Dr. Candace Croney, professor of animal behavior and well-being and director of the Center for Animal Welfare Science, Purdue University, and Dr. Jayson Lusk, distinguished professor and head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, answer questions, provide background, and insight into how COVID-19 is impacting the food supply chain and animal welfare.
Dr. Sara Connolly, a member of the Purdue DVM Class of 2006, now is serving in the newly created position of assistant dean for student success at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. Those who knew Dr. Connolly as a PVM student who was active in both College and campus programs and organizations, are not surprised to see her move into an administrative role focused on veterinary students success.
After earning her DVM degree, Dr. Connolly stayed on at Purdue to complete a residency in clinical pathology. She then spent a year and a half working at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine before accepting a position as a lecturer at the University of Melbourne. According to an article posted on the University of Illinois CVM website, Dr. Connolly loved Australia, but realized it was “too far from home.” Two years later she returned to Illinois to take a position at Antech in Chicago.
Within a year, however, Dr. Connolly’s love for being around students drew her back to the University of Illinois, where she accepted a faculty position. Board-certified as a clinical pathologist, Dr. Conolly has served as a clinical assistant professor in the College’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory since 2015. On March 23 of this year, she began a 50 percent appointment as assistant dean in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.
Though Dr. Connolly currently is working in isolation due to a work-from-home mandate, she characterizes her new role as one that facilitates connections in several ways:
connecting current veterinary students with opportunities to explore careers through internships and externships;
connecting students from populations not proportionately represented in the veterinary field (including males, people from lower economic strata and rural areas of Illinois, as well as under-represented ethnic populations) with opportunities to envision a veterinary career; and
connecting practicing veterinarians with opportunities to mentor prospective veterinarians as well as current veterinary students.
“I love the service part of my job in clinical pathology, but I realized that teaching and working with students on rotations was actually my favorite part,” Dr. Connolly said. “This new position allows me to combine my passions for advocacy and volunteering in my personal life with my passion for helping students.”
The remaining 50 percent of Dr. Connolly’s academic appointment is split between continuing her service and teaching roles in clinical pathology and completing the research portion of her PhD in the Department of Pathobiology. Her research interests include exploring the aging process as it occurs in a population of canine athletes—Iditarod sled dogs—compared with sedentary pet dogs. She has collected data and/or served as a veterinarian at the Iditarod race in Alaska from 2017 to 2019. She also is an avid triathlete.
Dr. Connolly knows it will take some time to adjust to the new distribution of time in her academic appointment, so she plans to start by setting discrete goals for her assistant dean role. “I don’t want to take on anything that I can’t accomplish to the best of my ability,” Dr. Connolly explained. “My first priority is to improve our web presence for prospective students, which I hope to accomplish over the summer. I’m also going to focus on building a statewide network for student recruitment.”
Given that a disproportionate number of Illinois veterinary deans have come from a pathology background, including former dean and Purdue alumnus Dr. Herb Whiteley (PU DVM ‘77), does Dr. Connolly think her assistant dean role could lead to being dean of a veterinary college some day? “That’s never going to happen!” Dr. Connolly said with a laugh. “Although it would be funny if it did, and I was quoted in print saying otherwise.”
The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Professor of Basic Medical Sciences Sherry Harbin into its College of Fellows. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer.
Dr. Harbin holds a joint appointment in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. She was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for “developing collagen formulations that rapidly self-assemble at physiological conditions into mechanically and proteolytic stable material that promotes tissue regeneration.”
The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”
As a result of public health concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, AIMBE’s annual meeting and induction ceremony scheduled for March 29-30 was cancelled. However, through special procedures, Dr. Harbin and 156 colleagues who make up the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2020 were remotely inducted.
While most AIMBE Fellows hail from the United States, the College of Fellows has inducted Fellows representing 34 countries. AIMBE Fellows are employed in academia, industry, clinical practice, and government.
