“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

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Today we want to give a high five to everyone who makes the PVM Food Pantry possible. A staff member reached out to say, “Everybody is so helpful with volunteering, asking what they can do to help out, and jumping in if we ever need to fill in for a volunteer who can’t do their shift. The pantry could not be open and as effective without all the wonderful volunteers. THANK YOU!” And a separate submission was also made to highlight Amanda Taylor, lead administrative assistant in Student Services, stating, “I’m really grateful for Amanda’s efforts toward making the ACE Food Pantry available to our students, faculty, and staff here at PVM. It’s reassuring to know that fewer people in our community will suffer from food insecurity due to Amanda’s leadership. Additionally, the toy drive she puts together every year around the holidays is an added bonus which demonstrates her generosity of spirit. She even makes it really easy for our community to donate by highlighting frequently requested items online for us, so we get to also feel good about our contributions.”

Fostering a healthy work environment involves expressing appreciation and gratitude. Is there someone at PVM you would like to acknowledge today? It’s easy to make a Paws Up submission – just follow this link. Submissions are published anonymously and may be edited for length. Any PVM staff, faculty, student, or team may be nominated by anyone in our college. For more information, visit the PVM Wellness Committee website.

Writer(s): PVM Wellness Team | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Scholarships Supported by the Zoetis Foundation Benefit Purdue Veterinary Medicine Students

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A total of seven students in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine were selected to receive scholarships supported by the Zoetis Foundation. Five of the recipients are DVM students in the Classes of 2025 and 2026. The other two recipients are veterinary nursing students in the VN Class of 2025. 

DVM Scholarships

The DVM student scholarships funded by the Zoetis Foundation are administered by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC), which awarded more than 200 $7,000 scholarships to veterinary students enrolled in AAVMC member institutions. Congratulations to the following Purdue Veterinary students who are among the recipients: Kyle Barron, Tyler Bright, Audrey Evans, and Mattisyn Gebhardt, all of the DVM Class of 2026, and Naja Williams of the DVM Class of 2025. 

The scholarships are for second- and third-year veterinary students. In addition to the traditional selection criteria of academic excellence and financial need, the scholarships focus on meeting ongoing needs of the veterinary profession – diversity, sustainability, and mixed/rural medicine practices. During the first five years of this scholarship program, Zoetis Inc. awarded scholarships to more than 2,700 exceptional veterinary students.

Veterinary Nursing Scholarships

In addition, the Scholarship Review Committee of the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) announced recipients of the Zoetis Foundation/AVMF Veterinary Technician Student Scholarship program, including two Purdue veterinary nursing students. Congratulations to Stephanie Stewart and Mae Varda, both of the VN Class of 2025. 

Through the scholarship program, the Zoetis Foundation awards more than 200 scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each to eligible veterinary technician students enrolled full-time in an AVMA-accredited veterinary technology, veterinary nursing, or animal health technology program in the United States or Puerto Rico. The AVMF administers the program.

AVMF Programs and Operations Manager Shanita Anderson said, “On behalf of the AVMF and the Zoetis Foundation, our volunteers and staff, we congratulate the recipients on this outstanding accomplishment in their veterinary career. There was a highly qualified and exceptional group of applicants for this award.” 

The Zoetis Foundation supports communities and the people who care for animals, with a specific focus on advancing opportunities for veterinarians and farmers around the world. The Foundation’s grantmaking and strategic efforts help provide access to education and mental wellness resources, expand veterinary debt relief, support diversity and inclusion efforts, and enable thriving livelihoods by funding programs that help veterinary practices and livestock farmers adopt sustainable business practices.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Attendance Demonstrates Ongoing Popularity of Annual Purdue Veterinary Nursing Symposium

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The opportunity to learn the latest information and insights on a variety of topics relevant to the work of veterinary nurses attracted about 175 participants to the tenth annual Veterinary Nursing Symposium hosted by the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. Attendees came from across Indiana and multiple other states including Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The one-day event, held on Sunday, March 24, featured an extensive program covering diverse topics relevant to veterinary nurses working in both large and small animal practices.

The annual symposium is designed to provide veterinary nurses, veterinary assistants, and veterinary nursing students practical insights applicable to their clinical roles. Participants were eligible for up to seven hours of continuing education (CE) units.

