Greetings,
With summer underway, teams across the SVM are continuing important work that will shape the future of our school. From curriculum planning to faculty hiring and strategic goal setting, I’m encouraged by the progress being made across key initiatives.
As we prepare for the rollout of the OnWard DVM Curriculum this fall, planning groups are refining content, structure, and implementation details to ensure a successful launch.
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OnWard will usher in a new era here at SVM, offering students an education that is more clinically relevant, student-centered, and skills-focused to ensure they are prepared to be successful practicing veterinarians on day one. Also this fall, we are increasing our incoming DVM class size from 96 to 100 students — a step that reflects both our commitment to grow veterinary education and to meet demand for skilled veterinarians. Many thanks to those working to bring this curriculum to life.
Strategic planning efforts are moving ahead, with draft objectives and key results being shared this month with our internal and external communities. Conversations across the school and with our stakeholders and supporters are helping form a plan that reflects our shared values and ambitions. We also want to hear your feedback: SVM leaders will be hosting a townhall about the strategic plan at 12 p.m. on June 9 in Room 2350S. A survey will also be shared with the SVM community in the coming weeks to get additional feedback about the plan. We remain on track to complete this work by July 2025. I encourage you to visit the strategic planning website for updates and to share your feedback with the planning teams.
Additionally, we continue to make progress on faculty recruitment through the RISE initiative. The search for two RISE-THRIVE foundational science positions is accelerating with a strong pool of applicants; we’re thrilled to be part of RISE-AI and interviews have begun for two faculty positions in that area; and we’re actively recruiting an additional clinician scientist. These new positions will strengthen our academic community and expand our impact across research, education, and clinical service.
Finally, we are continuing to monitor developments in the federal funding landscape. While the outlook is ever-evolving, close collaboration with colleagues across campus is helping us navigate uncertainty and advocate for continued investment in the SVM’s mission. For more information, visit the UW–Madison Federal Relations page.
Until next time…
On, Wisconsin!
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Spring is always a busy time at UW Veterinary Care. In addition to sending our best wishes to our Class of 2025 DVM graduates, we extend congratulations and good luck to the interns and residents who have, or soon will, complete their rotations. We’re preparing to celebrate all our finishing house officers at a special ceremony later this month.
Please also join us in welcoming the following new team members to UWVC:
- Lindsey Loniello joined the Clinical Pathology team as a medical lab scientist.
- Natalie Muffler joined the SA-OR team as a veterinary assistant.
- Duncan White joined the reception team as a client services specialist.
- Katherine (Katie) Radspinner joined UWVC as a client services supervisor.
Finally, we also welcomed our 4th year students to their hospital rotations. We’re excited to help foster their clinical skills and practice development of our next class of future veterinarians.
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SVM Family Mourns Dr. Ken Nordlund
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Many of you knew Dr. Ken Nordlund, who headed the SVM’s Food Animal Production Medicine group and helped cement its international reputation for excellence during his time at UW, before retiring as Emeritus Professor in 2014. He was an exceptional individual, loved by family, friends, and colleagues. He fought cancer bravely for six years before he passed away on Thursday, May 15. The SVM family will miss him greatly.
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2025 Celebration of Excellence Awards
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Above, Seth Eaton (Department of Surgical Sciences) and Sara Colopy (DVM’04 PhD’12; Department of Surgical Sciences) pose for a photo after each being recognized with an Excellence in Clinical Practice and Diagnostic Medicine Award.
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On April 26, SVM students, faculty, staff, and friends gathered in Varsity Hall at Union South to celebrate the end of the academic year and to recognize the efforts of the exceptional people who work and learn here. Some 60 awards across four categories were given to deserving recipients. The department’s annual “Celebration of Excellence” event is made possible through the generosity of numerous donors. A full summary of this year’s event can be found here.
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To share and streamline resources, a new online form is helping catalog sharable lab research equipment, such as qPCR machines, perfusion pumps, specialized microscopes/cameras, microtomes, flow cytometers, and fluorometers. So far, 16 pieces of equipment have been registered. Thank you to those who have taken the time to fill out the form! If you are a faculty member, please consider completing this form to help foster collaboration and community while at the same time maximizing everyone's budget.
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SVM Represented by Faculty Alumni at UW-Madison Day at the Capitol
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The SVM was well represented during UW-Madison Day at the State Capitol in late April, an excellent opportunity to showcase the impact that research discoveries from the SVM have on our state. Keith Poulsen (’00 DVM’04 PhD’12; Department of Medical Sciences; director, Wisconsin Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory) led a flash talk on “What UW-Madison Does to Protect Wisconsin Agriculture from Avian Flu (H5N1)” and Lisa Arendt (’98 DVM’02 PhD’07; Department of Comparative Biosciences) did the same on the topic of “Obesity and Breast Cancer: Fuel for the Fire.”
