Dr. Yan Ghazikhanian, a turkey veterinarian well known in the industry, died July 29, 2023.
He joined Nicholas Turkey Breeding Farms (NTBF) in 1974 as staff veterinarian. He spent 33 years of his career with Nicholas and officially retired as vice president of veterinary medicine in 2007. A graduate of the University of Tehran, Iran, Ghazikhanian earned his DVM at the top of his class. He then traveled to the U.S. to continue his higher education through a scholarship foundation. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in comparative pathology from the University of California, Davis. Ghazikhanian was a Charter member and Diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians.
As a director of a mobile laboratory from 1972-74, Ghazikhanian worked at USDA/APHIS/VS, participating in the eradication of velogenic viscerotropic Newcastle disease (VVND) from the Southern California poultry industry. During his career with NTBF, Ghazikhanian researched and coordinated the eradication of the following avian mycoplasmas from Nicholas primary breeding stocks: M. meleagridis, M. synoviae, and M. iowae. He also completed the eradication of several Salmonella species including S. arizonae.
Ghazikhanian received many awards during his tenure with Nicholas and was inducted into AAAP Hall of Honor in 2016. He traveled widely in the U.S., Europe and South America, visiting turkey companies and attending to customer technical needs in turkey health management. His ability to work with customers to help them identify issues and develop solutions has been a tremendous asset to the industry. Ghazikhanian’s knowledge and years of experience also made him a popular speaker and he was honored to give numerous technical presentations at industry trade and scientific association meetings around the world. In addition, he co-authored the chapter on Mycoplasma meleagridis in “Diseases of Poultry: Editions 9, 10 and 11.”
