The distinguished professors are appointed following a universitywide nomination and evaluation process conducted by the provost. All five faculty members will receive a personalized plaque and medallion at the university’s fall 2017 commencement ceremonies.

Dr. Musch is a faculty member in the departments of kinesiology as well as anatomy and physiology. He is the co-director of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Cardiorespiratory Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory. His research interests include the mechanisms associated with exercise performance in health and disease focusing on chronic heart failure.

He came to Kansas State University in 1993 and served as the College of Human Ecology's interim associate dean for research and scholarship from 2013-2015. He has received more than $4.8 million in research funding from a variety of national organizations, including the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. He has published nearly 200 peer-reviewed journals and book chapters and his work has been cited more than 7,000 times.

Dr. Musch is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Physiological Society. He also is a member of the American Heart Association and has served on the Scientific Advisory Council for the American Federation for Aging Research.

He has provided service to numerous national scientific organizations, including NASA, the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Physiological Society and the National Institutes of Health. He has been an associate editor and manuscript reviewer for several journals.

Dr. Musch received the national New Investigator Award in 1986 and the national Citation Award in 2013 from the American College of Sports Medicine. He also received the national Arthur C. Guyton Educator of the Year Award from the American Physiological Society in 2013. At Kansas State University, he has received the 1998 Presidential Award for Undergraduate Teaching and the 2014 Zoetis Award for Excellence in Research.

Dr. Musch was a postdoctoral fellow in cardiovascular physiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, now the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He earned his doctorate in exercise physiology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1981 and his master's and bachelor's degrees in physical education from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974 and 1972.

A member of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Equine Practitioners, American Association of Immunologists, American Association of Veterinary Immunologists, Kansas Veterinary Medical Association, Florida Veterinary Medical Association and Florida Association of Equine Practitioners, Dr. Davis also is a board member of the Kansas Horse Council. Along with serving as the immediate past president for the executive board of the Kansas Veterinary Medical Association, Davis has had leadership roles with other specialty boards.

Among Dr. Davis' many honors are the 2016 Dr. William and Deanna Pritchard Veterinary Service and Outreach Award, the 2010 and 2007 Mary J. Reed Equine Compassion Award, and the 2007 Carl J. Pfizer Distinguished Teacher Award. In 2015, she was selected for the Kansas State University Distinguished Service Award by the Kansas Veterinary Medical Association for her work with veterinarians in Kansas.

The CEVBD is an interdisciplinary research center with a mission to combat vector-borne diseases with a focus on pathogenesis, surveillance and disease prevention.

"I think that the importance of the center’s work on vector-borne diseases isn’t fully recognized yet,” said Ken Aron, chief technology officer at Abaxis. “With climate change, increased affluence in Asia bringing animal-protein sources into urban areas, and with urban areas increasingly encroaching on animal habitats, vector borne diseases will be a coming public health crisis. The Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases is in the forefront of this work.”

“These funds continue to help in the building of novel projects, such as initiating vaccine projects on important tick-borne diseases of companion and agricultural animals, training of scientists and in enhancing the growth of the center,” said Dr. Roman Ganta, professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology and director of the center. “In particular, this year’s funding will be utilized in initiating new vaccine studies to combat canine ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis and also to continue the center’s efforts towards the vaccine development against Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), human ehrlichiosis, and heartwater disease in ruminants.”

So far, the gifts from Abaxis have helped provide funding to establish the CEVBD in 2015. Last year, the funding supported several new projects, including a collaborative research project on Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), bovine anaplasmosis focused on evaluating epidemiology, pathogenesis, immunity and vaccine development.

Funds for the CEVBD help to provide financial aid for three graduate students (two Master of Science and one doctoral student). The center also added a research associate position with partial support from the Abaxis foundation funds.

Dr. Wren is a Kansas State University graduate with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1958, a master’s degree in veterinary pathology in 1962 and a doctorate in veterinary pathology in 1965. He was also an instructor in the veterinary college for a few years, before eventually leaving to work in private industry throughout the rest of his career.

The Dr. W. Bruce Wren Food Animal Incentive Awards are designed to recognize recent graduates from veterinary colleges or schools and to encourage veterinarians to enter food animal practice or other careers directly related to food animal practice, such as food animal education and/or research.

Dr. Robinson received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University in 2016. She lives near Olsburg, Kansas, where she and her fiancé have an Angus cattle operation.

