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November 2018 - Vol. 13, No. 11
Top Stories

 

PRRS-on of Interest

Dr. Bob Rowland receives Iman Award for excellence in faculty research

Dr. Bob and Francine Rowland

Two Kansas State University faculty members, one from the CVM and one from the College of Engineering, each received $5,000 awards in recognition of their outstanding research and teaching during a ceremony Oct. 15 at the K-State Alumni Center.

Introduced in 2007, the annual Dr. Ron and Rae Iman Outstanding Faculty Awards are sponsored by the K-State Alumni Association and are made possible through the generosity of Ron and Rae Iman.

 

 

CVM selects 31 new Early Admission Scholars

Early Admission Scholars

A group of 31 Kansas State University undergraduate students will have a special opportunity to fulfill their dreams of becoming veterinarians. The College of Veterinary Medicine recognized these students for being selected in its Early Admission Program during an afternoon ceremony Oct. 26 in Trotter Hall.

Established in 1999, the Early Admission Scholars program has recruited the best and brightest undergraduate students who are interested in studying veterinary medicine.

 

 

Drugs from bugs: NIH grant supports development of unique psoriasis treatment

By Adrian Austin

Dr. Philip Hardwidge at the microscope

Dr. Philip Hardwidge, a microbiologist and biochemist in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, has received a $218,593 grant from the National Institutes of Health for enhancing the development of drug treatments for psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease.

The study, "Using anti-inflammatory bacterial proteins to treat psoriasis," is in collaboration with Christian Rueter and Karin Loser, both with the University of Munster, Munster, Germany. Dr. Hardwidge's research is focused on how bacterial virulence proteins can be developed into anti-inflammatory drugs. This work is derived from the "drugs from bugs" concept.

 

 

Bonus sidebar: Dr. Philip Hardwidge chosen for Chinese higher education consortium

By Adrian Austin

Dr. Philip Hardwidge at Yangzhou University in China

Dr. Philip Hardwidge, professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine, was recently selected as Yangzhou University's representative for the China Higher Ed “111 Plan.” His research team and the research team of Professor Zhu Guoqiang of Yangzhou University have worked closely together over the last 6 years, publishing 16 articles in high-impact journals over that period. The Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE), together with the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs recently announced the 111 Plan to establish innovation centers and gather groups of first-class minds from around the world.

 

 

More Headlines

 

CVM recognizes 27 staff with title of veterinary nurses

Veterinary Nurses - Lisa Bryant, Tinisha Selvy, Christine Hackworth and Emily HerzfeldIn response to a request made in June 2018, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Human Capital Services at Kansas State University have approved a formal job title change from veterinary technician to veterinary nurse effective throughout the college as of Oct. 21.

 

 

K-State recognizes Dr. T.G. Nagaraja

Dr. Philip Hardwidge at Yangzhou University in China

Dr. T.G. Nagaraja was one of two prolific researchers and educators at Kansas State University named as a recipient of a 2018 Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award.

“This year’s recipients, Drs. Kirkpatrick and Nagaraja, are faculty members who excel in research and in the teaching and mentoring of K-State students,” said Shawn Drew, market president and CEO of Commerce Bank, Manhattan.

 

 

Student scholarships awarded at Kansas City One Health Day

Dr. Philip Hardwidge at Yangzhou University in China

Two students with connections to the CVM recently received scholarships in recognition of their One Health-centric research.

The scholarships are part of the recent Kansas City One Health Day. The annual event is organized by Kansas State University, BioKansas and BioNexus KC. It celebrates and spotlights the importance of the complex interrelationships of human, animal and environmental health to the general public. This year's theme was outsmarting antibiotic resistance and the event included a student poster competition.

 

 

Naked mole-rats provide unique mentoring and research opportunity

Drs. David Eshar, Gail Huckins and Trenton Shrader

A group including K-State veterinary faculty, staff, an intern, students and even an alumnus, recently finished an intense three-day anesthesia research project at the Lincoln (Nebraska) Zoo. The featured subject of the project involved naked mole-rats.

