Fall 2022

Updates for Practicing Veterinary Professionals

Updated with specific service email contacts since last issue of Heartbeat.

Are you a veterinarian or hospital administrator seeking a time- and cost-efficient way to learn more about the business side of veterinary practice? If so, the UC Davis Foundations of Veterinary Business program is designed for you.

This innovative online program—created by experts from the No. 1-ranked UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the UC Davis Graduate School of Management—provides a solid foundation of understanding in five key business areas: Managerial Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Strategy, and Human Resources.

The 2023 program will be in session May 15 - August 12 and includes:

• Self-paced online modules on business principles
• Three live, interactive Saturday Zoom sessions covering practical, veterinary-specific business concepts taught by industry experts
• A small group capstone project analyzing the business performance of actual practices

Graduates receive a certificate from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. Early bird pricing of $2,449 ends February 15. Registration is limited. Don't wait — achieve your dreams today!

Looking to Further Your Education?



The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine welcomes applications for the Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine degree program. The 1–2-year graduate degree is open to veterinarians and other professionals in herd and One Health, and provides the professional education necessary to be leaders in critical assessment and application of epidemiological and quantitative methods for solving animal, human, and ecological population health problems.

The UC Davis Veterinary Center for Clinical Trials is currently enrolling cats in feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) clinical trials at the UC Davis veterinary hospital.

Up to 95% of cats diagnosed with FIP die without treatment. Cats can develop FIP at any age, but it is usually diagnosed in cats between 6 months and 2 years of age. It is one of the most common causes of death in young cats with infectious diseases. Currently, there is no successful treatment approved for veterinarians in the United States.

Previous research conducted by UC Davis Professor Emeritus Niels Pedersen uncovered several promising treatments for this disease, including an antiviral drug that is not available to veterinarians in the U.S. Associate Professor Amir Kol, Professor Brian Murphy, and Assistant Professor Krystle Reagan with the School of Veterinary Medicine are expanding on Pedersen’s research to further improve FIP treatment. They are seeking cats in the early to mid-stage of FIP disease for inclusion in clinical trials.

The Knights Landing One Health Clinic is a free, DVM student-run clinic that serves the community of Knights Landing, California, about 20 miles north of campus. UC Davis offers free veterinary care to both dogs and cats at the clinic, which is generally held one Sunday per month. 

The clinic is starting to get extremely busy, and we would love to have more veterinarians join us to help manage all the cases we see. We rely on our DVM volunteers to mentor the DVM students and undergraduates through client appointments. This is a great way to positively impact an underserved community.

If you are available to volunteer, please email the volunteer coordinator, Stephanie Han (Class of 2025 DVM student), at stehan@ucdavis.edu.

Canine Cancer Patient Gets New Lease on Life While Helping People Fighting Same Disease

Tyson, an English mastiff/pit bull mix, is helping bring attention to the science of comparative oncology, which is creating a unique partnership between UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Center for Companion Animal Health and UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Located only 30 minutes away from each another, the two campus centers—one for people and the other for pets—are collaborating in the fight against cancer in both species.

Faculty Members Named to Chair the Board of North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Association

Two faculty members from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine have been named to chair the board of the North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Association. Associate Professor Amir Kol is the new Chair, while Professor Boaz Arzi assumes the role of Vice Chair of the organization.

2022 Fall Faculty Awards and Reception

Dean Mark Stetter welcomed new members of the school’s community during the annual Fall Faculty Reception on October 26 and acknowledged those in outgoing and incoming leadership roles. The school also honored faculty members with awards for excellence in teaching and research, along with others honored for their service.

Dr. Sue Stover Delivers Milne Lecture at AAEP

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Sue Stover delivered the Milne Lecture at 68th Annual American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention in San Antonio. A capacity crowd of several thousand gathered in the convention center’s largest auditorium to hear “Skeletal Injuries in Equine Athletes: Pathogenesis and Training Concepts for Injury Prevention.”