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A team of researchers at SVM – Amy Nichelason (Department of Medical Sciences), Calico Schmidt (’88 DVM’92; Department of Pathobiological Sciences), Lara Tomich (Department of Medical Sciences), and Margene Anderson (’01) – are conducting a study on veterinary professional identity. If you are currently (or were previously) licensed as a veterinarian and you have “worked in a field where your identity as a veterinarian was important to your role (even if not involving direct animal care),” the research team invites you to complete a brief, anonymous survey. Estimated completion time for the questionnaire is 10 minutes or less. Take the survey here.
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- Congratulations to Susannah Sample (MS’07 DVM’09 PhD’11; Department of Surgical Sciences) on her promotion to Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Surgical Sciences.
- June Shaw, SVM’s Research Program Associate Director, obtained a new certification from the Institute for Laboratory Animal Management. Congratulations!
- Applications are now open for the Maddie’s Fellowship Program with the UW-Madison SVM Shelter Medicine and UC-Davis Koret Shelter Medicine programs. The fellowships provide practitioners an opportunity to learn via clinical interaction with a variety of animal shelters throughout the U.S. and Canada. The program begins in August 2025 and runs through summer 2026. More information about the program can be found here. The deadline to apply is June 9 at 9 a.m.
- Thanks to the Department of Comparative Biosciences for sharing an impressive list of recent publications and awards:
- Monica Ridlon, a Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Program PhD student (mentor Kim Keil Stietz), was awarded an NIH F31 research training grant.
- Hebe Ke, an undergraduate in the lab of Masa Suzuki (Department of Comparative Biosciences), was awarded the Honors Senior Thesis Summer Research Grant from the L&S Honors Program on campus.
- Samuel Litzau, an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Chad Vezina (Chair, Department of Comparative Biosciences), was awarded a University of Wisconsin—Madison sophomore research fellowship.
- Haley Gravel, an undergraduate in the lab of Fei Zhao (Department of Comparative Biosciences), received the Brownfield Undergraduate Travel Award.
- A paper from the lab of Troy Hornberger (Department of Comparative Biosciences) entitled "Identification of a resistance-exercise-specific signaling pathway that drives skeletal muscle growth" was recently accepted for publication in Nature Metabolism.
- Tyler Beames and Rachel Walkup (graduate students) and Megan Stewart (undergraduate student) in the lab of Rob Lipinski (’02 PhD’08; Department of Comparative Biosciences) published a primary research paper, “Examining the neurodevelopmental impact of Sonic hedgehog pathway inhibition in mice," in Birth Defects Research.
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- Everyday Hero: Nonprofit helps pets stay with families during hard times | Spectrum News One – Story highlights WisCARES’ innovative approach to providing veterinary care, housing support, and social services to pet owners experiencing homelessness or financial hardship. It also emphasizes the clinic’s role in offering valuable clinical rotation experience to students at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine. The story features Kelly Schultz (’05 MS’11 DVM’15), medical director at WisCARES, fourth-year veterinary student Elizabeth Morrow (DVM’25), veterinary assistant Kiera Christiansen, and others working to preserve the human-animal bond during challenging times. Watch/read the full story here.
- How Pet Dogs Are Helping to Advance Lymphoma Breakthroughs | Medscape – SVM's Lauren Trepanier (Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research; Melita Grunow Family Professorship in Companion Animal Health) is quoted in a story exploring the role dogs suffering from lymphoma are playing in the development of treatments for the disease. She also discusses how the same canines are helping improve our understanding of how humans are vulnerable to certain environmental exposures.
- Calico Schmidt (’88 DVM’92; Department of Pathobiological Sciences) joined WPR’s The Larry Meiller Show to pull back the curtain on what it’s like working as a veterinarian. Schmidt discussed the schooling involved in becoming a vet, why she finds the work rewarding, how the job affords people flexibility in their career paths, and much more. Listen here.
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June 7, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Lakeshore Nature Preserve (Welcome station at Picnic Point entrance)
June 20, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Hanson Biomedical Sciences Building, 1656 Linden Drive
June 21, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
All alumni and families are welcome as we celebrate graduates from the classes of 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020. (Advance registration required.)
SVM South
June 28, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St
July 18, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
AVMA Alumni Reception
Mariott Marquis: BeerLab DC
907 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC
Aug. 7, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Veterinary Medicine Education Day 2025
Theme: Vetting the Tests – Creative and Effective Ways to Assess Learners
SVM South
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