{"id":33456,"date":"2026-04-24T12:08:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/?p=33456"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:28:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:28:44","slug":"annual-research-day-highlights-scientific-discovery-in-college-of-veterinary-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/annual-research-day-highlights-scientific-discovery-in-college-of-veterinary-medicine.php","title":{"rendered":"Annual Research Day Highlights Scientific Discovery in College of Veterinary Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Purdue Veterinary Medicine celebrated veterinary medical and One Health scholarship during the 2026 PVM Research Day \u2013 an annual event hosted in April by the College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Office of Research and the Omicron Chapter of the Society of Phi Zeta, which is the Honor Society of Veterinary Medicine.\u00a0\u00a0Held Friday, April 10 in Lynn Hall, the event gave faculty, residents, postdoctoral fellows, and students the opportunity to present clinical and basic research findings, and hear lectures on topics important to animal and human health.\u00a0\u00a0Another special feature of the day was the Research Poster competition and the closing reception when awards were presented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Research Day began with a keynote presentation by Dr. Qijing Zhang, BVSc, MS, PhD, a microbiologist at Iowa State University recognized for his work on antimicrobial resistance and bacterial pathogenesis. Dr. Zhang is the Clarence Hartley Covault Distinguished Professor and Dr. Roger and Marilyn Mahr Chair in One Health at Iowa State\u2019s College of Veterinary Medicine. His talk entitled, “One Pathogen, Many Hosts: Combating Hypervirulent and Antibiotic-Resistant Campylobacter through One Health and Collaborative Sciences,\u201d attracted a capacity crowd of students as well as faculty and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Zhang\u2019s research focuses on transmission, evolution, pathogenesis, and antimicrobial resistance of foodborne and zoonotic pathogens at the animal-human interface. With an engaging speaking style, Dr. Zhang shared how Campylobacter is a zoonotic pathogen that colonizes a wide range of animal hosts. He went on to describe a hypervirulent Campylobacter clone, designated clone SA, which has emerged as a leading cause of ovine abortion and foodborne enteritis in humans in the United States, representing a significant One Health challenge at the animal\u2013human interface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Zhang said clone SA is characterized by heightened virulence, rapid transmission, antimicrobial resistance, and the ability to cause systemic infection in pregnant animals. He added that through a comprehensive investigative approach, its enhanced virulence has been linked to specific mutations in the major outer membrane protein, and the recent emergence and expansion of clone SA appear to be driven by converging selective pressures, including antimicrobial use and host immune responses. He emphasizes that addressing this threat requires a truly collaborative, cross-disciplinary effort, which underscores the critical importance of breaking disciplinary silos to confront emerging zoonotic threats in the One Health era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Dr. Zhang\u2019s talk, the Research Day continued with a series of research presentations by Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty members. The talks were organized into parallel tracks covering the topics of Cancer, Companion Animals, and Translational Science. The Cancer panel session was moderated by Dr. Susan Mendrysa, associate dean for research, and featured talks by Dr. Michael Wendt, Dr. Katie Hebron and Dr. Andrea dos Santos.\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Wendy Beauvais, assistant professor of epidemiology and public health and Omicron Chapter president, moderated the Companion Animals panel session which included presentations by Dr. Shawna Klahn, Dr. Sarah Malek and Dr. Leanne Nieforth.\u00a0\u00a0The Translational Science panel session, moderated by Dr. Ahmed Hassan, research assistant professor in the Comparative Pathobiology Department, included talks by Dr. Suresh Mittal, Dr. Harm HogenEsch, and Dr. Viju Pillai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The midday lunch break coincided with the Poster Session that featured nearly 60 research posters, which were evaluated by a panel of judges in three categories: Basic Research, Clinical\/Applied Research, and DVM student research.  Cash prizes were awarded for first- and second-place in each category.  Congratulations to the following prize winners:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"people
A research Poster Session featured nearly 60 posters covering basic and clinical\/applied research projects.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"a
Abhishek Datta, a PhD student in the Thangamani Lab in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology, explains his research poster on Candida auris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Basic Research<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Place \u2013 Madeline Coffey, graduate research assistant, Basic Medical Sciences Department
Second Place \u2013 Surya Teja Murala, graduate research assistant, Comparative Pathobiology Department<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"four
President of the Omicron Chapter of the Society of Phi Zeta Wendy Beauvais (left) with first- and second-place winners in the Basic Research Poster category Madeline Coffey and Surya Teja Murala, along with the Research Day keynote speaker, Dr. Qijing Zhang.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clinical\/Applied Research<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Place \u2013 Giovanna Vinci Roberto, graduate research assistant, Comparative Pathobiology Department
Second Place \u2013 Ana Soares, visiting scholar, Comparative Pathobiology Department<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"four
Second- and first-place winners in the Clinical\/Applied Research Poster category Ana Soares (2nd<\/sup> from left) and Giovanna Vinici Roberto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DVM Student<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Place \u2013 Emily Godollei-Jacob, DVM Class of 2028
Second Place \u2013 Kyra Holt, DVM Class of 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remainder of the Research Day involved special research talks by award winning residents, graduate students and faculty.  The event concluded with a reception for Dr. Zhang and an awards presentation in the Veterinary Medical Library.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to these award recipients.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phi Zeta Manuscript Award \u2013 Clinical\/Applied Research<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Emma Stapley, graduate student, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"three
Dr. Emma Stapley (right), a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, received the Phi Zeta manuscript Award for clinical\/applied research.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Phi Zeta Omicron Graduate Student Award<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1st<\/sup> place \u2013 Dr. Wen-Chien Wang, postdoctoral research associate, Department of Comparative Pathobiology
2nd<\/sup> place \u2013 Madeline Coffey, graduate research assistant, Department of Basic Medical Sciences<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PVM Graduate Student Research Award<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1st<\/sup> place \u2013 Marwa Alhashimi, graduate student, Department of Comparative Pathobiology
2nd<\/sup> place \u2013 Yanru Ji, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Basic Medical Sciences<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phi Zeta Omicron Osborne Award for Clinical Investigation<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Em Adam, Dr. Alison Vancouver, and Dr. Marcela Apuy Martinez, all clinical pathology residents in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology, received the awards for first-, second-, and third-place, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"five
Dr. Beauvais and Dr. Zhang with the finalists for the Phi Zeta Omicron Osborne Awards for Clinical Investigation (left-right) Drs. Em Adam (1st<\/sup> Place), Marcela Apuy Martinez (2nd<\/sup> Place) and Alison Vancouver (3rd<\/sup> Place).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another element of the Research Day program was the induction of new Phi Zeta members, who include several third- and fourth-year veterinary students, residents and faculty in the Departments of Basic Medical Sciences, Comparative Pathobiology and Veterinary Clinical Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Purdue Veterinary Medicine celebrated veterinary medical and One Health scholarship during the 2026 PVM Research Day \u2013 an annual event hosted in April by the College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Omicron Chapter of the Society of Phi Zeta, which is the Honor Society of Veterinary Medicine.\u00a0\u00a0Held Friday, April 10 in Lynn Hall, the event gave faculty, residents, postdoctoral fellows, and students the opportunity to present clinical and basic research findings, and hear lectures on topics important to animal and human health.\u00a0\u00a0Another special feature of the day was the Research Poster competition and the closing reception when awards were presented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":33457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1054,11],"tags":[242],"class_list":["post-33456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-graduate-student","category-research","tag-pvm-research-day"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33456"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33492,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33456\/revisions\/33492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}