“This project is the research internship project of Dr. Gail Huckins, our zoological medicine intern,” said Dr. David Eshar, associate professor in companion exotic pets, wildlife and zoo animal medicine. “The zoo veterinarian, Dr. Trenton Shrader (class of 2015), director of medicine and conservation projects. Also assisting us were three CVM students: Carolyn Mark, Kallie Woodroff and Elizabeth Loos; and VHC staff member Sarah Ostrom.”

 

 

Dr. Stephen Higgs named a recipient of a Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Award

Dr. Stephen Higgs

Dr. Stephen Higgs is one of four faculty members at two Kansas universities to have been named recipients of the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, the state's most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence.

The annual awards are given in four categories of scholarly and creative achievement.

 

 

Regular features

 

Alumni Events, Development and Continuing Education

VMAA logo The Veterinary Medical Alumni Association organizes alumni receptions at several of the national annual conferences plus continuing education events and more. This month's section includes information about our Cat Town Pregame Tailgate events and more.

 

 

News Ticker

 

 

More activities and accomplishments in the College of Veterinary Medicine:

Dr. David Poole has been appointed to the All-University Provost’s Task Force on Faculty Development 2018. He was also invited to speak at the Kansas Physical Therapy Association Annual Meeting, on the topic, “Novel Discoveries: Therapeutic Insights,” held in Manhattan in October.

Dr. Kate KuKanich and fourth-year veterinary student Camille Webb volunteered at this year’s Okt-FLU-ber Fest. Many kids and parents stopped by and learned about influenza in pets as well as practice the dab to prevent spreading the flu. Third-year student Emma Winkley coordinated a booth and creating fun games to teach kids all about therapy dogs, learning how to approach dogs, and recognizing safe and concerning body language in dogs. Her booth was also very successful and well-received.

Dr. T. Annelise Nguyen is the president of the Central State for the Society of Toxicology and the 2018 fall annual scientific meeting held at the K-State Alumni Center.

Dr. Shaun Huser presented, “Preparation for Veterinary Education” for the Careers and Cases in Veterinary Medicine for the K-State Olathe lecture series on Oct. 24.

Dr. Jeff Comer presented “Biomolecules at the Water–Nanomaterial Interface: An Atomic-Scale Perspective,” Department of Chemistry, University of West Virginia, Morgantown, West Virginia, Oct. 17.

Dr. Hans Coetzee presented four hours of CE credit at Association of Veterinary Surgeons Practicing in Northern Ireland (AVSPNI) Annual Conference in Newcastle, Co. Down, Northern Ireland.

The Pre-Conference Workshop – Veterinary Cancer Society Annual was recently held in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Butch KuKanich was a key note speaker. Topic: “The ins and outs of drug compounding in veterinary medicine.”

Dr. Cindy Bell presented “Oral Pathology and Biopsy Basics“on Oct. 5 at the Dental Intensive Weekend. This CE event for veterinarians and veterinary technicians was hosted in Lenexa, Kansas, by Companion Animal Dentistry of Kansas City, which is owned and operated by Dr. Susan Crowder, DVM class of 1998, and Dr. Scott MacGee, DVM class of 1997. Both Drs. Crowder and MacGee are board certified in veterinary dentistry.

Nicole Robben, a student in Dr. Masaaki Tamura’s lab, received a 2018 Cancer Research Award from the Johnson Cancer Research Center at Kansas State.

Dr. Megan Niederwerder was an invited speaker at the High Quality Pork Congress in Baveno, Italy, Oct. 9-10. The title of her talk was "Microbiome in swine - Its role from a PRDC perspective." She was an invited keynote speaker at the seventh annual Symposium on Gut Health in Production of Food Animals in St. Louis, Missour, Nov. 5-7. Her talk was entitled "Role of the gut microbiome on outcome following viral respiratory infections in nursery pigs."

