Josef Gross is senior scientist in the Veterinary Physiology group at the University of Bern, Switzerland. He received his PhD from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, in 2011. He is working on the nutritional impact on the adaptive physiology of transition dairy cows. His research addresses the relationship between animal-related factors and variation in colostrum immunoglobulin content of ruminants. In particular, he investigates the role of individual nutrients and metabolites in the endocrine regulation of energy metabolism, periparturient blood-milk barrier formation and mammary immune responsiveness in dairy cows.