Department of Anatomy and Physiology presents Westfall fellowship to graduate student Mikaela Weeder
Mikaela Weeder, Sheridan, Wyoming, a doctoral student in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology, was selected as this year’s recipient of the Dr. Jane A. Westfall Graduate Fellowship for Women.
Mikaela earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science from K-State in 2021. As a graduate student, her research focuses on the optimization of analgesic drug regimens for goats with lameness. Mikaela's major professors are former K-State professor, Dr. Michael Kleinhenz (now at Texas A&M University) and Dr. Hans Coetzee, interim vice president for research at Kansas State University.
Dr. Mike Apley, head of the Department of Anatomy and Physiology presents the Dr. Jane A. Westfall Graduate Student Fellowship award to Mikaela Weeder, a doctoral student.
“I am so grateful to receive the Dr. Jane A. Westfall Award,” Mikaela said. “I am a first-generation college student, and this award will tremendously help me financially in my pursuit of higher education. I hope to honor Dr. Westfall's legacy by exemplifying her traits of achievement, generosity, and leadership in my new position.”
“The grant [for this center] focuses on evaluating analgesic efficacy in food animals and supporting the approval of new drugs,” Mikaela said. “I am very excited and grateful for my new position and look forward to expanding our current knowledge of pain mitigation in food animals.”
“Mikaela is an excellent student and researcher who is showing tremendous professional potential,” said Dr. Mike Apley, head of the Department of Anatomy and Physiology. “We thank our selection committee for helping with ensuring we have a worthy recipient for the Westfall Fellowship. Mikaela honors Dr. Westfall’s legacy and she will be a valuable asset to the department.”
Mikaela meets with other graduates students in the veterinary college.
Dr. Westfall was a longtime professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
“When I came to Kansas State University in 1967, there were only two women and 70 men in the class studying for the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree,” said the late Dr. Westfall in 2017. “I have enjoyed seeing the rise of women in the veterinary field. I wish all veterinary students to have equality and diversity in life and fulfillment with the animals they treat.”
Dr. Westfall was promoted to associate professor in 1970, and to full professor in 1976 — the first woman to do so in the College of Veterinary Medicine. She passed away in 2021.
Recipients of the Westfall Fellowship should have an interest in pursuing the opportunity to present their research at the national level and possess either a Bachelor of Science or Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree while demonstrating the academic capability of being highly competent in the field of research.