Kids Power Up! Get Vaccinated for COVID-19!

Dr. Sandy San Miguel, aka “Pink Phoenix,” the founder of the League of VetaHumanz and associate dean for engagement in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, displays one of the Vaccine SuperPower Packs being loaded into a van for delivery.
Dr. Sandy San Miguel, aka “Pink Phoenix,” the founder of the League of VetaHumanz and Purdue Veterinary Medicine associate dean for engagement, displays one of the Vaccine SuperPower Packs being loaded into a van for delivery.

Kids getting their COVID-19 vaccine or booster at the Tippecanoe County Health Department vaccination site, 1950 S. 18th Street, Lafayette, Ind., and at Riggs Community Health Center, 2316 South Street, Lafayette, Ind., will get a special Vaccine SuperPower Pack while supplies last thanks to a partnership between the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s League of VetaHumanz, the Tippecanoe County Health Department, and Riggs Community Health Center.

The League of VetaHumanz is a veterinary superhero league where veterinarians across the globe provide access and support for under-resourced youth. VetaHumanz use their superpowers to improve health literacy and reduce health disparities in people and their animals. Each Vaccine SuperPower Pack has a children’s book where kids learn all about vaccines in people and animals, a special superhero face mask, and collectible cards. Adults accompanying kids will also get limited edition League of VetaHumanz face masks.

The program is supported by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

So power up and get vaccinated today because even superheroes need vaccines!

Sporting a League of VetaHumanz cape, Dr. Sandy San Miguel, aka “Pink Phoenix,” helps load a van with the new educational Vaccine SuperPower Packs destined for kids receiving COVID 19 vaccines or boosters.
Sporting a League of VetaHumanz cape, Dr. Sandy San Miguel, aka “Pink Phoenix,” helps load a van with the new educational Vaccine SuperPower Packs destined for kids receiving COVID 19 vaccines or boosters.

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

Recent Stories

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

This week, we are proud to recognize Lorraine Fox, who is a business assistant with the Veterinary Medicine Procurement Center.

PVM Interview Days Move College Closer to Admitting the DVM Class of 2030

After a total of three afternoons dedicated to conducting in-person interviews with 226 prospective veterinary students, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is close to completing the process of admitting 84 members of the incoming first-year DVM class – the Class of 2030.  The students invited for the interview days were selected from a total pool of 1,930 applicants from across the country as well as countries abroad.

Experts to Gather at Purdue for Conference Addressing the Public Health Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance

The ongoing challenges posed by multi-drug resistant infections will be the focus of a multidisciplinary conference taking place in three weeks at Purdue University.  The Fourth Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance is set for February 25–26, 2026 at Purdue’s Stewart Center in West Lafayette. Registration is still open for the event, which will bring together scientists and scholars from human and veterinary medicine, public health, research, and industry to address the determinants, dynamics and deterrence of drug resistance.

PVM’s Upcoming Coppoc One Health Lecture to Focus on Dogs as Sentinels of Environmental Exposure

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine brings a leading One Health scholar to campus each year to address vital health issues from a One Health perspective as part of the Coppoc One Health Lecture series.  This year’s presentation, scheduled for February 26 in Lynn Hall Room 2026, is on the engaging topic, “One Health at Home: Dogs as Sentinels of Environmental Exposure.” The speaker will be Audrey Ruple, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVPM, MRCVS, the Dorothy A. and Richard G. Metcalf Professor of Veterinary Medical Informatics at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.

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

Today we are happy to acknowledge our Student Success Center Team.

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

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.

Purdue Professor Emeritus Bill Blevins Wins Lifetime Achievement Award at ACVR Annual Meeting

The American College of Veterinary Radiology (ACVR) gave its esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024 to Purdue Professor Emeritus Bill Blevins, who is well known to countless Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumni for the expertise he taught them about all things Diagnostic Imaging during his long Purdue career.