K-State Faculty Member Receives Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year Award

Manhattan – Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine faculty member Dr. Lisa C. Freeman received the Association for Women Veterinarians' Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year Award. The award presentation took place during the annual meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association July 13, 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Freeman, who is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology, is recognized for special effort and achievement by a woman veterinarian in any area of veterinary medicine. She was nominated for the award by Dr. Frank Blecha, Head of the Department of Anatomy & Physiology and a University Distinguished Professor at K-State.

Dr. Freeman serves K-State, the veterinary profession and her community by being a teacher and mentor, researcher and scientist, administrator and leader.

"Aspiring veterinarians and researchers could not choose a better role model than Dr. Lisa Freeman," said Dr. Ralph Richardson, Dean of the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine. "She is one of very few women veterinarians in the country with private practice experience, graduate and post-doctoral training and an active, peer-reviewed research program that embraces both basic and applied research."

Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Freeman has instructed trainees ranging from undergraduates to post-doctoral fellows. She currently contributes to a course in pharmacology for second year students in the professional veterinary curriculum and has acted as an adviser to many veterinary students. She has also served as a research mentor and role model for countless post-doctoral students, clinical residents and young faculty members, many of whom have gone on to work in premier positions within the veterinary and medical professions.

In 2001, Dr. Freeman became Director of Mentored Training, which includes administering the Veterinary Research Scholars Program at K-State. Her efforts were instrumental in attaining funding for the program through the National Institutes of Health and Merck-Merial Foundation, bringing K-State to the forefront of comparative biomedical research. The intense program is dedicated to training 10 veterinary students each summer in a research laboratory.

Since joining the K-State faculty in 1994, Dr. Freeman has established a nationally recognized, extramurally-funded research laboratory in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology. Her primary interests include the structure and function of ion channels, particularly potassium channels, in the heart and ovary. Dr. Freeman is the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and abstracts. She has been an invited guest presenter at national and international research venues around the world.

Dr. Freeman is active in several professional activities. She is an activities team-leader for Girls Researching Our World (GROW), a National Science Foundation-funded program designed to enhance the interest of pre-college girls in science, math, engineering and technology. Dr. Freeman is an ad-hoc reviewer and serves on the editorial boards and study sections for several major research publications and funding agencies. Professional memberships include the Biophysical Society, American Physiological Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Basic Science Council of the American Heart Association. Veterinary involvements include the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Association for Women Veterinarians, for which she served as Awards Chair from 1988-1998 and is still a member. She is active within the Sigma Chapter of the Phi Zeta Veterinary Honorary Society and served as Chapter President from 1998-1999.

Dr. Freeman earned a bachelor's degree in 1981 and a master's degree and doctor of veterinary medicine in 1986 from Cornell University. She went on to earn a PhD in Pharmacology from The Ohio State University in 1989 while working as a part-time staff veterinarian at an animal clinic. She worked as a post-doctoral fellow and research scientist at the University of Rochester School of Medicine prior to coming to K-State.