Drs. Meena Kumari and Antje Anji shared news about a recent publication: "Urea can inhibit efficient reduction and alkylation of protein dimers in solution demonstrated by the beta subunit of alpha glucosidase II, Analytical Biochemistry" (2018), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2018.10.008.

Several Clinical Sciences surgeons traveled to the 2018 American College of Veterinary Surgeons Surgery Summit Oct. 23-27 in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Elizabeth Santschi was a seminar chair for the equine/large animal round-table discussion and a speaker for the topics "Management of SBCs," "Postoperative Colic Care" and "Joint Treatment for OA." She also presented two abstracts: “Stifle Radiographs in Young Thoroughbreds” and “Finite Element Model of Equine MFC SCL.” Resident Dr. Cori Youngblood presented a poster and abstract, “Effect of position on transdiaphragmatic pressure and hemodynamic variables in anesthetized horses.” Dr. James Roush and his mentee, Dr. Megan Wilson presented a poster and oral presentation, “Stance Analysis Variability in Dogs with Lameness.”

Dr. Bob Larson presented at the Auburn 2018 Annual Conference and J. T. Vaughan Equine Conference Oct. 18-20. His presentations were titled: “Postpartum Anestrus: Importance and Evaluation”, “Heifer Development: Nutritional Considerations,” and “Using the Pregnancy Analytics App to Add Value to Preg-Checking.”

Yu-Shin Wang, a student in Dr. Zhoumeng Lin’s lab, received the outstanding poster presentation award in the Central States Society of Toxicology (CSSOT) annual meeting in Manhattan, Oct. 18-19.

Dr. Susan Moore gave a talk at the USAHA Rabies Sub-Committee IN Kansas on Oct. 23 titled, “Updates in Rabies Vaccine Protocols and Diagnostic Techniques Used Globally and Nationally.”

Dr. Sue Nelson presented, “Things that Give You the Creepy Crawlies: Internal and External Parasite Control for Dogs and Cats” for the Careers and Cases in Veterinary Medicine for the K-State Olathe lecture series on Oct. 10.

Dr. Laurie Beard presented at the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners Symposium Oct. 11-14 in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Beard presented the following six lectures: "Strangles Outbreaks and How To Manage Them," "Inflammatory and Immune Mediated Myopathies in Horses," "Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Pars Pituitary Intermedia Dysfunction in Horses," "Equine Diseases with Low Vitamin E Concentrations," "Vestibular Disease in Horses," and "Genetic Diseases in Horses."

Dr. Elizabeth Davis presented at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences Fall Conference at Oklahoma State on Oct. 11-12. She presented seven lectures on the following topics: "Non-infectious respiratory disease," "Infectious respiratory disease," "Immune-mediated disease in horses," "Equine gastric ulcers," "Equine muscle disease," "Update on equine neurologic disease," and "EHV-1 and EPM." Dr. Davis was also part of a live webinar, “Ask the Horse Live, Core Vaccines Every Horse Needs,” which was posted online at https://thehorse.com/161084/core-vaccines-every-horse-needs/. She was also nominated at K-SAtate to receive a Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs (DMSA) Family Recognition Pin. A ceremony was held Oct. 31 to recognize all nominees for their positive contributions to the K-State community.

Dr. David Biller spoke at a veterinary meeting in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Oct. 29 – Nov. 2. He presented the following lectures and abstracts: "Imaging of the young lame Canine Patient," "Imaging of Gastrointestinal Obstruction," "Interpretation of a Normal Thoracic Radiograph," "Panicking about Pulmonary Patterns," "Invasive Ultrasound," and "Ultrasound in the Emergency and Critical Care Patient."

