia.Methods An online cross-sectional study was conducted among the sample of Ethiopian residents via social platforms of the author’s network with the popular media such as Facebook, in Ethiopia from the April 15-22, 2020 and successfully recruited 341 responses. The snowball sampling was employed to recruit the participants. The data were analyzed using STATA version 14. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the level of knowledge and practices.Results The majority of the respondents (80.35%) were male. The overall prevention knowledge of the participants towards the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was high. About 91.2% of the participant was heard about the novel coronavirus disease and Social Medias’ were the main source of the information. About 90% of the participants had a good prevention knowledge of maintaining social distance and frequent hand washing. The practices of the participants towards the COVID-19 prevention were very low. Out of 341 participants, only 61% and 84% of the participants were practicing social distance and frequent hand washing, respectively.Conclusions Majority of the participants had knew the ways of protecting themselves from the novel coronavirus. But, there was deficiencies of changing these prevention knowledge to practice. This indicates that there was gap between knowledge and implementation of prevention strategies in the community. The concerned body should focus on providing education for the community regarding the implementation of the prevention knowledge to practice.AbbreviationsFFNCFamily, friends, neighbor, and colleaguesMoHMinistry of HealthSARSSevere Acute Respiratory SyndromeMERSMiddle East Respiratory SyndromeWHOWorld Health OrganizationView Full Text

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2020

Effect size, sample size and power of forced swim test assays in mice: Guidelines for investigators to optimize reproducibility

A recent flood of publications has documented serious problems in scientific reproducibility, power, and reporting of biomedical articles, yet scientists persist in their usual practices. Why? We examined a popular and important preclinical assay, the Forced Swim Test (FST) in mice used to test putative antidepressants. Whether the mice were assayed in a naive state vs. in a model of depression or stress, and whether the mice were given test agents vs. known antidepressants regarded as positive controls, the mean effect sizes seen in the experiments were indeed extremely large (1.5 - 2.5 in Cohens d units); most of the experiments utilized 7-10 animals per group which did have adequate power to reliably detect effects of this magnitude. We propose that this may at least partially explain why investigators using the FST do not perceive intuitively that their experimental designs fall short -- even though proper prospective design would require ~21-26 animals per group to detect, at a minimum, large effects (0.8 in Cohens d units) when the true effect of a test agent is unknown. Our data provide explicit parameters and guidance for investigators seeking to carry out prospective power estimation for the FST. More generally, altering the real-life behavior of scientists in planning their experiments may require developing educational tools that allow them to actively visualize the inter-relationships among effect size, sample size, statistical power, and replicability in a direct and intuitive manner.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2023

Development of an undergraduate cell biology laboratory to assess pigmentation and cell size in a zebrafish model of uveal melanoma

This study outlines a two-week laboratory module for an authentic cell biology undergraduate research experience that uses zebrafish (Danio rerio), a popular model organism for research. Previous research has indicated that course-based undergraduate research experiences such as this one increase student confidence, active learning, and retention. During this research experience, students investigate variations in pigmentation in the caudal fins of wild type and transgenic fish (Tg(mitfa:GNAQQ209L)). The transgenic fish express a hyperactive G protein, GNAQQ209L, under the melanocyte-specific mitfa promoter, offering insights into uveal melanoma, a common eye cancer. Students specifically analyze the black pigmented cells, melanophores, within the caudal fin. We determined that the transgenic zebrafish have increased pigmentation in their caudal fins but smaller melanophores. These results suggest there are more melanophores in the Tg(mitfa:GNAQQ209L) fish compared to the wild type. Future undergraduate research could investigate these cellular differences. This research experience imparts microscopy and image analysis skills and instills the ability to grapple with large datasets, statistical tests, and data interpretation in alignment with biology education principles. Post-lab surveys reveal students attain confidence in the above skills and in handling animals, along with a deeper appreciation for model organism research and its relevance to cancer cell biology.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2024

Data Hunters: bridging bioinformatics education and microbiome research

Vast sequencing data in public repositories offer researchers unprecedented opportunities for gaining insights through reanalysis and machine learning approaches, thereby advancing the microbiology field. However, the lack of standardized metadata poses a significant obstacle to big data reuse, necessitating advanced bioinformatics skills for curation and integration. To tackle this challenge, we organized the Data Hunters Workshop, enabling extensive human skin microbiome metadata curation through student community engagement. The Data Hunters Workshop constitutes a student-science initiative within the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. Integrating theoretical and hands-on phases, the workshops structure included a 6-hour lecture, covering metagenomics and metadata manipulation fundamentals, followed by an interactive practical phase designed as a learn-and-play activity. This phase was supported by in-house developed educational online and command-line resources, facilitating students acquisition of Python commands for managing microbiome metadata. Upon the workshops conclusion, its effectiveness was assessed through surveys and standardized evaluation scales. Twenty-nine students addressed the critical challenge of metagenomics metadata standardization. Workshops resources have equipped students with foundational knowledge in metagenomics and Python programming, empowering them to curate metadata from 379 amplicon-based and shotgun sequencing projects of the human skin microbiome. The collaborative endeavors of these students will ensure the construction of a curated metadata collection. The Data Hunters Workshop established a reusable model for similar educational aims, facilitating metagenomics and bioinformatics teaching and metadata curation. It bridged education and microbiome research by focusing on human skin microbiome metadata curation, ultimately striving to construct a specific collection promptly accessible to researchers.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2025

Investigating the factors influencing antibiotic use practices and their association with antimicrobial resistance awareness among poultry farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria

BackgroundThe irrational use of antibiotics in poultry production has far-reaching consequences and continues to impact the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Africa. In Nigeria, antibiotics are available over-the-counter and are widely used in food animal production for various reasons, including prophylaxis and growth promotion. While this practice may support animal production, it also drives the spread of AMR, posing serious health challenges due to close human-livestock interactions and the countrys high disease burden. This study examined poultry farmers knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding antibiotic use and AMR, aiming to highlight the public health risks and challenges in combating AMR in Nigeria. MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 200 poultry farms in Enugu State, Southeast Nigeria, was conducted to evaluate farmers KAP towards antibiotic usage and AMR. Using a validated, standardized, and self-administered questionnaire, data were collected from farmers responsible for key farm decisions, including input and feed management. The questionnaire comprised three sections: socio-demographic data, knowledge of AMR, and knowledge and practices regarding antibiotic use. Ethical approval was obtained, and participants gave oral consent based on their professional capacity. ResultsThe evaluation of poultrys farmers KAP regarding antibiotic usage and AMR revealed that the majority of farmers (90.5%) reported using antibiotics, primarily for treating infections (80.5%) or for feed enhancement, growth promotion, and prophylaxis (61%). Ampicillin (75%), ciprofloxacin (71.5%), and doxycycline (71%) were the most commonly administered antibiotics. Monthly administration was the most common (48%), and 89% of respondents believed that antibiotics promote poultry growth. Interestingly, a substantial proportion of respondents (65%) were unaware of AMR, highlighting a significant knowledge gap, with only 16% recognizing the risk of AMR infections. ConclusionOur study revealed that the surveyed poultry farmers heavily rely on antibiotics, primarily for treating infections and, to a significant extent, for growth promotion, despite their limited awareness of AMR. Ampicillin was identified as the most commonly used antibiotic, raising concerns due to its potential link to beta-lactamase selection amid the countrys carbapenem resistance issues. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted education to address the AMR knowledge gap and reduce the misuse of antibiotics in poultry farming settings in Nigeria.

scientific communication and education↗