Skip to main content

Graduate Students Honored with PVM Research Day Awards

Among the many changes to Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s spring schedule induced by the COVID-19 pandemic was the cancellation of the annual PVM Research Day.  Nevertheless recipients were selected for the research awards customarily presented during the event.  Congratulations to the following graduate students and residents who received awards:

Phi Zeta Manuscript Award

Basic Research – Dr. Alexandra Dieterly, graduate student, Department of Comparative Pathobiology: “Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Phenotypes in Vertebral Metastases of Lung Cancer

Clinical/Applied Research – Dr. Kenneth Brand, Small Animal Surgery resident, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences: “Effects of Needle Gauge and Syringe Size on Small Intestinal Leakage at Injection Sites”

Phi Zeta Omicron Award

1st place – Dr. David Worth, Small Animal Surgery resident, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences: “Repeatability of Long-Term Carboplatin Elution from Carboplatin-Impregnated Calcium Sulfate Hemihydrate Beads

2nd place – Dr. Garrett Oetelaar, Diagnostic Imaging resident, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences: “Antemortem and 1 Postmortem Appendicular Fractures can be Differentiated Using 2 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signal Intensity Changes in Bone and Soft Tissues

PVM Graduate Student Award

1st place – Dr. Sarah Brookes, graduate research assistant, Department of Basic Medical Sciences

2nd place – Nader Abutaleb, Microbiology graduate research assistant, Department of Comparative Pathobiology

Osborne Award Finalists

1st place – Dr. Victoria Lyons, Ophthalmology resident, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences: “Candida Keratomycosis in a Cat: A Novel Treatment Strategy

2nd place – Dr. Mara Varvil, Clinical Pathology graduate teaching assistant, Department of Comparative Pathobiology: “Pancytopenia in a Four-month-old Kitten

3rd place – Dr. Jase Skelton, Large Animal Surgery resident, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences: “Treatment of Scapulohumeral Luxation with Excision of the Glenoid in a Miniature Donkey

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

Recent Stories

Take a jog with a dog for a good cause!

Building on the growing success of a long-running community event and Purdue Veterinary Conference tradition, organizers of the 2026 Dr. Skip Jackson Dog Jog are excited about prospects for a great turnout at this year’s run/walk coming up the morning of Saturday, September 26. And there’s still time to register and participants are welcome whether they are jogging with or without a dog or want to run with an adoptable shelter dog.

PVM well-represented by students, faculty and staff at annual AABP meeting

The American Association of Bovine Practitioners’ (AABP) 59th Annual Conference last month in Minneapolis, Minnesota, included significant representation from the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. A total of 17 students from the 2nd- and 3rd-year classes attended along with faculty and staff and Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumni. Two Purdue veterinary students received special recognition.

In Memory: Dr. Kevin Thomas Schultz (PU DVM ’76)

The Purdue Veterinary Medicine community is saddened to learn of the passing of an alumnus, Dr. Kevin T. Schultz of Dawsonville, Georgia, on August 15, 2026.  He was 74.

In Memory: Mair Lewis – former Purdue Veterinary Medicine First Lady

Mair Lewis (née Harris-Hughes), the widow of the late Dr. Hugh Bilson Lewis – the fourth dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine – is remembered with appreciation and admiration by the Purdue Veterinary Medicine community after her passing September 7, 2026, in Vancouver, Washington. She was 83.

“Paws Up” for Dr. Kenitra Hendrix and Dr. Craig Bowen – brought to you by the the PVM Wellness Committee

This week we share appreciation for Dr. Kenitra Hendrix, Associate Dean for the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories, and Dr. Craig Bowen, Associate Director of the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and Department Head of Accessioning.