Dr. Ákos Kenéz is an Associate Professor of Veterinary Physiology and the Associate Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health. He trained as a veterinarian at the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest (Hungary) and completed his PhD at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (Germany), where he developed an interest in the cellular physiology and metabolic health of production animals. His research program, supported by public competitive research grants and contract research collaborations, focuses on nutrient metabolism and sustainable animal production. Using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, he investigates metabolic health, adaptation, and stress in livestock, with a particular emphasis on the use of farmed insects as functional feed ingredients. In addition to his research, Dr. Kenéz is an experienced veterinary educator who leads a core problem-based learning course and contributes to competency-based veterinary curriculum development through his active participation in the veterinary education community.
Dr. Kenéz’s research interests are at the intersection of nutrient metabolism and sustainable animal production, with a focus on farmed insects as functional feed ingredients for livestock and aquatic animal nutrition. His research program applies mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to investigate metabolic adaptation, stress, and biomarkers of resilience in production animals. His ongoing projects evaluate the biological value of black soldier fly larvae in the diets of poultry, dairy cows, and aquaculture species. This work includes assessing the effects of insect-based ingredients on gut health and metabolism, characterizing their antimicrobial properties, and examining how the recycling of different food waste substrates in insect farming impacts the quality of the final product.
The full list of publications is available on Google Scholar. Biasato I, Hassan T, Buzzanca D, Bagatella S, Schiavone A, Capucchio MT, Gasco L, Kenéz Á*, and Ferrocino I. Gut health in broiler chickens fed a mixture of Hermetia illucens and Tenebrio molitor meals: does it have a key role in shaping bird performance? Poultry Science (2026) 106966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.106966 Chotikatum S, Li CM, Suttibak S, Lokaewmanee K, Trithilen U, Kenéz Á. Effects of supplementation with defrosted full-fat black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae on growth performance and gut histology in broilers. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed (2026) 12(9):1501 https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-bja10360 Jorge-Smeding E, Leung YH, Ruiz-González A, Xu W, Astessiano AL, Trujillo AI, Rico DE, Kenéz Á. Plasma and milk metabolomics revealed changes in amino acid metabolism in Holstein dairy cows under heat stress. Animal (2024) 18(2):101049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2023.101049 Leung YH, Kenéz Á*, Grob AJ, Feige K, Warnken T. Associations of plasma sphingolipid profiles with insulin response during oral glucose testing in Icelandic horses. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (2021) 35(4):2009-2018. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16200 Kenéz Á, Dänicke S, Rolle-Kampczyk U, von Bergen M, Huber K. A metabolomics approach to characterize phenotypes of metabolic transition from late pregnancy to early lactation in dairy cows. Metabolomics (2016) 12:165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-016-1112-8