AIMBE Fellows include three Nobel Prize laureates. In addition, eighteen fellows have received the Presidential Medal of Science and/or Technology and Innovation, and 173 also have been inducted to the National Academy of Engineering, while 84 have been inducted to the National Academy of Medicine and 37 to the National Academy of Sciences.
The persistent pursuit of providing quality, compassionate and expert care to animals in need of urgent and emergency treatment is the focus of a new video published on the Purdue Veterinary Hospital website. The video features a message from Dr. Ellen Lowery, the hospital director, about the special precautions now in place to protect everyone’s health and safety in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, from hospital clinicians and staff to the clients and their animals. The video also includes comments from Dr. Nolie Parnell, small animal chief of staff, and Dr. Nickie Baird, large animal chief of staff, and shows the car-side service now being utilized to receive patients. In her message, Dr. Lowery explains how clients should call the appropriate reception area upon arrival and follow CDC guidelines for wearing cloth masks and maintaining social distancing when they transfer their animals to the hospital team member who will come out to meet them at their vehicles and bring their animals into the hospital for them.
The video was shot by Purdue Hall of Music Productions videographer Qiqi Wu with assistance and support by hospital versa technologist Mackenzie Pfledderer, RVT. Click here to view the video on the hospital home page.
The Vet Gazette continues to spotlight Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s global faculty with this week’s feature on Dr. GuangJun Zhang, the John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Associate Professor of Genetic Research, Genetic Epidemiology and Comparative Medicine. Born and raised in northern China, Dr. Zhang sees “home” as anywhere he feels most comfortable. “A home can be as small as a room, or as big as an institute or city,” he noted.
Dr. Zhang became interested in pursuing medicine when he realized there were not enough doctors to help when his relatives fell ill. He received his MD in 1998 from Tongji University in China and completed his PhD at the University of Florida in 2007. Dr. Zhang went on to do his postdoctoral training at MIT, using zebrafish as an animal model to study cancer genetics.
After MIT, Dr. Zhang was looking for an academic research position and saw that Purdue had an open geneticist position, which he says was a perfect match. As a trained medical doctor, Dr. Zhang believes that his expertise is complementary to veterinary medicine. “Cross-field interaction is particularly important, considering humans and other vertebrates share many diseases.”
At the College, he mainly works on genetic research, using zebrafish as a model organism to study human cancers and embryonic development. His team, called the Zhang Research Group, is looking for new tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes to better understand the cause of the disease. They hope to provide a mechanism for developing novel treatment strategies. On the embryonic development front, the team is focusing on body patterning by ion channel mediated bioelectricity, a newly recognized scientific field.
“My favorite part of PVM is the diversity and friendly environment, which make people feel at home,” said Dr. Zhang. In his spare time, Dr. Zhang goes hiking and running, and enjoys traveling and photography when he has the opportunity.
The Global Faculty Series aims to highlight the College’s faculty from around the world, and the combination of small steps and giant leaps that have brought them to Purdue. Look for another Global Faculty feature story in next week’s Vet Gazette.
Plans are underway for a virtual Purdue Veterinary Medicine graduation ceremony in May to recognize members of the College’s Class of 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted cancellation of the traditional commencement exercises. In lieu of the hooding of DVM graduates that normally would have occurred in the Elliott Hall of Music, and the recitation of the Veterinarians Oath and Veterinary Technician Oath of Ethical Conduct that would have followed in the Purdue Memorial Union, the College of Veterinary Medicine will host a Facebook Live PVM Graduation Celebration May 16 at 1:00 p.m., EDT.
The DVM and Veterinary Nursing graduates each will receive a package prior to the event containing the items they will need for the celebration. They are encouraged to plan to don their regalia, safely gather with loved ones (while following appropriate social distancing guidelines) in their homes for the event, and participate via their Facebook account. The program will feature a virtual hooding ceremony and include a listing of recipients of the awards that traditionally would be presented during the Graduation Gala on the evening before commencement. Also during the program, the DVM and Veterinary Nursing graduates will have the opportunity to recite their respective oaths. Veterinary Nurses also will be honored with a virtual “pinning” showcasing the pin that they receive to symbolize their entry into the veterinary nursing profession.
