Cassie Cords, veterinary nurse, holds Ace, a red fox lab, as Dr. Wendy Townsend, associate professor, examines his eyes at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Friday, April 26, 2019 in West Lafayette. (Photo: Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Ace, a red fox Labrador retriever, is a regular at the Purdue Small Animal Hospital.
His owners, Ron and Denise Raduenz, on Friday drove an hour-and-a-half from Cedar Lake, in northwest Indiana, just as they have for the past seven years, when Ace was diagnosed with blastomycosis, a fungal disease that can be a killer for dogs.
“The vets we had home tried,” Ron Raduenz said. “But they said, ‘If you want to save him, take him to Purdue – tonight.’”
Several Purdue Veterinary Medicine graduate students and post-doctoral researchers were among those honored at the 21st Annual Celebration of Graduate Teaching Excellence hosted by the Office of the Provost, Purdue Teaching Academy, Graduate School, and Center for Instructional Excellence. The event on Tuesday, April 23, recognized graduate students and post-doctoral scholars who received Teaching Academy Graduate Teaching Awards, Graduate Instructional Development Certificates (GIDC), Graduate Teaching Certificates (GTC), and Advanced Graduate Teaching Certificates (AGTC). Also honored were graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, faculty, and staff who received the Certificates of Foundations in College Teaching and Certificates of Practice in College Teaching.
Congratulations to the following Purdue
Veterinary Medicine scholars who received recognition at the event:
2019
Teaching Academy Graduate Teaching Award:
Jesus Hermida, Graduate Student, Veterinary Clinical Sciences
Dr. Deborah Knapp, director of the Purdue Comparative Oncology Program, presents Chris Royce with a commemorative clock at her retirement reception in honor of her 35-year Purdue University career.
Colleagues, family, and friends of Chris Royce, RVT (PU AS-VT ’84), celebrated her career at her retirement reception earlier this month. The event was held in the Continuum Café on April 5, which was her last day at Purdue University, concluding a Purdue career that spanned 35 years.
Chris most recently worked as a research assistant for the Purdue
Comparative Oncology Program (PCOP) and the Transitional Cell Carcinoma (TCC)
Trial Program in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences (VCS). Noting the size of the crowd that gathered
for the reception, VCS Department Head Catharine Scott-Moncrieff said, “I’m so
glad so many people could come out and help us celebrate, or whatever the other
word is for ‘celebrate’ when you’re sad that someone is leaving.”
Dr. Scott-Moncrieff recalled when she first met Chris in 1986. “Chris is one of the few people who has actually been her longer than me,” Dr. Scott-Moncrieff said. Chris had started at the College in 1984. “Chris was one of the key veterinary technicians in small medicine,” Dr. Scott-Moncrieff remembered. “I was fresh off the boat from England. I have so many stories about conversations we had where the language was totally different – “flashlights” versus “torches” and “rubbish bins” versus “garbage bins,” Dr. Scott-Moncrieff said, before jokingly adding, “… and Chris made fun of me behind my back, she made fun of me in front of my back, but she took me under her wing as a medicine resident.”
Chris Royce (third from right) joins fellow veterinary nursing colleagues (left-right): Cassandra Cords, RVT; Lara Luke, RVT; Katie Beard, RVT; Nancy Kehrer, RVT; and Melinda Cotton, RVT for a group photo at her retirement reception April 5 in the Continuum Café.
Dr. Scott-Moncrieff went on to explain how Chris likes a
challenge, and when she decided that she wanted a new challenge she left small
animal medicine and moved to ophthalmology. Then she went to small animal
surgery and after serving there for a few years, finally decided her real home
was in oncology. “And I know that the oncology group talks about all the
contributions Chris has made, but she basically has all those small animal
disciplines down,” Dr. Scott-Moncrieff said, adding, “If you want to come back
and help in any area, Chris, you would be welcome.”
Following retirement, Chris has been following through on plans to move to Denver, Colo., to be close to her granddaughter. Dr. Scott-Moncrieff reflected on the earlier years when she and Chris worked together and Chris told stories about raising her children. “They were little, and then there were the teenage years, and now she’s moving out to be with her grandchildren and it just seems like time has passed in a flash,” Dr. Scott-Moncrieff said. “We are really going to miss you, but we are really happy for you to finally get to spend time with your family and your grandchildren, and we hope you keep in touch.”
