Best Wishes Class of 2017! | Message from the Dean

Message from the Dean | May 2017

Congrats Class of 2017!

It's hard to believe that the Class of 2017 will graduate in just two short weeks. I want to wish each of you all the best in the coming months, and I know that your experience here over the past four years will make you great ambassadors of the UW School of Veterinary Medicine.

Only two days ago we held the school's annual awards banquet at Union South. It was a fun evening that highlighted the many strengths and contributions of our students as well as our staff, faculty, interns, residents, and clinical instructors. Thank you to all who attended and to the generous donors who sponsored many of the awards for this special event.

I want to invite everyone to the school's all-SVM picnic this coming Friday, May 5 at the Veterinary Medicine Building. As usual, we will serve brats, burgers, and veggie burgers, and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you at this traditional kick-start to spring.

Last, I'd like to encourage you to participate in the school's WisCARES Art for the Animals event. This is a silent art auction benefiting WisCARES, which supports people and pets who are experiencing housing instability. The event will be held on May 11, 2017 from 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Park Bank building in downtown Madison, Wis. I hope you will attend if you have the opportunity.

Again, on behalf of the UW School of Veterinary Medicine, I want to congratulate all in the Class of 2017. I look forward to seeing you at graduation on May 12 and the investiture ceremony on May 14.

UW Veterinary Care Updates from the Director

Welcome to Tiffany Sophocleous, our new kennel manager; Nicole Harvey, our new technician in radiology; Teka Bue, our new technician in dentistry; and Kristin McGrane, our new ultrasonographer.

April 23-29 was Medical Laboratory Professionals Week, which celebrates those who play a vital role in providing quality results for patient diagnosis and care (i.e., our outstanding clinical pathology, anatomic pathology, and histopathology services) . To our medical laboratory staff and faculty, thank you for all that you do year round to make UW Veterinary Care an exceptional provider of veterinary medical care.

The new, mobile-responsive UW Veterinary Care website officially went live on April 24. The new format gives the site a fresh look, brings it line with new campus branding guidelines, improves navigation, and makes it easier to view and use with a mobile device. Much credit goes to Bret Solberg , Abby Rechkin , the Mobile Task Force, and our partners at Hiebing for a creating a truly impressive website on a short timeline.

Our client surveys have been consistently filled with extremely positive feedback, and this last month was no exception. Here's just one glowing comment plucked from the bunch:

" Exceptional service -- I wish I could come here for my health care! Every single person we had contact with -- they all are caring, gentle, and compassionate people. We are so very grateful for the care that was given to Cricket, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!"

--Mary Louise, La Crosse, Wis.

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

School News

Last month, we held our biennial Pubic Open House and hosted a booth at the Midwest Horse Fair. Both were a big success and helped us educate the public about all of the incredible work that goes on at the SVM. My thanks to everyone who volunteered their time for these two events. Your effort is much appreciated and vital to our success.

This year's SVM-Phi Zeta Research Day was also a big success. We had 49 presenters, more than any previous year, and attendance was high. This event is an excellent showcase of the incredible diversity and quality of the SVM's research. Thank you to Lauren Trepanier, Ben Claes, Karen Mier and our facilities staff, and everyone else who helped pull this off.

Student News


	Dean Markel with incoming Ross University students.

Welcome to our new Ross University students, who are joining us for their clinical year. They are

Stephanie Bagwell, Matthew Brock , Yeji Chun , and Elise Wabiszewski .

If you have not already, please take some time to fill out the AAVMC Campus Climate Survey, which is part of an important national effort to better understand the climate experienced at the schools and colleges of veterinary medicine. The SCAVMA from the school or college with the greatest participation will receive $500!

Reminder: Graduation will be held on Friday, May 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the Kohl Center, and the SVM Breakfast and Investiture will take place at Union South on Sunday, May 14 (breakfast at 7:00 a.m., ceremony at 9:00 a.m.).

Congratulations to Kyle Karlen DVMx'20 , whose thermal image of a Holstein calf, part of a research project, was selected as one of the winners of the campus Cool Science Image Contest.

For graduating students who have committed to practicing as large animal veterinarians in certain areas of the state, you may be eligible for financial support under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Program. If you are interested in applying for this opportunity, you will find background information, requirements, and application materials on the NIFA website.

Faculty and Staff News

Welcome to Sathish Kumar, who has joined us as an associate professor in the Department of Comparative Biosciences, and Kathy Hendricks, our new instructional designer who will provide leadership and support in the transition to Canvas (the new campus learning management system), among other educational initiatives.

Congratulations to Sandra Newbury, who was selected to receive a 2017 Maddie Hero Award, which " recognizes and honors the 'top dogs' in communities that are not only advancing the welfare of companion animals in the United States, but are leading the way with their innovative ideas, progressive thinking, and life-saving actions."

Congratulations as well to Jorge Ramos Garcia, who has been selected by the UW-Madison University Staff Awards Selection Committee to receive the 2017 University Staff Recognition Award.

Amy Munsterman has successfully defended her dissertation in biomedical sciences at Auburn University. Well done!

Keep an eye out for Peter Muir on Wisconsin Public Television. His Wednesday Nite @ the Lab talk on the genetics of complex traits in dogs premiered on University Place last month.

Please save the date: Matthew Aliota PhD'10 will be honored for his recent Forward Under 40 award at the All-SVM Get-Together on Friday, July 28, which will be held from noon - 1:30 p.m. at Hanson Labs.

Some of you may have heard that Nik Hawkins is departing the SVM for a new opportunity. His position as director of communications and public relations has grown and changed during his tenure here, and so has our communications team. So we're taking this opportunity to restructure the position and reshuffle duties among staff. We recently launched a search for a Publications and Media Relations Manager; please feel free to share among qualified and interested candidates.

Research News

Yoshihiro Kawaoka received a 2017 Seed Grant from the UW-Madison Global Health Institute to advance his work on identifying neglected and novel human viruses in Sierra Leone.

Two projects involving SVM faculty have been selected for WARF Discovery Initiative awards. They are Anti-Virulence Approaches to Prevent Bacterial Infection and Combat Evolved Resistance in Next-Generation Wound Dressings (Chuck Czuprynski and Jon McAnulty, co-principal investigators) and Metal Powder Bed 3D Printing (Jason Bleedorn, Mark Markel, and Jason Soukup, collaborators).