A group of CVM editorial managers have published the new issue of the One Health Newsletter. This month's theme is Microbiota and includes an article written by the Dr. Megan Neiderwerder as well as several other articles. The editorial board includes Drs. Paige Adams and Jean Paul Gonzalez from the CVM and Dr. Ellyn Mulcahy from the Master of Public Health program at Kansas State University. The One Health Newsletter is a collaborative effort by a diverse group of scientists and health professionals committed to promoting One Health. This newsletter was created to lend support to the One Health Initiative and is dedicated to enhancing the integration of animal, human, and environmental health for the benefit of all by demonstrating One Health in practice.

Rabies Lab sends team to Argentina for Rabies in the Americas conference

The Rabies Lab was well-represented at the Rabies in the Americas (RITA) meeting in Buenos Aires Oct. 28 to Nov. 1. See pictures below from the event.

Dr. Susan Moore at RITA - poster
Dr. Moore presents poster titled "Antibody levels in different groups of pets following vaccination“ at Rabies in the Americas in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Dr. Ram Raghavan at RITA - poster
Dr. Ram Raghavan answers questions about his poster, "Spatial Non-Randomness of Skunk and Skunk Rabies Distribution in the Central Great Plains." He also gave a talk on “Evaluating the rate and direction of skunk rabies spread in the Great Plains.”

Dr. Susan Moore on RITA panel
K-State Rabies Lab Director Dr. Susan Moore sits in on a panel discussion at RITA. While at RITA, Dr. Moore also gave a talk on, “The overlooked role of serology in bat lyssavirus surveillance.”
Dr. Susan Moore and Beth McQuade
Dr. Susan Moore and Beth McQuade, a research assistant in the Rabies Lab, announce the location of the 2019 RITA conference. McQuade also gave a talk for Sami Pralle (who could not attend), “Validation and Evaluation of Rabies Virus Neutralizing Antibody Measurement by the Fluorescent Antibody virus Neutralization Test Utilizing a Biotek Cytation.

Great turnout at DVM Job Fair

K-State tours savannah
The DVM Job Fair was held Oct. 20 at the K-State Student Union and featured 73 employers (about 34 from Kansas), and the rest represented the following states: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming. The Job Fair also hosted several corporations or practices that have locations in different states: MAVANA, USDA, Banfield Pet Hospital, Blue River Pet Care and Veterinary Practice Partners.

Drs. Tom Schwartz, Brad White, Chuck Dodd and Beth Davis assisted Dr. Peggy Schmidt, along with help from Miranda Schremmer and Dee Roblyer. Approximately 120 students attended the Job Fair, with students from all four class years.

Halloween happenings at the CVM

Halloween collage No. 1
Thanks to everyone who submitted and/or posed for photos. Some of the photos have been shared at the KSUCVM Facebook page, but we've saved several for Lifelines. From left, Alexis Zajac (submitted by Michelle Zajac); Dr. Jamie Henningson; fourth-year student Leah Solderman; and Drs. Judy Klimek and Peggy Schmidt.
Halloween collage No. 2
From top left: Shannon Nicholson, Amy Thornborrow, Teresa Lynch, Cindy Mott and Malissa Thomas; Sombra Wilson (submitted by Sarah Wilson); Kimberly Glotzbach and Shawna Nehls; Fegus Thomsen (submitted by Lydia Thomsen; the Sara Gonzalez and family - Harry Potter (Harrison), Hermione (Penelope), Bellatrix (Sara), and Snape (John); first-year interns Drs. Matt DiFazio,Adam Hunt, Monica Chen, Amy Belanger, Allison Mallard and Ana Clara Munoz; and the Pet Health crew Jordyn Kovach, Dr. Susan Nelson and Rachel Wright.

Use Antibiotics Wisely Week - Nov. 12-18

Anitbiotics graphic
Learn more at the Use Antibiotics Wisely website.

 

New Arrivals/Recent Departures

 

Lifelines is published each month by the Marketing and Communications Office at the College of Veterinary Medicine. The editor is Joe Montgomery, jmontgom@vet.k-state.edu.

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