After hearing a welcome and opening remarks by Dr. Chad Brown (PU DVM 2001), Purdue Veterinary Nursing Program director, participants had the opportunity to choose between sessions offered in large animal and small animal tracks. Symposium speakers included Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty and staff as well as other veterinary professionals. Outside speakers included Jamie Guiberson, CVT, VTS-EVN, a veterinary emergency and critical care nurse at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center, and Heidi Lescun, BS, RVT, a service technician/sales associate for Vetamac, which provides anesthesia service and sales.

Small animal presentations offered at the symposium covered the topics of ultrasound, critical thinking, heart and hormones, anesthesia, radiation, and canine lymphoma. Large animal sessions included equine medicine, colic care, podiatry, care of the equine neonate, and dentistry. In addition, the event gave participants the opportunity to develop their professional networks as they interacted with one another as well as exhibitors who set up interactive displays. Special thanks go to the symposium sponsors: Broad Ripple Animal Clinic, Emergency Veterinary Care Centers (EVCC), Noah’s Animal Hospital, Alliance Animal Health, Vetamac, and Boehringer-Ingelheim.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr and Andrea Kellogg | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Purdue Veterinary Ophthalmologist Contributes to Purdue-led Research to Develop Tech to Monitor, Treat Chronic Eye Diseases

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Research teams led by a faculty member in Purdue University’s College of Engineering will use two grants from the National Eye Institute totaling $6.7 million to further develop specialized smart soft contact lenses that continuously monitor or treat chronic ocular diseases like glaucoma, corneal neovascularization and dry eye syndromes.  The research teams include Dr. Shin Ae Park, assistant professor of ophthalmology in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.

The teams are led by Dr. Chi Hwan Lee, the Leslie A. Geddes Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering in Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. He holds a joint appointment in the School of Mechanical Engineering and a courtesy appointment in the School of Materials Engineering.  The research teams are developing patent-pending lenses, which can painlessly deliver therapeutic drugs or accurately measure intraocular pressure, or IOP. IOP is the only known modifiable risk factor for glaucoma.

In addition to Dr. Park, other researchers involved on the teams are Dr. Bryan Boudouris, Purdue’s associate vice president for research in strategic interdisciplinary research and the R. Norris and Eleanor Shreve Professor of Chemical Engineering in the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering; Dr. Pete Kollbaum, associate dean for research, director of the Borish Center for Ophthalmic Research and professor in Indiana University’s School of Optometry; and Dr. Yannis Paulus, associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences and biomedical engineering at Michigan Medicine.

Additional team members also included Dr. Jinyuan Zhang, a former Purdue postdoctoral student in biomedical engineering and now a health technologies research and development engineer at Apple, and Yumin Dai, a graduate student in the School of Materials Engineering.

“Working on smart soft contact lenses allowed us to engage in top-tier interdisciplinary research, moving beyond theory to craft real-world solutions that aim to transform eye disease treatment,” Dai said.

The National Eye Institute is one of the National Institutes of Health; the funding comes from the NIH Research Project Grant Program, or R01.

The innovation

Dr. Lee specializes in StickTronics, which are stickerlike items that contain electronics or smart technology. He develops wearable biomedical devices that continuously monitor and manage chronic diseases or health conditions unobtrusively.

Some traditional wearable tonometers — devices that measure pressure inside the eyes — are equipped with an integrated circuit chip. This increases contact lens thickness and stiffness compared with a typical commercial soft contact lens, in many cases causing discomfort for patients. The research team’s version is different.

“To address this unmet need, we developed a unique class of smart soft contact lenses built upon various commercial brands of soft contact lenses for continuous 24-hour IOP monitoring and potentially treatment, even during sleep at home,” Dr. Lee said. “Our smart soft contact lenses retain the intrinsic lens features of lens power, biocompatibility, softness, transparency, wettability, oxygen transmissibility and overnight wearability. Having all these features at the same time is crucial to the success of translating the smart soft contact lenses into ocular disease care, but these features are lacking in current devices.”

The NEI grants

Dr. Lee said the $6.7 million funding from the two NEI grants will further refine the smart soft contact lenses. Concurrently, clinical trials will be conducted in collaboration with Purdue’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the IU School of Optometry and Michigan Medicine to assess the lenses’ biosafety, usability, functionality, therapeutic effectiveness and durability.

“With the steadfast support from NEI, the successful completion of these projects will solidify our path toward introducing an innovative, closed-loop system for these smart contact lenses,” Dr. Lee said. “This system will enable simultaneous monitoring and drug delivery for a wide range of chronic ocular diseases.” Dr. Lee disclosed the smart soft contact lenses innovation to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization, which has applied for a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to protect the intellectual property.

