Congratulations to Dr. Vanessa Horton, PhD candidate in Dr. Natalia Cernicchiaro’s group and valued member of the CORE team, on the successful defense of her dissertation: “Evidence-based Approaches to Health Risk Mitigation and Value Creation in U.S. Livestock Production Systems.” This is a very well-deserved achievement. Congratulations, Vanessa!
Members of CORE present research at K-State’s “Posters, Pinot, and Partnerships” Event
Christy Hanthorn, Natalia Cernicchiaro, and Ashley Thackrah presented their poster, “Barrier or Breach? Assessing Swine Housing Features for Mosquito Threats,” at the Posters, Pinot, and Partnerships event held on October 9, 2025, at Hale Library. Conducted in collaboration with researchers from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), the study explores how swine housing design affects mosquito abundance and disease risk—advancing efforts to strengthen biosecurity in livestock production systems. Sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research and K-State Libraries, the Posters, Pinot, and Partnerships series fosters collaboration and knowledge exchange among K-State scholars. The October session highlighted research in Enabling Technologies and Global Food Security and Biosecurity.
Research Update: Dr. David Renter
Dr. David Renter presented “Making Treatment Choices for Reducing BRD and Death Loss” at the 2025 K-State Beef Stocker Field Day on September 25th. High Plains Journal highlighted this presentation and the complexities of treating bovine respiratory disease in the article “K-State research underscores complexity of treating bovine respiratory disease.”
2025 American Association of Bovine Practitioners Annual Conference
The American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Annual Conference took place September 11-13, 2025, in Omaha, Nebraska. CORE members Dr. Mike Sanderson, Dr. Vanessa Horton, and Torre Dunlea presented oral presentations, and Brittany Hirsch, KSU DVM student, presented a poster.
Torre Dunlea was awarded 3rd place in the Graduate Student Competition for her presentation entitled “A quantitative model of the risk of FMD transmission following cattle movements during an outbreak.”
Dr. Vanessa Horton presented “Understanding metaphylaxis practices for cattle at uncertain risk for bovine respiratory disease across U.S. feedlots: a survey of veterinary consultants and feedlot managers.”
Dr. Mike Sanderson presented on Dr. MaRyka Smith’s work, “Model-based impacts of improved traceability of cattle in Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks in the United States.”
Brittany Hirsch presented a poster titled “On-farm guidance for preventing cattle death loss due to nitrate poisoning from contaminated water sources.”
2025 Academy of Veterinary Consultants Summer Conference
CORE members, Drs. Vanessa Horton, Christy Hanthorn, and Natalia Cernicchiaro attended the 2025 Academy of Veterinary Consultants (AVC) Summer Conference from August 7-9, 2025 in Norman, Oklahoma. Dr. Horton, PhD candidate, presented findings from our nationwide survey on metaphylaxis practices for cattle at uncertain risk of bovine respiratory disease, offering valuable insights to support evidence-based decisions in U.S. feedlots. This invitation reflects CORE’s continued engagement with industry stakeholders and commitment to providing research that supports evidence-based management decisions in cattle production systems.
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KSU DVM student Brittany Hirsch participated in the Veterinary Research Scholars Program (VRSP) this summer and presented her research poster, “On-farm guidance for preventing cattle death loss due to nitrate poisoning from contaminated water sources” at the 2025 KSU VRSP poster session. Brittany was mentored by Drs. Scott Fritz, Christy Hanthorn, and Mike Sanderson.
Developing Scholar Alyssa Boudreau presented her research poster, “Unmasking the Bite: Tracing Host DNA from Mosquito Blood Meals in Swine Operations,” at the Undergraduate Research Symposium on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in the K-State Student Union Ballroom, at Kansas State University. Alyssa was mentored by Drs. Stephen Edache and Natalia Cernicchiaro from the Center for Outcomes Research and Epidemiology (CORE) in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
CORE members attended the 2025 Plains Nutrition Council Spring Conference last week in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Lucas Horton, research associate with CORE, presented “Extending days on feed of feedlot steers – economic considerations” at the Pre-Conference Symposium sponsored by Merck Animal Health.
The Center for Outcomes Research and Epidemiology (CORE) partnered in the Symposium on Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), organized by the USDA National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) and the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases (CEID) at the University of Georgia. The symposium was held in Manhattan, Kansas, from March 10–13, 2025, and several CORE members participated in the event.
Dr. Natalia Cernicchiaro presented “Overview of Kansas State CORE’s Research and Impact,” highlighting the center’s contributions to epidemiological research and transboundary animal disease preparedness.
Dr. Mike Sanderson discussed “Modeling Risks, Impacts, and Interventions in an FMD Outbreak in the U.S.,” emphasizing the application of disease modeling to inform outbreak response.
CORE researchers, including Dr. Karla Moreno-Torres (left) and PhD students Dr. MaRyka Smith (center) and Torre Dunlea (right), presented findings from their FMD projects that advanced risk assessment and mitigation strategies.
Phi Zeta Research Day took place on March 11, 2025, at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University. Dr. Stephen Edache, PhD student, and Lauryn Mauler, 2024 VRSP student, both mentored by Dr. Natalia Cernicchiaro, presented posters on their work investigating the abundance and species diversity of competent mosquito disease vectors in and around swine facilities.
Taylor McAtee received the A.S.R. Ganta Graduate Award, and Dr. Christy Hanthorn was inducted as a new faculty member of the Phi Zeta Sigma Chapter.
CORE members attended the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) CattleCon 2025 last week in San Antonio. Torre Dunlea presented “Infection risk associated with cattle movements during an FMD outbreak" to the Cattle Health and Welfare Committee.
Dr. Mike Sanderson and Torre did interviews with NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen and RFD TV.
CORE members participated in the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases (CRWAD) 2025 held in Chicago, Illinois. Taylor McAtee, Torre Dunlea, Dr. MaRyka Smith, and Dr. Lucas Horton presented oral presentations, and Dr. Stephen Edache presented a poster.
Dr. Lucas Horton was selected as the 2025 recipient of the Mark Gearhart Memorial Graduate Student Award presented by the Association for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (AVEPM). This prestigious annual award recognizes a graduate student completing advanced academic or professional training in veterinary epidemiology, public health, or preventive medicine. He presented “Stochastic Modelling of Economic Risk and Net Return Distributions for Feedlot Steers Marketed at Alternative Endpoints” at CRWAD 2025.
Taylor McAtee was awarded 2nd place in The Association of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (AVEPM) graduate student award competition for her presentation entitled “Associations between estimated greenhouse gas emissions in feedlot cattle cohorts and their health and performance.”
Dr. MaRyka Smith was awarded 4th place in the AVEPM graduate student award competition for her presentation entitled “A scoping review of Foot-and-Mouth Disease biosecurity practices and farm-level risk factors.”
Torre Dunlea presented “A quantitative model of the risk of FMD transmission following cattle movements during an outbreak.”
Dr. Stephen Edache presented a poster titled “Do swine farms have a mosquito problem? Assessing mosquito abundance and diversity in US commercial swine farms.”
