7 Digestive Physiology of Pigs Lecture: Past, Present and Future

Abstract Digestive Physiology of Pigs (DPP) was organized in 1979 to promote exchange of information among scientists working in swine digestive physiology and nutrition. The objective of this presentation is to provide an overview of the past, present, and future of the most important global scientific event in the fields of pig gut physiology and nutrition. To date, fourteen symposia have been conducted including the 12th International Symposium, which was held in Keystone, Colorado (DPP-2012). In order to facilitate the activities of DPP-2012, DPP-North America was established as a non-profit entity with a mission to collaborate internationally to “establish triennial venues that present the most current research and discovery information relative to digestive physiology of pigs.” Regarding DPP-2012, 403 attendees from 28 countries were in attendance, and 250 abstracts were accepted for presentation. The attendees represented academia, industry, and major swine production entities. Today, in addition to digestive physiology and nutrition, the global DPP community has evolved to include topics such as immunology, microbiology, and the use of pigs as a model for human health. As part of the global DPP community, DPP-North America continues to work with the global DPP community to establish global networks, to learn about the latest scientific discoveries, to promote academia-industry partnerships, to involve and train the next generation of scientists, and to contribute to sustainable pork systems. Since its establishment, DPP-North America has sponsored digestive physiology lectures at the annual ASAS Midwest meetings and has provided travel scholarships for North American graduate students to attend and present research at international DPP meetings.