To All The Ethiopian Community Edir Participants:
We are deeply saddened to inform you that our Edir participant, Dr. Sahlu Ayalew Shiffa, passed away on June 25, 2025.
We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Sahlu Ayalew. We pray that Dr. Sahlu Ayalew’s family and friends find peace and comfort at this time of hardship.
He was born to Ato Ayalew Shiffa and W/ro Webitu Wolde Selassie in Boreda, Eastern Hararghea.
Education:
He went to elementary school at Herena, East Hararghea, and then to high school at Bible Academy in Adama City. After completing 11th grade, he went to lab school (Bedemariam), then continued to Addis Ababa University, Department of Biology at 4 Kilo.
After graduating in biology, he joined Haramaya University as a faculty member in the 1982/83 academic year.
He earned his MSC from Addis Ababa University, 4 Kilo, in the field of microbiology. He served as the head of the Division of Natural and Social Science (DNSS) at Haramaya University until 1998/90. He moved to Oklahoma State University (OSU), Oklahoma, USA, in 1990 for his PhD in training in microbiology. He graduated from OSU in 1995 and did his postdoctoral service at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York.
He also worked as a researcher at Stony Brook University. After four years working in New York, he moved back to Oklahoma and joined OSU Veterinary School as a researcher in 2000, where he served as an assistant professor of research.
At OSU he accomplished the following:
Dr. Sahlu Ayalew made significant contributions to veterinary science, particularly in the fight against bovine respiratory disease (BRD)—commonly known as shipping fever in cattle. Here are some of his standout achievements:
- Chimeric Protein Vaccine: Dr. Ayalew co-developed a novel vaccine using a chimeric protein that combines two key components of Mannheimia haemolytica—the PlpE outer membrane protein and leukotoxin epitopes. This approach:
- Maintains vaccine effectiveness
- Reduces toxicity
- Simplifies production
Patents and Intellectual Property
- He holds multiple patents for vaccine formulations targeting M. haemolytica, the primary bacterial agent behind shipping fever.
- These patents reflect his work in engineering recombinant proteins that stimulate immune responses in cattle without the harmful effects of traditional leukotoxins.
Economic Impact
- His research addresses a disease that costs the U.S. cattle industry over $800 million annually, with Oklahoma alone losing up to $200 million each year.
- By improving vaccine efficiency and safety, his work aims to reduce these losses and improve animal welfare.
He retired and moved to Sachse, Texas, about seven years ago, where he passed away on June 25, 2025.
Note: we will notify you of the time and date of the funeral service and burial.
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