PVM Veterinary Technology Advisory Board Meets to Provide Input

PVM Veterinary Technology Advisory Board Members: Back row (L to R): Dr. John Schnarr, Dr. Steve Sunbury, Dr. John Feutz, Dr. Brandon Stapleton, and Beth Skiles, RVT, with Dr. Bianca Zenor, Veterinary Technology Program director; Front Row (L to R): Dr. Susan Prieto-Welch, Amanda Durnell, RVT, and Mattie Floyd. (Not pictured, Dr. Larry McAfee).

PVM Veterinary Technology Advisory Board members: back row (left to right): Dr. John Schnarr, Dr. Steve Sunbury, Dr. John Feutz, Dr. Brandon Stapleton, and Beth Skiles, RVT, with Dr. Bianca Zenor, Veterinary Technology Program director; front row (left to right): Dr. Susan Prieto-Welch, Amanda Durnell, RVT, and Mattie Floyd. (Not pictured: Dr. Larry McAfee)

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Technology Advisory Board gathered for its annual meeting in Lynn Hall last month. Board members include current veterinary technology students from both on-campus and distance learning, alumni of both the DVM and Veterinary Technology Programs, and at-large representatives. Board members provide the Veterinary Technology Program with valuable input from private practice, industry, lab animal research, and academia.

The board members who participated in the meeting December 18 are:

  • Dr. John Schnarr (PU DVM ’70), Irvington Pet Clinic, Indianapolis, Ind.
  • Dr. Steve Sunbury (PU DVM ’93), Seymour Animal Hosp., Seymour, Ind.
  • Dr. John Feutz (PU DVM 2005), Princeton Veterinary Hosp., Princeton, Ind.
  • Dr. Larry McAfee (PU DVM ’73), McAfee Animal Hosp., Valparaiso, Ind.
  • Dr. Brandon Stapleton, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Fort Wayne, Ind.
  • Beth Skiles, RVT, (PVM AS-VT 2005) Indiana Veterinary Technician Association (IVTA) representative, Indianapolis, Ind.
  • Dr. Susan Prieto-Welch, counseling center director, Purdue Counseling and Psychological Services
  • Amanda Durnell, RVT, (PVM AS-VT ’96) Covance, Pendleton, Ind.
  • Mattie Floyd, VT Class of 2019.

Many thanks to the members of the Veterinary Technology Advisory Board!

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.