Purdue Professor of Large Animal Surgery Named Veterinary Clinical Sciences Department Head

Dr. Timothy Lescun, a board-certified large animal surgeon, has been appointed head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences in the Purdue university College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dean Bret Marsh, DVM, made the announcement Monday, March 9. “I am grateful for Dr. Lescun’s service as Interim Department Head since January 2025, and I know he will continue to provide exceptional service to the Department and to our College,” Dean Marsh said.

Dr. Lescun earned his BVSc degree at the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1994 and completed his residency at Purdue in 1999. He became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) a year later, joined the PVM faculty in 2002, and earned his PhD at Purdue in 2015. He has been involved in training 25 veterinary surgery residents, acting as program director since 2024. He also serves as director of the college’s Center for Clinical Translational Research.

“It is an honor to be given this opportunity to lead the VCS department,” Dr. Lescun said. “I am excited to serve in this role and to help our faculty, staff and students achieve their goals as we move into a new chapter for PVM.”

Last fall, Dr. Lescun was elected to the ACVS Board of Regents as the new ACVS large animal regent. He has an extensive record of involvement in the ACVS, having served on the Research Committee and the Examination Committee, including as chair of each; the ACVS Foundation Board of Trustees; and most recently as chair of the Working Group to Reassess the Examination Process. He also has served as a seminar chair, abstracts reviewer, Large Animal Residents’ Forum judge, and as a member of the editorial review board for the Veterinary Surgery journal.

Dr. Lescun’s election to the ACVS Board of Regents coincided with another honor he received through the ACVS last fall when he became an “Honored Mentor” – a designation that is a result of past residents recognizing him through donations to the ACVS Foundation. Dr. Lescun says as a Purdue faculty member, he has enjoyed teaching surgery to veterinary students and residents and helping them develop their careers.

Dr. Lescun is recognized as a leader in the field of equine and translational orthopedic medicine and has pioneered a finite element analysis method to investigate the response of bone to implants such as screws in fracture repair. In his role as CCTR director, he oversees core facilities in the college that support preclinical biomedical research on campus. His clinical interests include general surgery, lameness and orthopedic disease in performance horses, orthopedic infections, and fracture fixation. His current research interests include modeling and simulation of orthopedic conditions of the horse.

Congratulations Dr. Lescun on being appointed Veterinary Clinical Sciences Department Head.

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

Recent Stories

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

This week we express our gratitude to Jennifer Danaher, who is department secretary for Veterinary Clinical Sciences.

‘Purdue Pursuits’: A PVM angle on Purdue’s teaching and learning reading groups

Crafting meaningful and engaging course experiences has been at the top of Dielson Vieira’s mind ever since he joined the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s faculty in 2024. As a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Vieira is already adept at applying innovative teaching practices to classroom environments, but that doesn’t stop him from seeking out new ideas, approaches and perspectives — insights he gains through outlets like Purdue’s teaching and learning reading groups.

Top tier biology journal publishes PVM study that unlocks secrets of a drug-resistant fungal pathogen, which causes serious infections in humans

Though the name “Candida auris” is far from a household term, public health experts know it well because the multi-drug-resistant fungal pathogen, which causes serious human infections, has been classified as an urgent threat by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Antibiotic Threats Report (2019). Dr. Shankar Thangamani, Associate Professor of Microbiology and University Faculty Scholar in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Comparative Pathobiology, is researching C. auris, aided by a 2.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). New research findings, just published in Nature Microbiology, show how C. auris adapts and evades the immune system.

In Print: ‘Translational Research Methods for Tauopathies’

A just-published 300-page volume edited by Jessica Fortin, Purdue assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Basic Medical Sciences, provides a significant new resource for researchers studying a group of neurodegenerative diseases known as tauopathies. “Translational Research Methods for Tauopathies” provides detailed protocols intentionally selected to serve as a basis for research laboratories seeking to further treatments for such debilitating neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer’s and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

It’s Almost Here!

Though the annual Purdue Veterinary Conference is almost upon us, there’s still time to register and take advantage of this time-honored College of Veterinary Medicine fall tradition that combines excellent continuing education with fun opportunities for reconnecting with colleagues and classmates, networking, and learning about the latest veterinary trends and products. The 2026 Purdue Veterinary Conference takes place September 23–26 on the Purdue University campus. The annual event has something for everyone, from veterinarians to veterinary technicians, faculty, staff and students.