Cancer

2024-2025 Sports Season Cast Spotlight on Purdue Comparative Oncology Program

March 28, 2025

The Boilermakers’ Sweet 16 contest tonight in the NCAA tournament provides a great opportunity to reflect on a basketball season that included a special focus on the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Comparative Oncology Program. During the football and basketball season, a BIG Impact Research video spotlighting Purdue canine cancer research and treatment aired during Purdue games on the Big Ten Network.


One Health: A ‘digital twin’ model for predicting cancer outcomes

February 7, 2025

The striking similarities between invasive bladder cancer in dogs and humans have fueled research advances for more than three decades. Most of that work has looked at separate aspects of the disease — risk factors, early detection, symptoms, treatment and gene expression. But a new project at Purdue University that combines many types of available data in a “digital twin” model of bladder cancer may prove powerful enough to predict patient outcomes, starting with the probability of metastasis.


Innovating Cancer Treatment – Experts in Tumor Ablation Devices Join Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s Comparative Oncology Team

January 21, 2025

A husband-wife team of veterinary oncologists with expertise in tumor ablation devices is now part of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences and the Evan and Sue Ann Werling Comparative Oncology Research Center. Dr. Nick Dervisis and Dr. Shawna Klahn started in their new roles as Purdue associate professors of comparative oncology August 12 as part of the university’s Moveable Dream Hires program.


Groundbreaking Discovery – Research Led by Distinguished BMS Faculty Member Sheds New Light on Liver Cancer Treatment

January 21, 2025

For Dr. Ourania Andrisani, Distinguished Professor of Basic Medical Sciences, understanding the complexities of liver cancer has been a defining passion throughout her career. Her work marks a critical step toward developing more effective treatments for this devastating disease.


Purdue University and Akston Biosciences Bring “First Dose of Hope” in New Cancer Immunotherapy Trial for Dogs with Urinary Bladder Cancer

November 22, 2024

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, in partnership with Akston Biosciences Corporation, has initiated the enrollment of dogs with urinary bladder cancer in a clinical trial of a pioneering immunotherapy. The strategic partnership between Purdue and Akston was announced in August after the underlying technology was developed at the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR).


Innovating Cancer Treatment

August 30, 2024

A husband-wife team of veterinary oncologists with expertise in tumor ablation devices is now part of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences and the Evan and Sue Ann Werling Comparative Oncology Research Center.


Purdue and Akston Biosciences Sign Partnership Agreement for Dog Cancer Drug Development

August 16, 2024

Akston Biosciences Corporation, which is dedicated to accelerating the biologics revolution in Animal Health, and Purdue University have announced a strategic partnership to co-develop an anti-cPD-L1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) immunotherapy to treat cancer in dogs. The underlying technology was developed at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research (PICR).


Study Led by Veterinary Oncologist Finds Cigarette Smoke Exposure Increases Cancer Risk in Dogs

July 31, 2024

A long-term study that tracked the health of Scottish terriers indicates cigarette smoke exposure leads to a sixfold increase in the risk of bladder cancer


From Personal Struggles to Professional Triumphs

July 26, 2024

Unceasingly optimistic. That’s how colleagues describe Dr. Marejka Shaevitz, clinical assistant professor of oncology in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences and the Werling Comparative Oncology Research Center. Dr. Shaevitz, who completed a three-year residency program in comparative oncology at Purdue in 2020, returned to the College of Veterinary Medicine in February, expanding the number of medical oncology faculty in the Department Veterinary Clinical Sciences. Her story is one that involves facing difficult loss and challenging diagnoses herself – turning points in her life that led her on the path toward a career in veterinary oncology.


PVM’s Dr. Michael Childress Appointed to Named Professorship in Comparative Oncology

June 14, 2024

A faculty member in Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Dr. Michael Childress, has been appointed as the Evan and Sue Ann Werling Professor of Comparative Oncology.