PVM Cares! Mission Accomplished!

August 9, 2024

Miller Elementary School students and families were excited to see backpacks filled with study supplies awaiting them at the start of the new school year.
Miller Elementary School students and families were excited to see backpacks filled with study supplies awaiting them at the start of the new school year.

The inaugural mission of PVM Cares! was to provide homework supplies to students at Miller Elementary School – Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s community partner. Miller students receive classroom school supplies at no cost; however, they do not receive supplies that enable them to complete homework and other projects at home. Thanks to many contributors of supplies and time, a total of 500 backpacks were filled at Lynn Hall with pencils, erasers, colored pencils, crayons, safe scissors, notebooks, rulers, highlighters, glue sticks, and a Vet Adventures SuperPower Pack! Then the backpacks were delivered to the school before the students returned to the classroom. As a result, every Miller student received a Purdue Veterinary Medicine League of VetaHumanz-Miller Elementary School backpack. The Students found the backpacks at their desks when they met their teachers this week on Monday, August 5.

Many Thanks to the Suppliers, Assemblers, and Field Agents who contributed to our success in accomplishing our mission!

• Kara Burns
• Grace Craig
• Kevin Doerr
• Holly Englert
• Lisa Greenberg
• Shelley Harmon
• Andrea Kellogg
• Dr. Ellen Lowery
• Dr. Colleen Maguire Jackson
• Dr. Anna McManamey
• Tom Mauch
• Dr. Susan Prieto-Welch
• Dr. Willie Reed
• Dr. Sandy San Miguel
• Jennifer Smith
• Sheila Stingle
• Eva Tatman
• Susan Xioufaridou

Volunteers participating in PVM Cares! filled 500 backpacks with homework supplies – enough for every Miller Elementary student to receive one.
Volunteers participating in PVM Cares! filled 500 backpacks with homework supplies for students at Miller Elementary School.

Even if it didn’t work out for you to help with the backpack project, you still can join PVM Cares!, which provides opportunities for everyone in our college to engage with our community as we join superpowers with Thomas Miller Elementary School for mutual transformation! Together, we support students in their quest for scientific knowledge and STEM career exploration. Visit https://vet.purdue.edu/vetahumanz/pvm-cares/ to learn more and sign up.

Consider joining PVM Cares! today.

During volunteer works sessions in Lynn Hall, a total of 500 backpacks were prepared so they could be delivered to Miller Elementary School – enough for every Miller Elementary student to receive one.
During volunteer work sessions in Lynn Hall, enough backpacks were prepared for every Miller Elementary student received one.

PVM Cares is part of The League of VetaHumanz, supported by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The League is committed to engaging with under-resourced communities to provide access and support for youth who aspire to careers in the veterinary profession.

Writer(s): Dr. Sandra San Miguel, 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.