Purdue VCS Graduate Students Win Awards at Annual American Dairy Science Meeting

Dr. Rafael Neves with VCS graduate students Natnicha Taechachokevivat (left) and Lisa Avila Granados, who both won awards in the ADSA Annual Meeting Graduate Student Competition.
Dr. Rafael Neves with VCS graduate students Natnicha Taechachokevivat (left) and Lisa Avila Granados, who both won awards in the ADSA Annual Meeting Graduate Student Competition.

Two graduate students who are members of the Dr. Rafael Neves Lab in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine were honored at the recent American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Held June 22-25, the conference is billed as a cornerstone event in dairy science, where participants explore the latest research, share innovative practices, and advance the science of dairy.

One of the components of the annual meeting is the ADSA Graduate Student Competition. Congratulations to the following Veterinary Clinical Sciences (VCS) Department graduate students who won awards in the contest:

  • Natnicha Taechachokevivat received the First Place Award in the ADSA-Graduate Student Competition: Production Division (PhD Oral), for her work entitled, “Relationships between systemic inflammation, subclinical hypocalcemia, and hyperketonemia in clinically healthy Holstein cows.”
  • Lisa Avila Granados, DVM, was awarded 2nd place in the ADSA-Graduate Student Competition: Production Division (MS Oral) for her work entitled, “Skeletal muscle transcriptome changes associated with ketosis in postpartum dairy cows.”

Both award winners are part of the Purdue Veterinary Clinical Sciences Graduate Program and members of the Neves Lab. “Their achievement is a recognition of their hard work,” said Dr. Neves, associate professor of food animal ambulatory in the VCS Department and section head of the Bovine Field Service.

The ADSA is an international organization of educators, scientists, and industry representatives who are committed to advancing the dairy industry and keenly aware of the vital role the dairy sciences play in fulfilling the economic, nutritive, and health requirements of the world’s population. The association promotes the creation, dissemination, and exchange of scientific and technical knowledge to improve and sustain the global dairy sector, to the benefit of humankind.

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.