**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** BOVINE NEWBORNS (NEONATAL CALVES) RELY ALMOST ENTIRELY ON THE TRANSFER OF IMMUNE COMPOUNDS THROUGH THE INGESTION OF COLOSTRUM WHICH IS THE FIRST MILK PRODUCED BY ANY MAMMAL. BOVINE COLOSTRUM CONTAINS A VARIETY OF COMPOUNDS INCLUDING ANTIBODIES AND VERY SPECIFIC COMPONENTS SUCH AS MICRORNAS. THESE COMPOUNDS PRESENT IN THE BOVINE COLOSTRUM PROVIDE PROTECTION AGAINST INFECTIONS IN NEONATAL CALVES DURING THE FIRST WEEKS OF LIFE. INDEED, INTESTINAL INFECTIONS ARE A MAJOR CAUSE OF CALF DEATH DURING THE FIRST 4 WEEKS OF LIFE AND SUCH INFECTIONS AFFECT THE ANIMAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY. THEREFORE, THE PREVENTION OF GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT INFECTIONS DURING THE NEONATAL PERIOD (FROM BIRTH UNTIL WEANING) IS ESSENTIAL. IN THIS SCENARIO, SPECIFIC COMPOUNDS IN THE COLOSTRUM MIGHT IMPROVE THE INTESTINAL IMMUNE RESPONSE TO INFECTIONS. ALTHOUGH ANTIBODIES ARE WELL-KNOWN TO BE TRANSFERRED FROM THE DAMS TO THEIR OFFSPRING VIA COLOSTRUM, OTHER COMPOUNDS IN COLOSTRUM HAVE NOT YET BEEN EVALUATED. THE LATTER ARE SMALL MOLECULES CALLED MICRORNAS THAT CAN REGULATE THE RESPONSE TO AN INFECTION. WHETHER MICRORNAS PRESENT IN COLOSTRUM CAN EXERT IMMUNOMODULATORY FUNCTIONS IN THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT OF NEONATAL CALVES REMAINS TO BE DETERMINED. THUS, OUR HYPOTHESIS IS THAT TRANSFER OF MICRORNAS VIA COLOSTRUM CAN BE ABSORBED BY THE CALF'S INTESTINAL CELLS THEREFORE, MODULATING THE LOCAL AND SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE. TO ADDRESS OUR HYPOTHESIS, WE PROPOSE A COMBINATION OF LABORATORY ASSAYS AND AN ANIMAL EXPERIMENT USING NEONATAL CALVES. THE FIRST OBJECTIVE IS TO IDENTIFY MICRORNAS DERIVED FROM BOVINE COLOSTRUM THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THE REGULATION OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. THE SECOND OBJECTIVE IS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF MICRORNAS IN THE GASTROINTESTINAL RESPONSE OF DAIRY CALVES EXPERIENCING INTESTINAL INFECTION. THIS STUDY WILL IDENTIFY MICRORNAS PRESENT IN THE BOVINE COLOSTRUM THAT CAN MODULATE THE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO INTESTINAL INFECTIONS IN NEONATAL CALVES. SUCH FINDINGS WILL PROVIDE NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPOSITION OF COLOSTRUM THAT CAN BENEFIT YOUNG ANIMALS TO FIGHT OFF PATHOGENS EARLY IN LIFE. THIS NEW SET OF KNOWLEDGE WILL INCREASE THE CONTEMPORARY IMPORTANCE OF COLOSTRUM FEEDING AS A POSTNATAL TOOL TO ACHIEVE A ROBUST IMMUNE RESPONSE IN NEONATAL CALVES. ALTERNATIVELY, WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WILL BE GENERATED FROM THIS STUDY ABOUT THE MODE OF ACTION OF MICRORNAS IN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM OF CALVES, MICRORNAS MIGHT BE USED AS A SUPPLEMENT IN COLOSTRUM REPLACER TO ENHANCE BOVINE NEONATAL NUTRITION AND HEALTH.