Writer(s): Steve Martin | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Purdue Veterinary Student Receives Merck Animal Health Future Swine Practitioners Scholarship

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Through a partnership with the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) Foundation, Merck Animal Health sponsors a scholarship program for the swine industry’s next generation of veterinarians and one of this year’s recipients is Purdue veterinary student Kendall Sattler of the DVM Class of 2026.  Kendall is among ten veterinary students receiving the 2024 scholarships for future swine practitioners, which totaled $50,000.

The recipients were announced at the 55th AASV Annual Meeting, held in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 24-27. “Merck Animal Health is committed to the veterinary profession and is proud to honor these students who represent the next generation of veterinary leaders for the swine industry,” said Dr. Justin Welsh, executive director of livestock technical services for Merck Animal Health. “Through our partnership with AASV, we are helping to build students’ knowledge of swine health and well-being as they prepare for a career in this important field.”

Each recipient was awarded a $5,000 scholarship through the AASV Foundation and Merck Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarship Program. The other recipients are students at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.

“The AASV and the AASV Foundation appreciate Merck Animal Health’s long-standing support for the AASVF-Merck Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarship Program,” said Dr. Harry Snelson, AASV executive director. “Their generous donation enables the AASV Foundation to assist future swine veterinarians with their educational expenses. This support has become increasingly important as educational expenses for veterinary students continue to rise.”

Second- and third-year students enrolled in American Veterinary Medical Association-accredited or recognized colleges of veterinary medicine in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America and the Caribbean Islands are eligible for the scholarship. Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside of the United States and Canada, is a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA (NYSE:MRK). 

Click here for a complete news release about the AASV Foundation and Merck Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarship Program.  Click here to learn more about the AASV.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

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Today we want to acknowledge community mural artist Tia Richardson for her beautiful mural design for our college and her creative direction and guidance that has enabled and empowered members of our PVM community to contribute their own wonderful work to the 2024 PVM Mural Project. The mural really is an inspiring portrayal of our college’s vision of the caring relationships that exist between humans and animals and what those connections look like across the globe. A PVM staff member shared, “I’ve admired how Tia’s been so welcoming and encouraging with people as they have come forward to pick up a paint brush and paint and participate in the mural project.” 

Fostering a healthy work environment involves expressing appreciation and gratitude. Is there someone at PVM you would like to acknowledge today? It’s easy to make a Paws Up submission – just follow this link. Submissions are published anonymously and may be edited for length. Any PVM staff, faculty, student, or team may be nominated by anyone in our college. For more information, visit the PVM Wellness Committee website.

Writer(s): PVM Wellness Team | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Cracking the Code on a Universal Flu Vaccine

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Promising initial research could lead to more effective seasonal flu shots and ward against future pandemics

Dry cough. Runny nose. Sore throat. Muscle aches. These symptoms are all familiar to anyone who’s contracted the common flu, a respiratory illness that affects one billion people each year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend most people receive yearly flu shots because the seasonal influenza virus mutates constantly, creating new strains that circulate from person-to-person leading to seasonal flu epidemics. These yearly vaccines are formulated to protect against the specific virus strains expected to spread and cause illness during that flu season, typically October through May.

A flu pandemic, such as the 1918 pandemic that infected around one-third of the world’s population and caused an estimated 50 million deaths, occurs when a global outbreak of a new strain of influenza A virus emerges that is radically different from the currently circulating strains. Because seasonal flu shots are specifically formatted to combat certain strains of influenza — including the virus type that causes the flu in birds and some mammals, including humans — current vaccine formulations offer no protection against a novel strain. At present, it takes about six months to formulate and produce large quantities of flu vaccine, during which time widespread infection can cause severe illness and even death.

Led by Dr. Suresh Mittal, Distinguished Professor of Virology in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, researchers are working on the development of a universal vaccine, one that would offer protection against all forms of influenza A that infect humans, regardless of the strain. Such a vaccine could eliminate the need to reformulate seasonal flu vaccines and provide the health care system with a jumpstart in combatting the next flu pandemic.

“Every year, the flu vaccine gets updated because its components are strain specific,” Dr. Mittal said. “A universal vaccine would strengthen the efficacy of seasonal flu vaccines. In the case of an influenza pandemic, the universal vaccine could be used to help control a global outbreak until a variant-specific vaccine is developed.”   

