Happy New Year, Plus the Big Push | Message from the Dean

Message from the Dean | January 2018

Happy New Year, Plus the Big Push

Happy New Year! I hope that 2018 is a wonderful year for each and every one of you. Although we are in the middle of winter, the days are lengthening and for optimists, like me, spring is just around the corner.

This year will be the big push for the School of Veterinary Medicine's building expansion project. As you all know, we are in the middle stretch of fundraising for the school's new, bigger building. We have raised over half of the private support we anticipate needing for this important project.

2018 will be dedicated to continuing to speak to Wisconsin's legislators and the governor about the importance of our project for the citizens of the state of Wisconsin. Our goal is to connect with Wisconsinites all across the state, highlighting the significance of the School of Veterinary Medicine to their communities, their own health and their animals' wellbeing, and the safety of their food.

Whether it is the veterinarians we train who work in Wisconsin as economic engines driving the success of their respective communities, to the animals that we treat or the research that we conduct that benefits both animal and human health, the SVM has an important impact on every citizen of the state.

Throughout 2018, we will reach out to communities across Wisconsin and ask you to contact your state legislator, highlighting the importance of the school's expansion project to the success and long-term viability and excellence of the SVM. As one of the top five schools of veterinary medicine in the country, it is critical that we maintain our preeminence in the profession to best serve the citizens of the state.

Our goal is to convince the governor and the legislature to enumerate this important project in the next budget cycle, 2019-21. The governor's budget will be announced a little over a year from now. We ask you to reach out to your legislators and other contacts about this important project. You can visit the school's Animals Need Heroes Too website to learn more about the project and how you can help.

I wish you all the best in this coming year and hope that you have a fruitful and empowering new year.

UW Veterinary Care Updates from the Director

As renovations continue throughout UW Veterinary Care, I have more updates to share. Three beautiful new exam rooms are almost complete in the TomoTherapy/Physical Rehabilitation reception area. This will become the oncology and rehabilitation reception area in early 2018. Medical Oncology is planning to move into their nearby new workspace in early 2018, with a dedicated chemotherapy administration room, and the remodel of the previous Farm Animal Production Medicine and Theriogenology rounds/staging area is also almost complete.

Remodeling work on the Morrie Waud Large Animal Hospital reception area has begun, as well, with reception staff temporarily relocated to the large animal technician desk area. This project is expected to be completed in two to three months.

As we begin the New Year with hope and excitement, here is an inspiring note of gratitude from a recent client survey :

" Going through a traumatic emergency situation is scary. Everyone at the hospital was caring and good at explaining each step. Everything went smoothly and efficiently from start to finish. Many thanks to Dr. Timothy Menghini for saving our little Trevor! He wouldn't be with us if it wasn't for him and the other wonderful professionals at the hospital. Thanks to [student] Katie Liutkus for her upbeat and understanding support throughout the whole process ."

- Kelli, Middleton , Wis.

Ruthanne Chun DVM'91
Director, UW Veterinary Care
Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs

School News

In December, the Wisconsin State Journal spotlighted Wisconsin Companion Animal Resources, Education, and Social Services (WisCARES), an SVM outreach partnership directed by William Gilles DVM'13 that provides free veterinary care and social services to homeless pet owners and those in unstable housing situations in Dane County. In a letter to the editor following the article's publication, WisCARES client Patricia Legaard wrote, "My dog, Jigs, was a patient of WisCARES and Dr. William Giles for the last two years of her life. ... When Jigs developed cancer, WisCARES provided her and I with such wonderful support, compassion and love from the time of her diagnosis until her death. I would like to express how beneficial this program is and how lucky both Jigs and I were as clients of this wonderful program."

The UW-Madison Summer Program for Undergraduate Urology Research, now in its third year, is accepting applications for summer 2018. Directed by Chad Vezina, associate professor of comparative biosciences, the program provides summer research opportunities to undergraduate students in topics related to benign urology. Assistance with sharing this opportunity is appreciated.

The 29th annual SVM Crafts Fair, held Dec. 1, raised $807 for the school's Companion Animal Fund, which supports vital health care studies in companion animals , as well as facility and equipment improvements that allow UW Veterinary Care facilities to provide better care . Thank you to all participating vendors, helpers and shoppers .

Student Updates

Each year, a group of veterinary medical students perform health checks on the captive flock at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, gaining first-hand experience working with an endangered species. Follow the unique experience in this recent video from University Communications.

Faculty and Staff News

Robin Mittenthal , who served as coordinator of the Upper Midwestern Regional Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease, died suddenly in December following an accident at his farm. Mittenthal coordinated program partners in five states and tracked the center's progress in addressing vector-borne disease challenges. He previously managed the university's undergraduate certificate in global health. In a GoFundMe campaign to contribute to the education savings accounts for Mittenthal's children, Lyric Bartholomay, co-director of the vector-borne disease center and associate professor of pathobiological sciences, wrote: "Robin Mittenthal gave us his time, his undivided attention, his radiant smile, his stories that spanned an unbelievable repertoire of life experiences, his infectious enthusiasm, his thanks and his encouragement. In so doing, he touched lives of countless colleagues in entomology and CALS, of hundreds of undergraduate advisees in the Global Health certificate, and of the students, staff and colleagues in and surrounding a new center on campus for mosquito and tick-borne disease."

Congratulations to Christoph Mans and Julie Walker of the Department of Surgical Sciences and the Department of Medical Sciences, respectively, who have both been promoted to clinical associate professor .

Professor Ian Duncan receives 2017 Merchistonian Award

Professor Ian Duncan received the 2017 Merchistonian Award from the Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh in recognition of his acclaimed research career and his vital role in understanding the basic biology of inherited disorders of myelination of the central nervous system. As a teen, Duncan attended Merchiston, Scotland's only all-boys independent boarding school.

Welcome to Karlye Wolff, who joins the SVM on January 2 as a human resources assistant advanced. This is a new position that will assist with the school's growing human resources needs. Wolff comes to the SVM from the School of Medicine and Public Health, where she was a human resource partner. She is a UW-Madison graduate and ran cross country on the UW Women's Track and Field team.

Research News

This 2-year-old chimp named Betty succumbed to a human common cold virus in Uganda

Tony Goldberg, professor of pathobiological sciences, was one of the senior authors of a report published online in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases documenting that a human "common cold" virus known as rhinovirus C killed healthy wild chimpanzees in Uganda's Kibale National Park during a 2013 outbreak of respiratory disease. "It was completely unknown that rhinovirus C could infect anything other than humans," says Goldberg. "It was surprising to find it in chimpanzees, and it was equally surprising that it could kill healthy chimpanzees outright."

Monkeys who catch Zika virus through bites from infected mosquitoes develop infections that look like human Zika cases, and may help researchers understand the many ways Zika can be transmitted, according to a recent report in the journal Nature Communications. Matthew Aliota and Tom Friedrich , both of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences, were among the authors of the study.

Tom Friedrich, associate professor of pathobiological sciences, is part of a research team from Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and UW-Madison working together to develop and test a nanovaccine to provide a greater level of protection against the flu virus. The researchers are loading synthesized influenza proteins into nanoparticles that are incorporated into a nasal spray.