BerbeeWalsh Match Success | Message from the Dean

Message from the Dean | June 2017

BerbeeWalsh Match Success

Although the academic year has come to an end, we've had an eventful spring at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine, and the coming month promises to bring even more milestones and new beginnings for many in the SVM family.

I am excited to announce that we have recently surpassed $2 million in gift commitments against the $3 million BerbeeWalsh Match. We are grateful to Karen Walsh and Jim Berbee for their inspirational commitment to match building expansion fund gifts and pledges between $25,000 and $250,000, and to the many donors who have responded to this opportunity. If you want to learn more, or would like to take advantage of the match before the last $1 million is completed, please let us know!

The success of the BerbeeWalsh Match and other campaign gifts have positioned us to be nearing the halfway mark of our $40 million fundraising goal. The building expansion is critical to the school's future success, and we appreciate the tremendous response we have received.

This past month also saw the graduation of the Class of 2017 and the beginning of clinical rotations for the Class of 2018. To our newest alumni, I wish each of you the best as you pursue your path in this exciting profession. And to our fourth-year students, good luck as you develop the clinical skills that will enable you to become outstanding doctors of veterinary medicine only a year from now.

Our 25th cohort of Summer Scholars also began their research experience this past month, which will culminate in the 2017 National Veterinary Scholars Symposium this August at the National Institutes of Health headquarters in Bethesda, Md.

On Saturday, June 24 we will celebrate our five-year alumni reunions with the classes of 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012. If you are celebrating a reunion this summer, I look forward to having you at the school and seeing you reconnect with your fellow classmates. An exciting milestone this year will be the celebration of our first 30-year reunion with the Class of 1987, the school's first graduating class.

I wish everyone an outstanding summer!

UW Veterinary Care Updates from the Director

It's that time of year when we say farewell to our finishing interns: Yiko Bing , Shawna Cikanek , Rebecca Donnelly , Justin Duval , Andrew Eitzer , Katie Hanrahan , and Sara Shivapour (rotating small animal); Randi Roberts and Meghan Schuh (shelter medicine); Britt Levy (dermatology); Elizabeth Wood (oncology clinical trials); and Christopher Hoffman (orthopaedics). Congratulations and thank you all for the many hours you have dedicated to providing top-notch care to our patients and hands-on clinical instruction to our students.

We're pleased that Elizabeth Wood will be staying on for a medical oncology residency, and Andrew Eitzer will start a diagnostic imaging internship . We're also excited to welcome to our new interns, who will officially start on June 12: Kyle Bartholomew DVM'17 , Adam Eby , Harathi Krishnan , Rebecca McBride , Andrea Minella , Natasha Pakravan , and Joey Sapora (rotating small animal); Olivia Swailes and Deb Yannessa (shelter medicine); Michelle Piccione (dermatology); Sara Tolliver (diagnostic imaging); Kelly Shaw (large animal surgery); Changseok Kim (oncology clinical trials); and Juliet Caviness DVM'17 (primary care).

Several certified technicians have recently joined our team. Welcome to Allison Lape (emergency), Caitlin Obernberger (emergency and critical care), Anna Springstroh (central supply/small animal surgery), and Amy Wiltzius (neurology). Amanda Volden will also be returning to the critical care unit from the medicine ward.

Last but not least, here is this month's selected comment from a happy client:

"Excellent, excellent, excellent! I'm blown away by the compassion and concern for both pet and owner. And the level of knowledge! I was most impressed by how much time and patience was spent in answering all my questions and showing me all the things I had to do at home, addressing all my pet's issues. I never felt rushed nor did I ever feel like an inconvenience! Incredible! The survey should include pharmacy staff who were also mind-blowingly excellent. Thanks to Dr. Verbrugge -- what an incredible person! Thanks also to the tech that showed me blood draw and needle care (don't know her name). Just a huge shout-out to everyone, including the receptionist and Nicole in pharmacy, who went out of her way to send me extra info and an incredible teaching website via email when she didn't have to. Everyone's love, respect, and care touched me deeply!"

--Ray, Madison, Wis.

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

Student News

Welcome to Chelsea Mohney , who will be joining us from St. George's University for her clinical year. We wish you the best of luck as you round out your veterinary medical education with us.

Congratulations to the Comparative Biomedical Sciences graduate program's newest alumni! Matthew Kelly and Joseph Kuo earned their PhD degrees, and Mauricio A. Salvo Miranda successfully defended his master's thesis.

Faculty and Staff News

Congratulations to Kristen Bernard for her promotion to full professor, as well as to Robb Hardie and Kurt Sladky for their promotions to clinical professor.

Ian Duncan received the 2017 Lincoln F. Ramirez, MD, PhD Award for Restorative Neurosciences in recognition of his outstanding lifetime work in the field of CNS degeneration and repair. Well done!

The UW-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) recently named Chris Olsen the director of the Graduate/Professional and Capstone Certificate in Global Health program.

Best wishes to Deb Zurbuchen, administrator for the Department of Surgical Sciences, who retired from the SVM at the end of May, following 40 years of service to the university. You will be greatly missed!

Susan Bethke , human resources assistant advanced, has also decided to retire. We thank you for your exceptional service to the school. And welcome to her successor, Megan Larkin.

Congratulations to Linda Sullivan , who was honored as a Cancer Hero during the 2017 Puppy Up Madison walk. Two cancer survivors -- one human and one canine -- were selected to receive a special recognition and a medal at the event.

The chancellor has granted emeritus status to long-time Business Services accountant Philip Breunig in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the SVM and the university.

Research News

Susannah Sample received a Diplomate Clinical Research Grant from the American College of Veterinary Surgeons to advance her assessment of pre-clinical peripheral nerve pathology of acquired laryngeal paralysis.

Ted Golos and UW-Madison colleagues, along with collaborators at Duke University and the University of California, Davis, published their study of Zika-infected pregnancies in the journal PLOS Pathogens .