PVM faculty and staff also are encouraged to participate. Instructions for how graduates, their loved ones, and members of the Purdue Veterinary Medicine family can join the event will be shared in a separate announcement. For those graduates and their families who are not able to participate, a video link to a recording will be provided by private invitation after the event.
For the second year in a row, Purdue’s Chapter of VOICE
(Veterinarians as One Inclusive Community for Excellence) has won the
organization’s National Programming Excellence Award. The national VOICE organization presents
awards every year to chapters across the United States who they feel have met
and exceeded certain criteria.
The Programming Excellence Award is given to a chapter that has demonstrated outstanding leadership, creativity, and initiative in regard to building diversity and maintaining the goals and ideals of VOICE. It recognizes the Purdue chapter’s efforts to exceed the national VOICE requirements for programming in terms of quality and quantity.
“I am very excited about VOICE Purdue winning this award for the second year in a row,” said President Maya Patterson. “To me, it means that my executive board and I have continued to put together impactful and quality events that extend beyond the students of Purdue Veterinary Medicine.”
Maya also mentioned that representatives from VOICE at other schools had contacted the Purdue Chapter because they “… wanted more information on the events we held so they could look into hosting their own version at their schools.”
Dr. Latonia Craig, assistant dean for inclusive excellence, said the award is a great reflection on the VOICE Purdue chapter. “As the academic advisor for VOICE, I’ve had the privilege of working with the 2019 and 2020 members of VOICE, and it has been a pleasure to see this organization grow and more importantly, it has been rewarding to work with them on developing programs that help move the needle towards inclusive excellence,” said Dr. Craig. “VOICE is a significant contributor to the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) efforts at PVM.”
In January 2019, then-Purdue VOICE President Edris Grate received the 2018 Programming Excellence Award on behalf of the Purdue Chapter at the VOICE National Retreat. Edris is now one of the two presidents of the national VOICE organization.
Congratulations to Purdue VOICE on this
achievement! The chapter has reached yet another milestone in the persistent
pursuit of increased awareness, respect, and sensitivity related to valuing the
differences among all individuals and communities in the field of veterinary
medicine.
The world has changed dramatically within a matter of a few weeks, as the COVID-19 global pandemic has altered norms and created new household terms, like “social distancing.” Many people are teleworking and seeing each other in meetings only virtually. And yet, in the midst of all of these measures to create physical distance, one could say that we are growing closer because the current crisis is causing us to reconsider our priorities and helping us renew our appreciation of the value of our relationships with family, friends, students and colleagues.
Dr. Laurent Couëtil shows a veterinary student data generated from a demonstration on the equine treadmill. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe)
In the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, we benefit from a truly international faculty. Though they have ties around the globe, they call Purdue Veterinary Medicine family, and the campus community home. Over the next few weeks we will spotlight several of these faculty members, beginning with Dr. Laurent Couëtil, professor of large animal internal medicine and director of the Equine Sports Medicine Center (ESMC).
Dr. Couëtil grew up on a horse farm in the countryside in Normandy, France and it was through breeding horses and working with cattle that his interest in veterinary medicine flourished. During his teenage years, Dr. Couëtil began pursuing his veterinary interest by riding along with his local large animal veterinarian on calls to treat horses.
Dr. Couëtil earned his DVM degree in 1985 from the Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort near Paris and, after working in equine practice for some time in France, came to the United States to complete his residency at Tufts University in 1995. He became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine a year later. Wanting to combine research and teaching, he set his sights on academia and accepted a faculty position at Purdue in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, with a focus on Equine Sports Medicine. Dr. Couëtil also went on to earn his PhD from the University of Liège in Belgium in 2006.
In addition to his role as the leader of the ESMC, Dr. Couëtil also serves as director of Equine Research Programs. He teaches courses for students in all four years of the DVM program and treats patients in the Large Animal Hospital. His research has a strong focus on respiratory diseases in horses and how they impact a horse’s ability to be an athlete.
