National SAVMA Symposium Recognizes PVM Faculty and Students

Purdue veterinary students at the national SAVMA Symposium

 

Purdue Veterinary students: William, Willis, Kayla Hoenert, and Kristi Crow

Purdue Senior SAVMA Delegate William Willis with Junior SAVMA Delegate Kayla Hoenert (center) and Purdue SAVMA President-elect Kristi Crow at the 2018 SAVMA Symposium, which they and Purdue SAVMA President Brenda Najar participated in as Purdue representatives. William and Kristi are holding awards that they accepted on behalf of Drs. Sandy San Miguel and Kevin Hannon, who they had nominated for the SAVMA Community Outreach Excellence Award and the SAVMA Teaching Excellence Award, respectively.

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine was well-represented at the 2018 SAVMA Symposium, which is the annual national conference of the Student American Veterinary Medical Association.  During the event held March 15-17 at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, two PVM faculty members received awards and more than two dozen PVM students participated in various lectures, labs, and special events.

The faculty members honored were Dr. Sandy San Miguel (PU DVM ’93), associate dean for engagement and professor of swine production medicine, and Dr. Kevin Hannon, associate professor of basic medical sciences.  Dr. San Miguel received the SAVMA Community Outreach Excellence Award.  The award selection is based on a nomination process.  The nomination is intended for students to publicly acknowledge how faculty members, clinicians, and other respected individuals engaged in a veterinary field have gone above and beyond their own professional responsibilities and duties to interact with and make a difference in the local and/or global community as servant leaders.  Dr. Hannon received the SAVMA Teaching Excellence Award.  The award is designed to honor outstanding teachers in the veterinary medical profession who deserve to be recognized for their impact on veterinary students.  Congratulations to both Dr. Hannon and Dr. San Miguel!

With support provided by Purdue SAVMA, 26 Purdue veterinary students attended the national SAVMA Symposium in Philadelphia.  In addition to attending lectures and wet-labs, the students also were able to participate in competitions and special events.  Special congratulations are in order for the Purdue Trivia Team, which received the highest score and won a new Merck Manual from Zuku Review.

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

Recent Stories

Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery Honors PVM Clinician Paulo Gomes as a Top Co-Author

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.

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

This week a big Paws Up goes to Gabriel Harris, who is a graduate research assistant in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences.

More Time Together

From the moment Brian met Blackie as a playful puppy at a rescue, their bond was undeniable. Over the years, Blackie became more than a pet. That is why, when Brian found Blackie unresponsive in his yard one evening, he refused to give up. Brian drove Blackie an hour and a half to the Purdue University Veterinary Hospital’s Emergency and Critical Care team.

USDA Funding Fuels Purdue Veterinary Medicine Research Seeking Answers to Costly Cattle Production Mystery

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.

In Memory: Dr. Ronald P. Miller (PU DVM ’63)

The Purdue Veterinary Medicine community is saddened by the passing of Dr. Ronald P. Miller, of Indianapolis, a member of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s first graduating class, the Class of 1963.  Dr. Miller died February 17, 2026, at the age of 89.

In Memory – Dr. Julie Anderson (PU DVM ’78)

A Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumna and beloved veterinarian, Dr Julie Anderson, of Rockville, Indiana, will be remembered at a celebration of life open house to be hosted in her honor by West Central Veterinary Services Sunday, April 27. Dr. Anderson, a member of the Purdue DVM Class of 1978, passed away in December at the age of 71.

Popular Veterinary Nursing Symposium Features Day of Learning and Networking

Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s annual Veterinary Nursing Symposium brought more than 150 veterinary professionals to Lynn Hall recently to gain practical knowledge and insights about a diverse range of topics covering both small and large animals. Veterinary nurses (technicians and technologists), veterinary assistants and veterinary nursing (technology) students participated in the all day lifelong learning program Sunday, March 23. The attendees came from across Indiana as well as Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

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

Today we are highlighting Dr. Heather Bornheim, who is a farm animal medicine and surgery clinician in the Purdue University Veterinary Hospital.

CPB’s Aryal Lab Members Recognized at 140th Annual Indiana Academy of Science Meeting

Two members of Research Associate Professor Uma Aryal’s lab in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology recently received noteworthy recognition during the 140th Indiana Academy of Science conference hosted in Indianapolis. According to the Indiana Academy of Science, since 1885, its annual conferences have served as the only multidisciplinary scientific meetings that take place in the state. The event on March 22 attracted hundreds of senior and junior scientists from Indiana and across the Midwest.