Purdue SAVMA President Brenda Najar Joins Dean Willie Reed for AAVMC Advocacy Day

March 30, 2018

On the eve of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) annual meeting March 2-4 in Washington, D.C., dozens of veterinary medical educators visited with federal lawmakers as part of “Advocacy Day.”  Among the veterinary school representatives participating were Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s own Dean Willie Reed and Purdue SAVMA president, Brenda Najar, of the DVM Class of 2019.

Each year, the AAVMC organizes “Advocacy Day” in conjunction with its annual conference to encourage attendees to take part in advocacy meetings on Capitol Hill with government and NGO leaders. This year, Brenda delivered 27 letters with real-life stories from Purdue students in each year of the veterinary program to the office of Indiana 4th District Congressman Todd Rokita, urging him to join the Veterinary Medicine Caucus as the congressional representative of Lafayette, Ind., and ultimately work to help lower student debt for veterinary students. “You will hear a common theme discussing the importance of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that strongly affects many of our long-term loan repayment plans,” Brenda wrote in her letter to the congressman.  “You will find disturbing totals of current federal loan debt, including sky-high interest rates between 6 and 8.5 percent, and what that looks like over 20 years. You will read compelling examples of how veterinarians are healthcare superheroes, and ultimately, why the government should be investing in us. I have compiled these stories and given them to you for a better glimpse of the upstanding, role-model citizens of your Lafayette district.”

In addition, Brenda and Dean Reed also paid a visit to United States Senator Joe Donnelly.  Afterword, Brenda said, “I had a wonderful time on Capitol Hill talking to representatives about the changes we’d like to see. It was an honor to speak for my peers.”  A total of 72 educators representing 27 states participated in Advocacy Day, making the trek to Capitol Hill where 138 meetings were held at scores of Congressional offices.

Writer(s): Helen Thimlar, PVM Communications Intern | 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.