Research currently underway in Dr. Couëtil’s lab focuses on equine asthma, which is usually only recognized when it has progressed to the point of being very severe. His team is interested in much earlier detection and treatment of the condition and developed a technique to do so. The next step was to see what caused the irritation and inflammation in the horse’s lungs. To investigate, they placed small sensors around the nose to determine what the horses were inhaling and found that the lung inflammation was caused by fine dust particles during consumption of dry hay, even when that hay was of good quality. In a recently completed study, they reported on an alternative to hay that produces less dust. They found that lung inflammation in horses fed steamed hay or haylage decreased compared to the horses who were fed normal hay. “It was very encouraging to know that we can reduce lung inflammation without the use of medication, as racehorses cannot have certain drugs in their systems and that would make medicating them very impractical,” noted Dr. Couëtil.
Dr. Couëtil supervises as Leila the horse warms up for a demonstration on the equine treadmill run by Laura Murray, RVT, LATG, research technologist in the Equine Sports Medicine Center, with the help of two veterinary students. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe)
When asked about his work at the College, Dr. Couëtil described his three main responsibilities — professor, clinician, and researcher — as being interconnected with one another. “If I see a horse in the clinic and notice something that interests me, I have the resources to conduct research on the issue and then teach my students about it, which is very satisfying. I like to be able to help every horse I see and multiply that effect through teaching my students.”
“In the United States and at PVM, there is such a strong emphasis on research and the way it drives and furthers our profession, which is very important,” reflected Dr. Couëtil. “A unique advantage that Purdue has over French universities is that all the schools and colleges are on the same campus, so it is easy to collaborate with faculty from different disciplines.”
In his free time, Dr. Couëtil likes to play tennis and go biking and, when his sons were younger, he frequently attended their soccer games. Dr. Couëtil also enjoys going to conferences and seeing his colleagues from around the world.
“I have lived in the Lafayette area for 25 years now and I see this as my home. Both of my sons studied at Purdue University and my wife, Dr. Nathalie Couëtil, is the Director of the Certificate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program here on campus,” said Dr. Couëtil.
PVM is proud to have faculty that lead boldly in the persistent pursuit of their interests and we are glad that their journeys have brought them to our College. Join us next week for another global faculty feature.
Angie Chan, supervisor of the Molecular Diagnostic Section, which performs the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, reviews data from COVID-19 samples. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood)
Purdue University is continuing to lend expertise and
resources to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing Indiana’s testing
capacity through the capabilities of the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
(ADDL) at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. Thanks to a
collaborative effort, the ADDL is utilizing its skills and expertise in the
detection of pathogens to conduct COVID-19 tests on specimens from partner
hospitals with the goal of providing results the same day the samples are
received.
The ADDL began COVID-19 testing after obtaining the Clinical
Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certification required for
laboratories performing testing on human samples. The lab was certified in a
matter of days after Purdue leaders suggested using the ADDL to conduct tests
and address the state’s limited testing capacity and need for resources. State
Health Commissioner Kris Box, M.D., FACOG, said in a recent daily briefing with
Gov. Eric Holcomb that resources are still limited for COVID-19 testing in
Indiana as the number of cases continue to rise.
“The College of Veterinary Medicine has a long history of
providing services to protect animal and human health,” said Purdue Veterinary
Medicine Dean Willie Reed. “Providing COVID-19 testing is yet another way to
support the citizens of Indiana during this unprecedented public health crisis.
The project was shepherded by David Broecker, chief innovation and
collaboration officer for the Purdue Research Foundation, and involves several
partners including the foundation, the Indiana State Department of Health,
Parkview Hospital, and the Purdue community.”
When samples are received at the ADDL from hospital partners, the primary transport containers are disinfected and the samples are prepared to be taken to the Molecular Diagnostic Section of the facility for testing. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood)
ADDL Director Kenitra Hendrix says the lab had a unique
opportunity to assist with COVID-19 testing in Indiana because of its expertise
in providing infectious disease testing and immunity surveillance for animals
across the state. Dr. Hendrix explains
the human samples are being tested using a PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction)
testing method that the ADDL uses regularly for animal specimens. “Our plan to
help our state in this way does not diminish our capacity for animal testing,”
Dr. Hendrix said. “Our primary mission is diagnostic support of animal health
and the safety of the food supply, and that will remain our first priority.”