Radiologists Win Awards at National Conference

UC Davis radiologists were well represented at the 2022 American College of Veterinary Radiology (ACVR) annual scientific meeting, held recently in Reno, Nevada. Positron emission tomography (PET) research being pioneered at the school was a large part of UC Davis’ presence at the conference. Lectures, research abstracts, and awards on the subject were presented and won by faculty and residents.

School Reaches New Heights in Research, Philanthropic, and Student Support

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine achieved record totals in research and philanthropic funding for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, with $89 million received for research and $61.7 million received from philanthropic sources. In addition, the school’s scholarship endowment surpassed $100 million – a notable milestone for support of veterinary medical education.

Dr. Lauren Charnock - Ophthalmology Service

Dr. Lauren Charnock Joined the Ophthalmology Service as an assistant professor, effective November 1, 2022. Dr. Charnock completed pre-veterinary studies in biochemistry (2013) at the University of Winnipeg, Canada and earned her DVM (2017) from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. She completed a small animal rotating internship (2018) at the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada and a specialty internship in comparative ophthalmology (2019) at Auburn University. She continued at Auburn and completed her residency in comparative ophthalmology (2019-2022) and a MS (2022). Her research interests and expertise are in corneal surgery and equine ophthalmology.

Determining Whether a Standard Chemotherapy Drug with Immunotherapy Can Safely Treat Lung Cancer in Dogs

Dr. Robert Rebhun is looking at response rates in dogs previously treated for osteosarcoma or melanoma that has now metastasized to the lungs. This study aims to determine whether giving an injection of doxorubicin chemotherapy, followed by an inhaled protein called interleukin-15 (IL-15), will be safe and effective for treating metastatic cancer within the lungs. Dogs who have previously undergone treatment of their original tumor (either surgery or radiation therapy) may be eligible to participate in this study. The study duration for eligible participants will last 98 days, with weekly visits to the VMTH for the first several weeks of the study.

Evaluation of a Single Agent Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Cancer in Dogs

Dr. Amandine Lejeune is researching the optimal dose of the widely used chemotherapy drug Mustargen. This chemotherapy is often used in combination with other chemotherapy drugs. However, the administration of Mustargen as a single agent in dogs with cancer has not been documented. This trial aims to evaluate the optimal dose and side effects of Mustargen when given as a single agent.

FIP Research: New Hope For Cats (And Maybe Humans)

As veterinary professionals in 2022, few of us would have imagined that we would be diagnosing a fatal disease in young cats and telling our clients we know of a treatment but that we can’t administer, sell, or prescribe it - then suggesting they visit a Facebook page to purchase unmarked vials of a drug from China for thousands of dollars. But that is precisely the scenario in which we find ourselves in the diagnosis and treatment of feline infectious peritonitis in the United States.

How did we get to a point where our only option is to suggest that our clients meet up with strangers from the internet with no veterinary training in parking lots to buy an unapproved medication to inject into their dying cats?

UC Davis veterinarians Amir Kol, Krystle Reagan, and Brian Murphy are leading studies to find readily accessible treatments.

Surgery Saves Award-Winning Heifer

Chime, a 1-year-old Holstein heifer, was fresh off a win at a local fair this past spring—with another show just a month away—when she began to show signs of abdominal discomfort or colic, and abnormal fecal production. This condition can be very serious, so their veterinarian referred the heifer to the Livestock Medicine and Surgery Service at the UC Davis veterinary hospital for further evaluation and treatment.

Collaborative Care Saves Horse from Chronic Colic Condition

Oskie, a 20-year-old Arabian gelding, had numerous mild colic episodes over the past two years. Thankfully, his owner is a veterinarian, and she knew how to treat the increasingly chronic condition in Oskie. But when she treated him a dozen times in one month, it was time to have his condition more thoroughly examined by the equine specialists at the UC Davis veterinary hospital.

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