Dr. Deborah Knapp, Dolores L. McCall Professor of
Comparative Oncology and director of PCOP, also praised Chris both for her hard
work as well as for her great attitude and sense of humor. “She genuinely cares about people,” Dr. Knapp
emphasized. “We’ve been extremely
fortunate to have you on the onco team.”
Dr. Knapp then presented Chris with a commemorative clock in
recognition of her retirement. “I just
cannot thank everyone enough for all your friendship, you’re my family,” Chris
said. “I love all of you, I love this
place.” Congratulations Chris and best
wishes on your retirement!
Purdue veterinary students and their Canine Educators joined the PVM Advancement Office staff for a successful “Love a Lab” event on the Memorial Mall during the Purdue Day of Giving. The event raised funds for the College while giving donors a chance to meet the PVM Canine Educators.
As the clock struck midnight, it was clear that the Purdue
Day of Giving Wednesday, April 24, was an outstanding day both for Purdue and
for the College of Veterinary Medicine! In its 6th year, Purdue Day
of Giving raised a record total of $41,596,596 received through 21,420 gifts –
an amazing showing of generosity and support for the University and its
accomplishments over the last 150 years.
We are especially proud and grateful for the way our community of advocates stepped up this year to be engaged on behalf of the College of Veterinary Medicine. The number of gifts this year for our College was more than TWICE that of last year with 500 gifts, positioning us in the Top Ten for participation across campus and earning the College an additional $2,283 in bonus funds! The outpouring of energy from others who took the time to participate in hourly challenges, take photos, and spread the word made an impact on our overall success as well.
In addition, the College received $115,847 in contributions to support the new Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the Dean’s Innovation Fund, SAVMA Purdue, and many other programs. These funds will ensure that we can continue the important work being done on a daily basis to advance animal and human health. A total of 145 gifts were received for the new Veterinary Teaching Hospital project, which is a strong signal that visibility for our work is reaching new heights. It is amazing to see what we can accomplish together!
Special thanks to the Canine Educator’s group for volunteering at the Love a Lab fundraiser, which was a great way to promote our Veterinary Teaching Hospital program across campus. The event on Purdue’s Memorial Mall proved very worthwhile, raising over $500 in just a few short hours to help provide new equipment for the new hospital, while also giving donors a chance to enjoy the benefits of the human-animal bond. It is an exciting time at Purdue Veterinary Medicine! Thank you for helping the College of Veterinary Medicine take its next Giant Leap during our 60th Anniversary year!
As it turned out, the Purdue Day of Giving donations for the new Veterinary Teaching Hospital came the same day when the Indiana legislature approved the new state budget, which includes a $73 million appropriation toward construction of the new facility. “With this support, and pending the state budget bill being signed by the governor and the hospital project receiving formal approval by the Purdue Board of Trustees, we can say that our dream of having a new state-of-the-art hospital facility will become a reality,” Dean Willie Reed said. The College’s fundraising efforts for the new hospital are ongoing. Click here for more information about the new hospital project.
More community programs, resources, collaborations, and faculty members researching autism are expected as a result of an expanded program at Purdue University that will include Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty involvement. The Purdue Autism Research Center (PARC) became an official university center in March. The development of the center represents the culmination of the progression of autism support and research at Purdue that was triggered by community passions and furthered by administrative support when the Purdue Autism Cluster was created in 2014.
The Purdue Autism Research Center is composed of 20 faculty members from the Colleges of Health and Human Sciences, Education, Science, and Veterinary Medicine, including Associate Professor of Human-Animal Interaction Maggie O’Haire in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology. The center also collaborates with the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for the Human-Animal Bond as well as Purdue’s Center for Families and Institute for Integrative Neuroscience.
“The Purdue Autism Research Center will help increase Purdue’s involvement and recognition in the field of autism,” said Dr. A.J. Schwichtenberg, PARC co-director and assistant professor of human development and family studies in the College of Health and Human Sciences. Dr. Mandy Rispoli, associate professor of special education in the College of Education, also will serve as co-director. “PARC provides a mechanism to promote pioneering interdisciplinary autism research. Our hope is that this new center will position Purdue as an internationally recognized leader in autism research,” Dr. Rispoli said.
