Corrected: Tours for the Future | Message from the Dean

Message from the Dean | August 2018

Tours for the Future

*Edited to note that it is federal congressional staff who will visit the school on August 22.

It's hard to believe that the end of summer is fast approaching. By my next dean's message, the fall semester will be starting.

August will be an exciting month for the UW School of Veterinary Medicine. A number of important visits, which will highlight the current state of the school and the importance of our building expansion project, will take place this month.

Governor Scott Walker will visit the SVM on August 16 to tour our facilities and learn more about how the school serves the citizens of the state of Wisconsin. On August 22, federal congressional staff will have an opportunity to tour some of our research spaces focused on infectious and vector-borne diseases. They will hear Professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka speak about his important work in virology and visit the lab of Associate Professor Lyric Bartholomay, who studies mosquito-pathogen interactions and works to translate that knowledge into novel mosquito control methods.

On August 23, the University of Wisconsin Regents will tour the school to learn more about all that we do to benefit both animal and human health. The Regents are expected to vote on their final UW System priorities for the 2019-21 capital budget at the end of the month, at which time we will know where our expansion ranks among all projects in the UW System.

Our class of 2022 will undergo orientation from August 22-24. Please welcome this new class when you have an opportunity.

I hope each of you have a great remainder of your summer and I look forward to seeing you this fall if you have an opportunity to visit the school.

UW Veterinary Care Updates from the Director

Please join me in welcoming our new residents! They are Kyle Bartholomew (Anesthesiology), Hernan Bracho and Drew Taylor (Emergency and Critical Care), Richard Brooksby, Andrew Eitzer and Sara Tolliver (Diagnostic Imaging), Shawna Cikanek (Zoological Medicine), Eva Frantz (Cardiology), Martin Granick and Alexander Saver (Small Animal Internal Medicine), Caitlin Heaton and Samuel Keepman (Oncology), Erika Hoffeld and Shawndrea Lennix (Anatomic Pathology), Katherine Leonard (Small Animal Surgery), Michelle Piccione (Dermatology), Alexis Powers (Large Animal Internal Medicine), Kelly Shaw (Large Animal Surgery), Tessa Smith (Neurology) and Marilia Takada (Radiation Oncology).

We also have several specialty interns starting; they are Kara Magee (Clinical Trials, Oncology), Molly Viner (Imaging) and Sarah White (Large Animal Surgery).

I have a number of new staff members to introduce. Welcome to three certified veterinary technicians in our small animal hospital, Carlin Johnson (ER/CCU), Anchana (Note) Singchan (Dermatology) and Kristin Farnam (floating); Heather Boll, pharmacy technician; Julia Mampreyan, assistant kennel manager; and Anja Dean and Anthony (Tony) Harty, now part of our large animal technician team. Joining us August 6 are Teresa Duerst as receptionist and Brittany Yanda, medical lab technologist in Clinical Pathology. And Amanda Simons, formerly the orthopedic service coordinator, now serves as clinical research technician in support of case recruitment for ongoing clinical studies. She continues the outstanding work of Geri Holzman, who retired last month.

Steve Mell, large animal facilities manager, is retiring at the end of the month after 33 years of service. David Rieman, the new large animal grounds manager, will start August 6.

Finally, congratulations are in order for passing the ACVIM general examination to Blake Webb and Katie Nadolny. And congratulations on passing their specialty examination to Mona Qahwash (past neurology resident), Laura Barnard (neurology), Kayla Grint (cardiology), Nate Vos (oncology) and Andrew Lewin (ophthalmology).

Day after day, our clients share with us the positive impact of UW Veterinary Care. Here is just one recent example:

" I have been to the UW small animal clinic twice so far -- once for my lizard on an emergency basis and once for my guinea pig by appointment. Both times I was absolutely blown away by your incredible staff! I was treated with compassion and respect by every person I talked to. The doctor was very informative, explained things clearly and gave me options for the next steps. They were also great with my pets -- called them by name and were sensitive about handling them. I credit UW with saving my lizard's life and I have so much appreciation for what you do every day for pet owners."

- Sophie, Madison, Wisconsin

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

Student News

Welcome to the 96 students in our Class of 2022, who join us for new student orientation August 22-24.

Faculty and Staff News

SVM faculty and staff, as well as colleagues from across campus, gathered last week to congratulate facilities manager Karen Mier on her retirement and to celebrate all that she has done for the school during her 28 years here (and 41 years with UW System!).

Welcome to Cassie Wickersham, who joins us as the new student services coordinator on August 8. She replaces Amy Mikla, who will depart the SVM on August 17 after 10 years with the school.

We are delighted that Lauren Trepanier has accepted a 40 percent appointment as assistant dean for clinical and translational research. Trepanier previously served as director of clinical research; in her new position she will continue and expand her current activities in this area. A major focus of the position will be to develop sustained programs of training in performance of clinical research. Trepanier will also continue to be available to faculty and staff for consultation in the design and execution of clinical research, as well as directing investigators to resources available on campus and elsewhere. She has substantial expertise in mentoring others in performance of clinical research and currently chairs the clinician-scientist education subcommittee for the Clinical and Translational Science Award One Health Alliance.

Congratulations to Hannah Carey, who has been named president-elect of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The nation's largest coalition of biomedical researchers, FASEB represents 30 scientific societies and over 130,000 researchers from around the world.

After 28 years of service to the SVM and an immeasurable influence on students, Linda Sullivan DVM'87 retired in July. Sullivan has been a treasured member of the SVM family and will be dearly missed, though she is sure to return to the classroom from time to time. As just one example of her impact, the annual Dog Jog that she organized raised more than $500,000 over 30 years for area shelters and humane organizations. Sullivan will continue her work with Pet Pals, a program that brings volunteer dogs to UW Children's Hospital to visit pediatric patients.

Research News

Professors Ted Golos and Tom Friedrich contributed to new research suggesting that Zika virus could pose a far greater threat to pregnancy than recent studies of miscarriage and stillbirth in human infections have reported.

Wolffian duct cells _shown in pink_ move into the urethra and bladder epithelium _shown in green_ of Dnmt1 mutant mouse embryos

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has renewed for five years a training grant for the Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Training Program at UW-Madison. Associate Professor Chad Vezina serves as co-investigator and deputy director.

Vezina also led a new study showing for the first time that non-bladder cells from a nearby anatomical structure called the Wolffian duct can provide an assist in bladder self-repair, contributing cells that migrate to the bladder, adopt bladder-like characteristics, and help restore the organ's function.

Associate Professor Lyric Bartholomay PhD'04, co-director of the Midwest Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease, spoke with Wisconsin Public Radio and other media after a Wisconsin woman died from Rocky Mountain spotted fever in June, the state's first death from the disease. Bartholomay's research into illnesses transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes was also spotlighted in the summer issue of Grow magazine .