The current seasonal influenza vaccines predominately stimulate the production of influenza-specific antibodies, the proteins produced by an immune system to protect the body from infectious agents, such as viral infections. Antibodies attach to the outside of viruses, facilitating their neutralization and removing them from the body. The influenza virus’s major surface protein, called hemagglutinin — from the Greek word for blood and the Latin word for glue — binds to the mucosal lining of the upper respiratory tract and initiates viral infection. Hemagglutinins also mutate frequently, creating new strains of influenza virus.

Dr. Mittal’s research team is investigating a novel approach to fight influenza. Rather than boosting the antibody specific to the virus surface proteins, the team’s work targets an internal nucleoprotein that is conserved in multiple strains of influenza A viruses. Because the nucleoprotein doesn’t mutate the way hemagglutinins do, attacking it stands a better chance of fighting off the flu, regardless of the strain. The method relies on generating a T cell response, rather than an antibody response. 

“Our cells go through a natural cellular recycling process called autophagy that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components,” Dr. Mittal said. “By attaching an autophagy-inducing peptide to the nucleoprotein, it forces the antigen to go through autophagy. This triggered an enhanced T cell response which was shown to be effective in inducing protection against several influenza viruses having different hemagglutinin subtypes.”

The study, published in the February 2024 journal Vaccines, tested the immunization response against the five subtypes of influenza A viruses known to cause human infections (H1, H3, H5, H7, and H9). In laboratory testing, nucleoprotein-targeted vaccines administered through the nose provided immunity against all five strains.

“We were initially surprised by the results,” Dr. Mittal said. “To ensure we had not made any mistakes during immunization, we ran the experiment a second time. The results were the same. This study indicates that development of a universal influenza vaccine could be possible. It also suggests intranasal delivery of the vaccine, rather than intramuscular injections, may be a better method of administration for vaccines designed to protect against contagious respiratory illnesses.”   

Dr. Mittal served as principal investigator for the study. A co-author, Dr. Suryaprakash Sambhara, Immunology Team lead in the Immunology and Pathogenesis Branch of the Influenza Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is also Dr. Mittal’s longtime research collaborator. Dr. Ekramy Sayedahmed, a research scientist on Dr. Mittal’s research team, led the laboratory testing. The research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases within the National Institutes of Health. 

In the next phase of testing, the researchers plan to conduct a durability study to determine the length of time immunization with the universal flu vaccine is effective. Current seasonal flu vaccines provide immunity for about six months. If that study proves successful, the hope is to move to human clinical trials.

“As a veterinarian, I believe in the concept of one health,” Dr. Mittal said. “Human health is closely linked to the health of domestic and wild animals and the wider environment. Migratory birds are the main culprit for the spread of influenza viruses to humans, poultry, pigs and other animals. Everything is interdependent.”

After more than two decades of research in the field of virology, Dr. Mittal remains optimistic that a universal flu vaccine will one day be available to the public. And the technology and methodology introduced through this groundbreaking study will have a significant impact on the improvement of global health.

“Our team has been working toward a universal influenza vaccine for 20 years,” Dr. Mittal said. “As scientists, we can’t work for those breakthrough moments of discovery because they may not happen. When they do happen, it’s very satisfying to know we were heading in the right direction.”

Writer(s): Kat Braz | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Purdue Launches Search for Successor to Pioneering Veterinary Medicine Dean Willie Reed Who will Step Down

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An advisory committee has been named to assist in the search for a successor to Dr. Willie Reed, who will step down June 30, after 17 years of leadership as dean of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine and 25 total years of service to the university.  A celebration of Dean Reed’s legacy will take place later this semester.

“We simply cannot thank Dean Reed enough for his pioneering leadership at Purdue,” Purdue Provost Patrick Wolfe said. “Having received two lifetime achievement awards from Indiana and U.S. professional societies this past year alone, I know Willie is looking forward to a much-deserved scientific sabbatical. His story is amazing, as is the arc of his career and professional accomplishments, and it is one that I know students, faculty and staff at Purdue will cherish for many years to come.”

Since becoming dean in 2007, Dean Reed has consistently championed One Health at Purdue — bringing together animal health, human health and plant health — and the university continues to strengthen and accelerate his groundbreaking approach to excellence and education in these areas. He has also guided Purdue Veterinary Medicine in developing and executing a series of three visionary strategic plans to enhance the future through innovative educational initiatives, groundbreaking research, and creative and effective engagement programs.

