Research
Shining a Light on a Rare Disease – Comparative Pathobiology Researcher Links Learning and Discovery for Former Patient
July 29, 2026
In December 2024, at age 15, Jackie Albrecht woke up to excruciating eye pain. The pending holiday season turned into a frantic race for Jackie and her family to find a viable treatment for a mysterious, painful disease. After visits to multiple doctors and specialists, Jackie was diagnosed with Acanthamoeba keratitis, or AK, a rare condition caused by a microscopic amoeba (Acanthamoeba) that binds onto contact lenses, often when someone showers, swims, bathes or simply rinses their lenses in tap water.
Thankfully, Jackie received a definitive diagnosis and proper treatment quickly, and she’s experienced no long-term effects. Now an advocate for AK disease awareness, Jackie spent several weeks this summer in the lab of Dr. Christopher Rice, assistant professor of parasitology in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, who’s seeking to develop more effective medications for this rare disease.
Defending the Flock – Purdue Researchers Lead USDA Study on Foggers for Avian Influenza
July 29, 2026
The interior of a commercial poultry house is a high-density place where a single particle of an airborne respiratory virus can replicate quickly, infecting and sickening all the birds within days. Right now, when highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strikes, farmers have no choice but to depopulate their entire flock, and often those on neighboring farms as well, to halt the spread of the deadly disease.
Imagine, however, if poultry producers could deploy a device that cleanses the air and surfaces of their facilities with no harm to the chickens. With support from a new $2 million grant from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Dr. Ekramy Sayedahmed, assistant professor of poultry in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology, is collaborating with university and industry partners on research to develop innovative approaches to prevent and control infectious diseases affecting poultry.
Hidden Patterns, New Possibilities – Purdue Researchers Combine Neuroscience and Machine Learning to Uncover Clues about How Seizures Develop and Spread
July 29, 2026
For decades, scientists have viewed seizures as moments when the brain’s neurons fire together in a synchronized storm of electrical activity. New research from Purdue University reveals the brain’s story is far more complex, and that even during seizure-like activity, neurons organize into distinct functional subnetworks with their own unique firing patterns.
The discovery offers new insight into how seizures develop and spread while demonstrating how artificial intelligence can help scientists uncover biological relationships that previously remained hidden. The interdisciplinary research is led by Riyi Shi, the Mari Hulman George Endowed Professor of Applied Neuroscience in Purdue’s College of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Center for Paralysis Research, who partnered with faculty in Purdue’s College of Science, including Ananth Grama, the Samuel D. Conte Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and director of Purdue’s Institute for Physical AI.
PVM Summer Research Program Launches a Season of Mentorship and Discovery
June 26, 2026
For 15 aspiring researchers, the start of summer marked the beginning of an immersive journey in scientific discovery through the Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s 2026 Veterinary Scholars Summer Research Program. The respected annual program pairs veterinary students and undergraduate students from Purdue and other universities with faculty mentors, providing hands-on experience in clinical and basic science research while helping to foster the next generation of veterinary and biomedical scientists.
Annual Research Day Highlights Scientific Discovery in College of Veterinary Medicine
April 24, 2026
Purdue Veterinary Medicine celebrated veterinary medical and One Health scholarship during the 2026 PVM Research Day – an annual event hosted in April by the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Omicron Chapter of the Society of Phi Zeta, which is the Honor Society of Veterinary Medicine. Held Friday, April 10 in Lynn Hall, the event gave faculty, residents, postdoctoral fellows, and students the opportunity to present clinical and basic research findings, and hear lectures on topics important to animal and human health. Another special feature of the day was the Research Poster competition and the closing reception when awards were presented.
PVM Cancer Research Scholar Honored at Purdue Institute for Cancer Research Recognition Awards Ceremony
April 17, 2026
Dr. Deborah 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, was recognized this month at the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research 2026 Recognition Awards ceremony. The program April 3 honored faculty, trainees and staff advancing cancer research across the institute.
Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery Honors PVM Clinician Paulo Gomes as a Top Co-Author
April 10, 2026
Dr. Paulo Gomes, clinical associate professor of dermatology in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, recently was recognized for co-authoring one of the most widely read articles of 2025 in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. The publication is an online, open access, international, peer-reviewed journal.
USDA Funding Fuels Purdue Veterinary Medicine Research Seeking Answers to Costly Cattle Production Mystery
April 10, 2026
A four-year, $650,000 New Investigator Award from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) will support research led by Dr. Viju V. Pillai, a faculty member in Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Comparative Pathobiology and pathologist at the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL), aimed at solving a persistent and costly mystery in cattle production. Dr. Pillai’s team wants to answer the question of why so many pregnancies fail before they are even recognized? The project will focus on the earliest stages of fetal–maternal communication and on a little-understood family of proteins called trophoblast Kunitz domain proteins (TKDPs), whose functions in pregnancy remain largely unknown.
Beautiful Spring Lilies Pose Serious Danger to Cats
March 27, 2026
Spring weather heralds the arrival of the beautiful blooms of true lilies (Lilium sp.) and daylilies (Hemerocallis sp.). Unfortunately, many cats have been poisoned by these lovely plants. The poisoning is so severe and the possible consequences so dire (even death) that in 2021, the FDA issued this warning:
“Lilies in the “true lily” and “daylily” families are very dangerous for cats. The entire lily plant is toxic: the stem, leaves, flowers, pollen, and even the water in a vase. Eating just a small amount of a leaf or flower petal, licking a few pollen grains off its fur while grooming, or drinking the water from the vase can cause your cat to develop fatal kidney failure in less than 3 days. The toxin, which only affects cats, has not been identified. Dogs that eat lilies may have minor stomach upset but they don’t develop kidney failure.”
Fourth Purdue AMR Conference Promotes Collaboration to Address Global Health Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance through PVM’s One Health Initiative.
March 13, 2026
Purdue University served as the place where local, national and international experts came together in-person and online recently for concentrated sharing of research, expertise and insight targeting the threat of multi-drug-resistant infections. The fourth annual AMR Conference February 25-26, 2026, held in Stewart Center, attracted more than 100 attendees from across the U.S. and six other countries.
