AVMA Publications Put Purdue Veterinary Medicine in Spotlight

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine was again featured this year in the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) signature journals – JAVMA (Journal of the AVMA) and the American Journal of Veterinary Research (AJVR) through Spotlight features submitted by the college. The features highlighted college initiatives related to advances in clinical education and One Health research.

The AVMA started the series of Spotlight features in 2023, to give schools and colleges of veterinary medicine that are accredited by the Council on Education the opportunity to showcase their clinical education and research programs. This year, the Purdue Veterinary Medicine articles focused on the college’s partnership with the new Humane Society for Greater Lafayette (HS4GL), as well as the college’s involvement with Purdue University’s newly launched One Health strategic initiative.

The article in the April issue of JAVMA explained how the college’s clinical rotation in shelter medicine was enhanced through visits to HS4GL. It also noted that the shelter’s design reflected the collaboration between Purdue faculty and civic leaders. The result is a facility that enables PVM students to gain valuable hands-on experience in performing examinations, treatments and needed spay/neuter surgeries on shelter animals. The article also highlighted how the college is addressing the shortage of veterinary nurses (technicians and technologists) through the on-campus and distance learning Veterinary Nursing programs. In addition the article detailed the college’s leadership transition, with Dr. Willie Reed becoming Dean Emeritus and Dr. Bret Marsh stepping into the role of dean after serving 30 years as the Indiana State Veterinarian and head of the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.

The AJVR article detailed several college research initiatives that represent key areas of One Health research. Dr. Michael Childress, the Evan and Sue Ann Werling Professor of Comparative Oncology, described how therapies used in pet dogs suffering from cancer can not only improve their lives but also help improve the outlook for human cancer patients. Dr. Suresh Mittal, Distinguished Professor of Virology, explained how H5N1 avian influenza that naturally occurs in wildlife can spread to the domestic poultry population and cattle, especially dairy cattle, which heightens the necessity of his research on a universal influenza vaccine. Dr. Wendy Beauvais assistant professor of epidemiology and public health, shared about her work aimed at finding ways to communicate to the general public about the control of infectious diseases, especially zoonotic diseases.

Click here to view the Spotlight article in JAVMA. Click here to view the AJVR Spotlight article. AVMA’s editor in chief of JAVMA and AJVR, Dr. Lisa Fortier, says the spotlight features especially have been popular on social media. The highly respected journals have achieved total print circulation of nearly 90,000, with website reach of close to 102,000 average monthly unique visitors.