The center not only supports research, collaboration, courses, and professional development opportunities at the University, but also sponsors community outreach events, including guest speakers at public events, training for school educators, summer camps, early intervention programs, and diagnostic services. Faculty members associated with the center conduct research on various aspects of autism, including diagnostics, treatment, biological mechanisms, as well as how autism influences individuals and their families across the life course.
Dr. O’Haire’s
research topics have included classroom-based, animal-assisted intervention for
children with autism spectrum disorder.
Her Organization for Human-Animal Interaction Research and Education
(OHAIRE) group has, as one of its areas of focus, the study of the unique
interactions between people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and animals.
During the past five years, PARC faculty members have launched 27 research projects and received more than 35 grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Institute of Education Sciences, and several foundations. With almost 100 graduate and more than 500 undergraduate students involved in this work, PARC is training the next generation of autism interventionists and researchers.
An event to celebrate the new center will be held from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m., May 10 at the Stewart Center, Room 218. The event is open to the public.
Students from SAVMA Purdue take a break during the busy weekend for a quick photo as they represented PVM at the 2019 SAVMA Symposium.
SAVMA
Purdue was well-represented at the 2019 SAVMA Symposium last month, with 20 Purdue
Veterinary Medicine students in attendance.
They participated in various wet labs, meetings, lectures, and competitions
throughout the symposium, which was held March 9-11 at the University of
Georgia.
PVM’s Bovine Palpation Team (left-right) Katherine Kelsey, Brent Bales, Eric Newman, Wyatt Krom, and Jon Richardson helped represent SAVMA Purdue at this year’s SAVMA Symposium, winning 3rd place in the Bovine Competition.
The Purdue
Veterinary Medicine Bovine Palpation Team placed third out of 13 teams that
competed. The PVM team had to work through
scenarios like pregnancy diagnosis, anatomic abnormalities, repro instrument
identification, ultrasound images, and a dystocia model in the competition.
This is only the third year that Purdue has had a bovine palpation team in the
competition. Mentored by Dr. Jennifer Koziol, clinical assistant professor of theriogenology/production
medicine, the team met twice a week to prepare for the competition.
Purdue veterinary student Blair Hooser with her research poster at the SAVMA Symposium poster challenge.
Among the favorite parts of this year’s SAVMA Symposium for the PVM students was the opportunity to try new things through the wet labs offered during the weekend conference, including equine, bovine, exotics, food animal, small animal, and professional development. Katherine Kelsey, of the DVM Class of 2020, participated in a small animal dentistry session and said of her experience, “Getting to try new things through wet labs at the SAVMA Symposium is a lot of fun.”
Blair Hooser, of the DVM Class of 2021, submitted a poster in the SAVMA Symposium Poster Challenge about research she did during the Veterinary Scholars Summer Research Program last year in the lab of Dr. Kari Ekenstedt, assistant professor of anatomy and genetics. Entitled, “True Colors: The Frequency of Hidden Alleles in Canine Coat Color,” the poster was displayed for attendees to view during the weekend symposium. “This was my first year attending SAVMA Symposium and it was a great experience,” Blair said. “I was able to network with many professionals in the fields I am interested in, which was very beneficial. It was also my first time visiting Athens, Ga., so it was a lot of fun to explore the city with my friends.”
SAVMA Purdue members now are looking forward to the 2020 SAVMA
Symposium which will be held at Cornell University next March.
The Vet Gazette concludes its “Spotlight on Students” feature this week by focusing on Allison Reker, a junior in the Purdue Veterinary Nursing Program, who serves as secretary of the Veterinary Nursing Student Organization (VNSO). Allison grew up on a pig farm in Haubstadt, Ind., where she was involved in 4-H for ten years and developed her love for animals.
While growing up, Allison thought she wanted to be a veterinarian. She was able to do a lot of research and interact with those in the veterinary field about different opportunities during her freshman year at Purdue University. After researching the options, she found that being a veterinary nurse was the best choice for her. Allison said she chose to study here because Purdue has the number one veterinary nursing program and she has met many veterinarians and veterinary nurses who are Purdue graduates and have only great things to say about the program.