“Ultimately my mission as a food animal practitioner is to serve as a valued resource for producers in reaching their production and animal health goals,” Dr. Robinson said. “I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to provide farmers and ranchers in this region with cutting-edge services and solutions as part of the progressive team here at Kansas State University.”

Recipients of the food animal incentive award were selected on the basis of demonstrating leadership and must be postgraduate students from an accredited college or school of veterinary medicine. Each must also be an intern or first-year resident in theriogenology, production medicine or food animal medicine/surgery. The respective training program must by recognized by American Association of Veterinary Clinicians.

The University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine created the application, while individuals from the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratory (KSVDL) provided consultation about expanding the the app to include cow-calf operations Dr. Gregg Hanzlicek, KSVDL, was one who helped in this process.

“The app was already an awesome tool designed for dairy veterinarians,” Dr. Hanzlicek said, “We thought it would also be a great tool for cow-calf veterinarains so we asked Dr. Collins and Tom Bennett if they could redesign it for this purpose.”

So far, there are approximately 700 users for the Johne’s Disease Risk Assessor App. The app helps convert the RAMP into an electronic version. It is currently only available for Apple devices; however, they are currently sorting details for it to be available on Android systems.

“The goal is to reduce or eliminate risks for the introduction and/or spread of Johne’s disease. Implementation of management practices aimed at Johne’s disease control will increase herd biosecurity and reduce the risk for transmission of other fecal-oral transmitted pathogens,” said Thomas Bennet, Sr. Information processing consultant – University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.

After downloading the app, users will see seven tabs:

• History
• Calf
• Heifer
• Adult/Replacement
• Summary
• Recommendations
• PDF Viewer

Users should start completing the process by starting with “history” and moving along the tabs to the right. Once users complete each tab of information, they are then able to save the document as a pdf version. If users wish, they may also print the document.

With the help of the app, gathering all the information is a simpler process. Veterinarians can easily access the information and have a basic understanding of the work that has been previously done with implementations towards Johne’s disease. Users will be able to enter the veterinarian’s information (including name, clinic name and clinic address) into the app as well.

With the new Johne’s Risk Assessor App, users can easily have their RAMP available to them at any moment and at the palm of their hands.

The Veterinary Health Center hosts Operation Gelding, giving several students opportunities to participate in the different aspects equine surgery and anesthesia. (Photos by Susan Rose and Joe Montgomery)

Alumni Fellow enters the Hot Zone

The CVM hosted its 2017 Alumni Fellow, Dr. Jerry Jaax, DVM class of 1972, retired associate vice president for research compliance at Kansas State University, who gave an All-College Seminar April 20.

While at KSU, Dr. Jaax was the PI on a multimillion dollar research project, and has authored numerous articles, book and encyclopedia chapters on diverse topics including laboratory animal medicine; human subjects’ research compliance, and emerging infectious disease and response. He was heavily involved in the effort to build K-State’s Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) and bring the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF) to Manhattan. While assigned to U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick, he was a key participant in the Reston Ebola virus outbreak, in Reston, Va. – described in the No. 1 NY Times bestseller, “The Hot Zone” by Richard Preston, which he spoke about during his seminar.

For more information about the Alumni Fellows program, including a full listing of the 2017 Alumni Fellows, visit www.k-state.com/fellows.

Some of the Alumni Fellow activities with Dean Tammy Beckham and K-State President Richard Myers.

In Memoriam - Recently Departed Alumni

Questions about Alumni or CE events?

Contact:

Ashley McCowan
Alumni and Events Coordinator
785-532-4833
amccowan@vet.k-state.edu

Dana Parker
Program Assistant
785-532-4528
dlaparker@vet.k-state.edu

Welcome to:

Caleb Kueser, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Research Assistant
Kadence Orr, Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Administrative Assistant
Lauren Pearson, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Research Assistant
Mary Cross, Veterinary Health Center, Client Services Assistant
Dr. Ryane Englar, Clinical Sciences, Clinical Assistant Professor
Teresa Lynch, Veterinary Health Center, Client Services Assistant
Cathryn Stevens-Sparks, Anatomy & Physiology, Clinical Assistant Professor
Belinda Snyder, Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Program Assistant

Farewell to:

Dr. Guanxing Chen, Anatomy & Physiology, Fellow (Post-Doc)
Dr. Meghana Ramani, Anatomy & Physiology, Fellow (Post-Doc)
Dr. Elva Cha, Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Research Assistant Professor