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

Annual Purdue Veterinary Conference draws veterinary professionals from across the country for learning and fun

The 2026 edition of the annual Purdue Veterinary Conference attracted attendees from around the U.S. for three days of educational sessions covering an array of topics.  With the overall theme of “One Health: Modern Veterinary Medicine,” the conference September 23-26 on the Purdue University campus drew more than 450 veterinarians and veterinary technicians, plus faculty, staff and students. Sessions taught by a total of 65 speakers, including many Purdue Veterinary Medicine clinicians and veterinary technicians/technologists, enabled conference-goers to earn up to 23 continuing education credit hours.

Significant Gift from Jordan Smelski Foundation will fuel Purdue Veterinary Medicine research on deadly brain eating amoeba

A researcher in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Comparative Pathobiology has received a generous gift of more than $100,000 from the Jordan Smelski Foundation for Amoeba Awareness and Mr. Steve Smelski to support research of the deadly amoeba Naegleria fowleri. Christopher Rice, PhD, assistant professor of parasitology and principal investigator of the Rice Research Group, leads a research team seeking to discover and repurpose drugs against primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare but typically fatal infection caused by Naegleria fowleri.

Purdue veterinary student receives Sir John D. Spurling Scholarship awarded by AKC Humane Fund

The AKC® Humane Fund, Inc.℠ has announced the 2026 recipients of the Sir John D. Spurling Scholarship, celebrating the human-canine bond, and one of the recipients is Purdue veterinary student Tiffany Chang of the Class of 2027. Chang is one of only five students chosen for the scholarships.

Purdue Veterinary Medicine Unites with Purdue United Way Campaign

With the goal of raising $700,000 by November 4 to support local nonprofit organizations that help individuals and families in Greater Lafayette, the Purdue United Way campaign took off September 23 with an official campaign launch on the front lawn of the Purdue Memorial Union. Purdue Veterinary Medicine, along with the university’s other colleges and units, will participate with the help of PVM faculty and staff ambassadors working to make it easy for people in the college to respond, whether by giving, or by indicating that they do not wish to give. As part of the PVM drive to support the campaign, Dean Bret Marsh and his wife, Polly, are contributing a match for campaign contributions from college faculty and staff. Additionally, a drawing will be held to select winners from those who contribute.

“Paws Up” – for Dr. Yasumasa Iimori – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

This week we commend Yasumasa Iimori, DVM, PhD, who is a resident in Emergency and Critical Care in the Purdue University Veterinary Hospital.