“It has been a humbling and incredible honor to live out my childhood dream of becoming a doctor of veterinary medicine to the fullest at Purdue,” Dean Reed said. “The college has worked tirelessly to achieve excellence, and I believe the outstanding Boilermakers in veterinary medicine have each played a key role in its success. Although we’ve made great progress, I am eager and excited to see the many accomplishments that are sure to come in the future. My sincerest thank-you to all I’ve worked with along the way.”

Lucy Flesch, Purdue’s Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science and professor of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences, will chair an advisory committee to assist in the search for Dean Reed’s successor. The committee members are:

• Veterinary student Devon Anderson, of the DVM Class of 2025, and the president of Purdue SAVMA (Student American Veterinary Medical Association)
• Dr. Candace Croney, professor of animal behavior and well-being and director of the Center for Animal Welfare Science
• Matt Folk, Purdue alumnus and president & CEO of the Purdue for Life Foundation
• Dr. Lindsey Hedges (PU DVM 2011), senior director of veterinary mentorship for Mission Veterinary Partners and president of Indiana Veterinary Medical Association (IVMA)
• Dr. Kenitra Hendrix, clinical associate professor of veterinary diagnostic microbiology and director of the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
• Dr. Debbie Knapp, distinguished professor of comparative oncology, Dolores L. McCall Professor of Comparative Oncology, and director of the Evan and Sue Ann Werling Comparative Oncology Research Center
• Dr. Dianne Little, associate professor of Basic Medical Sciences, who also holds a courtesy appointment in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering
• Dr. Ellen Lowery, clinical professor, chief veterinary officer and associate dean for hospital operations
• Dr. Catharine Scott-Moncrieff, professor of small animal internal medicine and head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
• Jay Wasson, Purdue alumnus and vice president for physical facilities

Candidate nominations (including self-nominations) are strongly encouraged and may be submitted here.

Click here to view a complete story that includes a summary of the college’s accomplishments achieved under Dean Reed’s leadership.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Second Antimicrobial Resistance Conference at Purdue Draws Expanded Audience

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Attendance figures for Purdue University’s second Antimicrobial Resistance Conference demonstrated increasing interest in the event’s interdisciplinary approach to the topic that the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies as one of the top global public health and development threats.  Held February 27-28 at Stewart Center on the Purdue Campus, the conference featured distinguished keynote speakers and Purdue scholars from a variety of disciplines who shared the latest research findings and insights regarding the challenges posed by antibiotic resistance.

Hosted collaboratively by the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture, Science and Pharmacy the conference featured three keynote speakers and nine Purdue University researchers with expertise on the topic of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).  According to WHO, it is estimated that AMR was directly responsible for an estimated 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths.   WHO explains that AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines, thus rendering antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines ineffective and making infections difficult or impossible to treat.  

Interest in the Purdue Antimicrobial Resistance Conference is increasing and spreading beyond U.S.  borders.  This year the conference attracted more than 100 in-person attendees as well as virtual attendees from Canada, Ethiopia, Japan, and Uruguay.

Purdue Veterinary Medicine Dean Willie Reed opened the conference by welcoming the participants and encouraging them to take advantage of the opportunities the conference provided for networking, collaboration and finding out about work being done by colleagues.  The Conference program focused on three critical aspects of AMR: Determinants, Dynamics and Deterrence. Each focus area was addressed by a keynote speaker who was followed by three Purdue faculty members doing research in the specific area. Each segment concluded with a question and answer session with a panel consisting the speakers. 

The keynote speaker for the conference’s first segment on Determinants was Dr. Noelle Noyes, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota, who addressed the topic, “Determinants of Antimicrobial Resistance: From Genes to Ecosystems.” She was followed by Dr. Mark Hall, Purdue associate professor of biochemistry; Dr. Cristina Ferreira, metabolomics analyst at Purdue University’s Bindley Bioscience Center, who specializes in Lipidomics by Mass Spectrometry; and Dr. Paul Robinson, the Distinguished Professor of Cytometry in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Basic Medical Sciences, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. 

The second segment focused on Dynamics and featured a keynote presentation by Dr. Paul Plummer associate professor of veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine at Iowa State University, who gave a talk entitled, “The complex dynamics of AMR and its Impact on One Health and policy.”  He was followed by a trio of Purdue speakers:  Dr. Tingting Ju, assistant professor of animal sciences; Dr. Ilya Slizovskiy, Purdue Veterinary Medicine assistant professor of antimicrobial resistance/farm animal medicine; and Dr. Paul Ebner, professor and interim head of the Department of Animal Sciences.