The ADDL team, working with state health authorities,
adjusted its intake and sample processing procedures to gain the necessary
certification to use the PCR testing capability on human specimens. “Our team has worked diligently to prepare to
perform this testing,” Dr. Hendrix said. “It is rewarding to be able to take on
this role in support of the citizens of our state.”
The plan is to expand testing in collaboration with other hospitals, as ADDL testing capacity allows, with all samples sent directly from partner hospitals to the ADDL. To avoid a testing backlog, hospitals interested in working with the ADDL are required to complete the “Partnership Inquiry” form.
The project is a cross-disciplinary, collaborative effort
with the Indiana State Department of Health, the Purdue Research Foundation and
the Purdue community. “Indiana continues
to increase our capabilities and preparedness for rapidly testing patients to
support our front-line health care workers,” Dr. Box said. “We are grateful to
Purdue and the ADDL for helping to make testing more available for Hoosiers who
are helping others during this pandemic.”
Fort Wayne-based Parkview Health provided clinical expertise
on obtaining a CLIA license and setting up the lab for human testing. “It still takes several days to get results
that are sent out to central labs across the country,” said Dr. Michael J.
Mirro, chief academic research officer at Parkview Health. “Even the new tests
are limited by supply constraints. What Purdue has done is fantastic and shows
the ingenuity associated with creative problem solving. Paired with the
significant amount of time invested by the Parkview lab team, we believe this
will have a positive impact on the state’s testing capacity.”
The ADDL is a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) facility accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD). BSL-2 laboratories are used to study moderate-risk infectious agents or toxins. Dr. Hendrix says that additional partnerships with other hospitals across the state are possible. More information and the form for potential partners to complete if they wish to be contacted should testing capacity increase, are available at https://purdue.vet/covid19testing. Click here to view a complete news release about the ADDL COVID-19 testing program.
To make a contribution in support of Purdue’s COVID-19 testing facility and the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, click here and see CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) TESTING LAB.
Dr. Chris Fulkerson gives a thumbs up as he wears a mask gifted by a client of the Medical Oncology Service as a thank you for taking such good care of their patients.
Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s lead therapist, Colleen Maguire
Jackson, PhD, HSPP, is working to help PVM faculty, staff, and students adjust
to the new lifestyle that the world has had to adopt due to COVID-19. Since March 18, she has been sharing wellness
tips and resources weekly via email. She
has also been working in collaboration with valued WELCOM members (PVM’s
Wellness Committee) to identify topics that are most salient to our community
in a time when resilience and positive coping skills are so important.
While speaking to faculty, staff, and students, Dr. Maguire Jackson realized that many people are experiencing difficulties with similar things, such as the loneliness of social isolation, setting boundaries between study time and family time, and screen fatigue. “Staying aware of one’s mental health is certainly really important right now, as there are so many brand-new challenges and adjustments required of us,” said Dr. Maguire Jackson. “All of the uncertainty tends to loom large and is just exacerbated as we near the end of the semester with the natural stressors involved with finals.”
Leeza Kuo, of the DVM Class of 2023, studies with her pup.
To assist students with the shift to online learning,
Dr. Maguire Jackson recently shared a variety of resources related to distance
learning strategies. They focus on improving time management skills, avoiding
procrastination, setting goals, and prioritizing.
She also noted that there is a lot of “… grief for people about not being able to celebrate endings and milestones in familiar ways that are so important.” To help people cope with that, as well as other stressors, Dr. Maguire Jackson sent information about teletherapy services that PVM Counseling and Wellness Services is providing, as well as the virtual workouts and wellness programs being offered by Purdue RecWell. She also has ensured that people have easy access to information about well-being during the pandemic by providing links to related podcasts as well as webpages created by the CDC and the Center for Healthy Living.