One of Allison’s favorite parts about studying veterinary nursing at Purdue is the hands-on clinical experience that she is able to get with animals in the setting of a small class size. The smaller and more interactive environment enables students like her to ask any questions and develop professional relationships with staff and professors. She said she senses that the staff want each student to be successful. “They are more than willing to help students out and are excellent resources when students are looking for future career positions,” Allison said.
Allison’s experiences in VNSO have enabled her to get more involved with the College and take on a leadership role. Allison explained that VNSO has helped her to meet new friends as well as build stronger relationships as she has become involved in different philanthropy events. After graduation, Allison plans to move back to Southern Indiana with the goal of working in a small or mixed animal practice and gaining more experience in the field of bovine reproduction.
WVC has announced its
2019 WVC Continuing Educators of the Year, and one of them is Small Animal Hospital
Veterinary Nursing Manager Megan Brashear, CVT, VTS (ECC). Megan, who has 18 years of experience in
emergency and critical care and technician/team management and training, was
named the WVC Veterinary Technician Educator of the Year.
Each year, conference attendees select the presenters who they feel are superior in their ability to deliver information with insight, accuracy, depth, and openness. Megan is one of eight instructors recognized for making a lasting impression and impact at the 2019 WVC Annual Conference, which was held February 17-20 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev. The WVC praised Megan and the other Continuing Educators of the Year for taking the lead role in furthering veterinary education and for providing exceptional and inspiring instruction for the conference’s scientific education courses and practice management sessions.
“WVC is so grateful for the innovative topics that these outstanding educators delivered to the veterinary community during our 91st Annual Conference,” said Dr. Anthony Pease, WVC chief veterinary medical officer. “It is the exceptional presenters who make it possible for WVC to provide a dynamic learning environment that is comprehensive, progressive, and practical.”
The other 2019 WVC Continuing Educators of the Year
are:
Avian & Exotics – Brenna Fitzgerald, DVM, DABVP
Equine – Jamie Kopper, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (LAIM)
Food Animal – Elizabeth Homerosky, DVM, MSc
Practice Management – Andy Roark, DVM, MS
Small Animal – Sue Ettinger, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
Purdue Veterinary Medicine hosted the annual Women’s Faculty Luncheon Tuesday, April 16. As part of the event, attendees had an opportunity to share about successes such as promotions and new grants.
Female faculty members in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine gathered this week for their annual luncheon. Assistant Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Latonia Craig led the Women’s Faculty Luncheon, which was held Tuesday, April 16, in Lynn 1192. This was Dr. Craig’s first time to lead the annual event, which is part of the College’s overall effort to foster an environment that is welcoming to all.
Women faculty from each of the College’s departments attended. They were able to participate in an interactive survey and engage in discussions about ways in which the College can work to ensure that women feel that they are part of the emphasis on inclusivity. Dr. Craig said she had three key objectives for the meeting: to foster deep and meaningful dialogue among PVM women faculty members; to build a community of support amongst PVM women faculty; and to establish at least one goal from the discussions that could be included in the College’s 2020 Diversity Plan.
The Office for Diversity and Inclusion intends to keep growing the annual luncheon and Dr. Craig hopes more of the College’s women faculty members sense the value and impact of this effort and are inspired to attend next year. “Given how busy we all are, an important feature of this event is the opportunity for the women to network and interact with one another,” Dr. Craig said. “The luncheon is a chance to bring these women together in one place to talk about their successes and challenges.” At the end of the luncheon, the participants were able to share about promotions, new grants, and more.
Meet the Purdue prof leading the charge toward diagnosing and treating the disease
Laurent Couëtil uses an equine nebulizer to administer treatment for asthma. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca Wilcox) Download image
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — From chariot racing in ancient Rome to the modern Kentucky Derby, horse racing has been celebrated in some form for more than a thousand years. Whether the horses’ hooves were pounding around in a dirt-filled coliseum or a racetrack surrounded by spectators in wide-brimmed hats, they probably had one thing in common: asthma.
When just a few seconds makes the difference between first and last place, equine athletes need to bring their best game to the track. For those that don’t, the issue can often be traced to the lungs.
“Unlike the heart or muscle, the lung in the horse athlete is a limiting factor,” said Laurent Couëtil, director of Purdue University’s Equine Sports Medicine Center. “Even in healthy horses, breathing is a limiting factor on performance. So if you take a little bit away from that, the consequences can be severe.”