The third segment of the conference focused on Deterrence.  Dr. Elizabeth Dodds-Ashley, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health at Duke University, gave a keynote lecture entitled, “Deterring Drug Resistance, an overview of current US strategies in place to stem the tide of antimicrobial resistant infections.” She was followed by Dr. Daniel Flaherty, associate professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology; Kinnari Arte, a PhD graduate student working with Associate Professor Qi “Tony” Zhou in the College of Pharmacy’s Department of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics; and Dr. Alexander Wei, professor of Organic Chemistry.

In addition to the lectures, the conference featured a Poster Competition that attracted entries from 15 Purdue undergraduate students, graduate students and postdocs who highlighted research they are doing in labs on the Purdue campus and in one case, at the University of Notre Dame.  During a reception at the conclusion of the first day of the conference, attendees had the opportunity to peruse the posters and visit with the poster presenters. 

The conference concluded with a talk by Dr. Jerome Adams, the 20th US Surgeon General who now serves as a Purdue presidential fellow and the executive director of Purdue’s Health Equity Initiatives.  Dr. Adams discussed how the looming threat of antimicrobial resistance is not merely a distant concern, confined to the realm of hypotheticals, but an imminent reality that demands our immediate attention and concerted action.  “As we grapple with the aftermath of the pandemic, we must recognize the urgency of addressing AMR and the vital role that a One Health approach brings to tackling this complex challenge,” Dr. Adams said.

Following his talk, Dr. Adams presented the prizes to the Poster Competition winners.  Awards were given in two divisions.  In the Undergraduate Division, Animal Sciences undergraduate student Erica Long won for her poster entitled “A prediction model of antibiotic treatment success in dairy calves with bovine respiratory disease.”  In the other division, which was for graduate students, the first place prize went to Molly Youse, a graduate student in the Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology for her poster entitled, “Development of Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors for Drug Discovery against Neisseria gonorrhoeae.” Josiah Davidson, a graduate research assistant in Agriculture and Biological Engineering was awarded the 2^nd place prize for his poster entitled, “Nucleic Acid-based Detection of Viruses Associated with Respiratory Disease in Humans and Animals on Paper.”  In presenting the awards, Dr. Adams included with the cash prizes a copy of his recently published book, Crisis and Chaos.

The conference was sponsored in part by Qiagen and Integra who had representatives on-site to demonstrate their lab equipment and products to the attendees.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

In Memory – Dr. David Barkman (PU DVM ’73)

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The Purdue Veterinary Medicine community is saddened to learn of the passing of a member of the DVM Class of 1973, Dr. David Lyle Barkman, of Fayetteville, North Carolina.  Dr. Barkman died January 16, 2024, at the age of 76. 

A native of Rochester, Indiana, Dr. Barkman was raised on a farm where he learned the value of hard work and developed a strong sense of family.  After earning his BS degree in the College of Agriculture at Purdue University, he enrolled in the College of Veterinary medicine and received his DVM Degree in 1973. 

He is remembered for the passion he demonstrated in caring for pets and equally for their owners.  After serving in the United States Air Force for two years at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, he moved his young family to Alabama for an internship at Auburn University.  Then in 1976, the family moved to Fayetteville where he started working at Highland Animal Hospital. He helped care for thousands of four-legged family members and their owners for 48 years. Known for being warm, funny and always compassionate, Dr. Barkman lived out a passion and love for his job that inspired two sons and one grandson to follow in his footsteps.

Dr. Barkman treasured family times whether it was cheering for his grandkids at a game or taking everyone to the beach, where they built sandcastles and caught crabs.  His competitive nature was reflected in his commitment to playing basketball with friends at church or in someone’s backyard or playing racquetball at a sports center.

Dr. Barkman also was active in his church where he sang in the choir, taught Sunday school and was willing to work alongside others to do any project necessary to help maintain the church or care for another church member. Additionally, he was a dedicated volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and other organizations. A lover of adventure, he traveled the world extensively accompanied by his wife Karen.

A memorial service was held at Haymount United Methodist Church January 20.  In lieu of flowers, donations in Dr. Barkman’s memory may be made to Haymount United Methodist Church to continue his legacy in mission work.

Click here to view a complete obituary.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu