Greetings!
I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. As we get ready to end one year and start a new one, this update will continue to explore the pillars of the SVM’s five-year strategic plan.
In October, we discussed our place on the leading edge of educating the next generation of veterinarians, and last month we focused on continuing the elevate UW Veterinary Care’s national reputation for excellence. Today’s topic: How the plan will bolster our work to create groundbreaking innovations and make life-changing discoveries.
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The SVM has a rich history of research and innovation. Our scientists and clinicians have played crucial roles in developing inventions that have had a profound impact on animal and human medicine — TomoTherapy® for cancer patients, the FluMist® influenza vaccine, and Equina® standing CT technology, to name a few. As an institution, we’re committed to providing the resources and support required for future trailblazing breakthroughs.
Through UW’s RISE-THRIVE initiative, we’re recruiting outstanding faculty focused on healthy aging. We are in the advanced stages of hiring two foundational scientists who will work in the lab setting to improve disease treatment. An additional foundational scientist position, as well as a clinician-scientist, are also being recruited to study and improve animal and human healthspan.
Already through RISE-AI, we last month hired David Brundage (Department of Surgical Sciences), whose work focuses on how AI can be utilized in electronic medical records and to improve healthcare delivery and processes. The SVM is also pursuing an additional faculty member to study artificial intelligence (AI).
Elsewhere, the school is building out its clinical trials core. Led by Starr Cameron (MS’21; Department of Medical Sciences), the core supports and empowers faculty, graduate students, interns, and residents interested in pursuing clinically applied research by sharing expertise and guiding researchers through their work. In addition to Starr, we have two full-time supporting staff members. We’ve already started renovating a space that will be dedicated to the clinical trials core, and we will continue to grow the team to bolster it.
Finally, amid the ever-changing federal funding landscape, we’re pursuing philanthropic support for research and leading-edge treatments. Already, the Ryley Clinical Innovation Fund has supported novel procedures to treat heart defects in dogs, among other work in the hospital. Additional proposals to pursue new and innovative treatments with support from the Ryley Fund are under review.
These are only a handful of the great things happening right now. I hope you can take time to relax, recharge, and enjoy the holidays — however you choose to celebrate — and I look forward to updating you again in the new year.
Until next time…
On, Wisconsin!
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News from the Office of Academic Affairs
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Last week, Lynn Maki (’00) announced that she will be retiring from the SVM at the end of this semester. As some of you may know, Lynn had a series of small strokes following a medical procedure in July. While her retirement is in part to provide time and space for recovery, true to character, Lynn is focused on the positive: “The emotion I’m choosing to focus on is gratitude. I have been so incredibly lucky to have worked alongside some of the kindest, most thoughtful, and wickedly intelligent persons at the SVM, and I feel so fortunate to have learned so much about veterinary medicine, animals, education, and life from our students, both current and former. I am forever grateful for the opportunities that I have had here.”
Adds Dean Jon Levine, “It is hard to capture Lynn's positive impact in words. She has guided, coached, and helped a generation of students, setting their careers and lives on a positive trajectory. She's used her intellect and compassion to address challenges across our school and campus. She's been a mentor to many and a consistent advocate for doing the right thing at every opportunity. We will miss her tremendously!”
Calico Schmidt (’88 DVM’92; Department of Pathobiological Sciences) began her role as interim associate dean for student academic affairs on Monday, Nov. 24. “I’m truly grateful to have Calico as part of the SVM's leadership team and know she will continue our tradition of supporting learners and educators,” Dean Levine says. “She will be working closely with Lynn in the coming weeks to ensure continuity and a smooth transition.”
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Above: Gillian McLellan, left, speaks during the investiture ceremony for Freya Mowat.
- Freya Mowat (Department of Surgical Sciences) was recently honored with the Melita Grunow Family Professorship in Companion Animal Health. Congratulations!
- Congratulations to Keith Poulsen (’00 DVM’04 PhD’12; Department of Medical Sciences; Director, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory) and Michelle Turek (Department of Surgical Sciences), who were both promoted to clinical professor, as well as Nate Van Asselt (Department of Surgical Sciences), who was promoted to clinical associate professor.
- Laurie Larson (Department of Pathobiological Sciences) was recently recognized with distinguished status. This is a rare achievement that is well deserved!
- Mike Wood (Department of Medical Sciences) recently passed his American College of Veterinary Nephrology and Urology boards, making him ACVNU-ACVIM double-boarded. This is a rare distinction and a point of pride for the SVM.
- Jessica Pritchard (Department of Medical Sciences) was appointed to the Wisconsin Veterinary Examining Board by Gov. Tony Evers. In a letter to Pritchard, the governor wrote her “experience, knowledge, and dedication will be a true asset … and a great benefit to the people of Wisconsin.”
- Kavi Mehta (‘06; Department of Comparative Biosciences) was one of three UW-Madison professors recognized by the Journal of Virology as “New Voices in Virology.” Chosen from over 275 applicants, Mehta was among those recognized for the strength and novelty of their minireview proposal and their professional career track record.
- Latasha Crawford (Department of Pathobiological Sciences) and Lisa Arendt (’98 SVM’02 PhD’07; Department of Comparative Biosciences) were awarded a Translational Basic & Clinical Research Pilot Award by the UW-Madison Institute for Clinical Translational Research. The awards fund interdisciplinary translational research projects that advance biomedical discoveries into impactful health solutions, support career development, and generate pilot data for future external funding.
- Laura Hess accepted a permanent position with the SVM last month as onboarding and HR support coordinator. Congratulations, Laura!
- Please also join me in welcoming the following new staff members to UWVC:
- Meredith Ridd joined radiation oncology as a certified veterinary technician.
- Brianna Winder started work as a client services specialist with our reception team.
- Olivia Smith joined diagnostic imaging as a radiologic technologist.
- Ella Savage-Holst accepted a permanent position with clinical pathology as a medical lab technician.
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- Sam Bilko (Department of Medical Sciences) recently joined Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Larry Meiller Show” to discuss festive food for pets, winter hazards to watch out for, and more. Listen to her full 90-minute appearance here.
- Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia Exposure Induces a Unique Microglial Transcriptome in 5XFAD Mice, a paper authored by a team of researchers from the Department of Comparative Biosciences and led by faculty members Tracy Baker and Jyoti Watters, was recently published in Molecular Neurobiology.
- A recent article from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences highlights research from Gillian McLellan (Tim and Nancy Speaker Chair in Canine Health, Department of Surgical Sciences), who is working on a one-time gene therapy that could stop glaucoma by fixing the eye’s drainage system. Read the story here.
- Learning a spectrum-of-care approach at WisCARES: student reflections 1 month after completing the rotation and a long-term follow-up with alumni, a paper from Liddy Alvarez (Department of Medical Sciences), Kelly Schultz (BS’05 MS’11 DVM’2015; Department of Medical Sciences), and Ruthanne Chun (BS’87 DVM’91; Department of Medical Sciences), was recently published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
- Jennifer Heyward (MS’22; Department of Surgical Sciences), Freya Mowat (Department of Surgical Sciences), and Amy Elbe (’25) recently had a paper, Dogs with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome have evidence of a hypercoagulable state and decreased clot turnover, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
- Fentanyl Disrupts Vagal Control of Airway Tone to Induce Transient Obstruction, a paper from Nick Burgraff’s (Department of Comparative Biosciences) research team, was recently published in Acta Physiologica. Burgraff also co-authored Fentanyl blockade of K+ channels contributes to wooden chest syndrome, which was published in the Journal of Physiology.
- Fei Zhao’s (Department of Comparative Biosciences) research team published Wnt9b enables androgen action to maintain Wolffian ducts in mice in Molecular Human Reproduction. McKenna Crossen, a former graduate student in the Zhao lab, is lead author and CBS colleague Joanie Jorgensen (’88 DVM’93) is a coauthor.
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Dec. 5, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
37th Annual SVM Craft Fair
SVM South, Rooms 2255 and 2259
Dec. 12, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Dean’s Get Together – Cookie Decorating
SVM South, Room 2255
Jan. 16, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Dean’s Get Together
SVM South, 2nd Floor Lobby
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