Seventeen veterinary medicine students participating in the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine Summer Scholars Program presented posters at the 2017 National Veterinary Scholars Symposium August 3-5 in the Washington, D.C., area.
The symposium is the premier annual scientific colloquium showcasing research accomplishments by veterinary students completing summer research internships. The meeting, which this year explored themes of neuroscience, global health, conservation medicine, and comparative oncology, highlights the ways that veterinary scientists advance basic and applied biomedical and environmental research.
The SVM Summer Scholars Program provides an opportunity for current first, second, and third-year veterinary medicine students to work with mentors on a wide variety of research projects. The program also offers 12 weekly seminars and discussion groups on topics including ethics in science, career opportunities, writing grant proposals and articles for publication in scientific journals, and how to give oral and poster presentations. 2017 marks the program’s 25th year.
Those students who presented at the National Veterinary Scholars Symposium, with the name/s of their mentor and poster presentation, were:
- Kore Chan DVMx’20 (Peter Muir), Prediction of Cruciate Ligament Rupture with Classification-Based Data Mining Methods
- Richard Dulli DVMx’20 (Curtis Brandt), In Vitro Susceptibility of FHV-1 Field Strains to Penciclovir and Ganciclovir
- Michael Dupor DVMx’20 (Kristen Bernard), Mutations Responsible for Zika Virus Adaptation to Mammalian and Insect Cells
- Jonathan Elissa DVMx’20 (Mark Cook), Immunofluorescent Histochemistry Assay to Assess Interleukin-10 After Eimeria Spp. Infection
- Jenna Epstein DVMx’19 (Jyoti Watters), Gestational Intermittent Hypoxia Induces Persistent Changes in Acute Neuroinflammatory Responses
- Melissa Farquhar DVMx’20 (Lyric Bartholomay), Vector Competence of Mosquitos for Canine Heartworm Disease in the UW-Madison Arboretum
- Joanna Finstad DVMx’19 (Michael Wood), Urothelial IL-15 Receptor Transcription in Response to Acute Urinary Tract Infection
- Emily Gavic DVMx’19 (Douglas Deboer), Dermatophagoides farinae-Specific IgG in Atopic Dogs Receiving Sublingual Immunotherapy
- Shaile Gehrke DVMx’20 (Gillian McLellan), Characterizing Conventional Outflow Pathways in Felines with Primary Congenital Glaucoma (PCG)
- Alyssa Karklus DVMx’20 (Kurt Sladky and Graham Banes), Assessing Admixture Between Historically Isolated Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in Bornean and Sumatran Orangutans (Pongo spp.) in North American Zoos
- Stephanie Kurth DVMx’19 (Christina Carlson), Successful Infection of Meadow Voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) to Elk (Cervus canadensis) Chronic Wasting Disease Prions
- Devan Leistikow DVMx’20 (Charles Czuprynski), Canine Distemper Virus and Parvovirus: How Long Does Immunological Memory Last and Are We over Vaccinating?
- Rachel McMahon DVMx’19 (Lisa Arendt), Mammary Tumor Cells and Macrophages May Affect the Formation of a Metastatic Niche in Murine Lungs
- Mary Montanye DVMx’20 (Dorte Dopfer), The Effect of Organic Trace Mineral Supplementation on the Fecal Microbiome in Association with Reduction of Digital Dermatitis and Shedding of Escherichia Coli 0157 in Beef Cattle
- Sarah Rossmiller DVMx’19 (Mark Markel), Pilot Study Using a Nanoparticle Structure to Treat Cartilage Defects in a Sheep Model
- Adam Strebe DVMx’20 (Nigel Cook), Evaluation of the Prevalence and Risk Factors for Rear Foot Medial Claw Corkscrew Deformity in Dairy Heifers
- Andrea Wenzel DVMx’20 (Ted Golos), Validation of Fluorescently Labeled Listeria Monocytogenes
Also at the symposium, two individuals with UW SVM connections were awarded first and second place in the AVMA/AVMF Young Investigator Award competition, recognizing graduate veterinarians pursuing advanced research training through doctoral or post-doctoral programs.
Meghan Vermillion DVM’13, a summer scholars alumna (mentored by Ted Golos) who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University, received first place for her work, “Modeling Congenital Zika Virus Infection in Immunocompetent Mice.”
And Xuan Pan, SVM assistant professor of medical sciences, received second place for her work, “Molecular Determinants for Polycomb Group Protein YY1 Control of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Quiescence.”