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The AAVN's 24th Annual Clinical Nutrition and Research Symposium will take place on Tuesday, June 4 and Wednesday, June 5 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, MN.  

Join us for 1.5 days of programming, including lectures, oral and poster abstract presentations, student meetings and networking opportunities. 

This program will be submitted to RACE for 3.5 CE credits.

A full schedule is available here. 

We are Throwing a Party Again this Year!

Tuesday, June 4, 7 pm - 9 pm (location TBD)



Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit student travel fund for the

2025 AAVN Symposium.

Tickets are just $25 for Symposium attendees - the promo code will be included in your registration confirmation- and include 2 drink tickets and a ticket to enter a drawing for some excellent prizes. 

Guests are welcome, additional event tickets are just $35. 

For more details and to purchase tickets click here.

All registered attendees receive a 15% discount on registration for the ACVIM Forum (promo code is provided in registration confirmation).

The Symposium will be an in-person event, however recordings of the four lectures and all abstract presentations will be available to registered attendees and AAVN members for a limited time after the live event.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Educational Program Sponsor

Student Travel and Student Session Sponsor

Offsite Party Sponsors

Member Spotlight:

Vincent Michels, DVM, Residency Trained in Veterinary Nutrition

How long have you been an AAVN member? Since 2016 (approximately 8 years as a student and active member).

What company or organization do you work at right now? I am the Director of Veterinary Nutrition & Research at JustFoodForDogs.

What do you like about your current job?

One of the most exciting aspects of my position is getting to see the diets we design come to life as tangible products. I always enjoyed homemade diet formulation throughout my residency training, but you rarely get to see the real-world outcome unless a client feels generous enough to snap some pictures or take a video of their pet eating the finished goods. Watching thousands of pounds of a diet of your design get produced, analyzed, and shipped to pets throughout the country can be a bit surreal.

I am also grateful to have a group of colleagues who are excellent collaborators. Going from diet blueprint to real world product takes a lot of teamwork, and I couldn’t do what I do without my partners here at JFFD. 

Please describe a great experience you've had in your career:

The first case that comes to mind is a weight loss plan I conducted during my nutrition internship at Kansas State. Ginger, pictured in my photo, was a senior female spayed dachshund who had been surrendered to a local rescue organization after becoming acutely non-ambulatory paraparetic with a suspected intervertebral disc disease. I wish I still had a 'before' photo, but Ginger was a good example of a dog who broke the limits of the 9-point BCS scale. I had the pleasure of being part of her veterinary health team and worked with her foster mom on a weight loss plan. Over months of rechecks, I was able to watch Ginger’s ambulation improve as she shed some pounds. By the time she was an ideal BCS, Ginger was walking unassisted, albeit with a bit of pelvic limb ataxia. It was one of the first weight loss cases I was able to follow from start to finish, and seeing the impact of the diet plan on Ginger’s quality of life was a great experience.

Member Research In the News

George Fahey, Professor Emeritus

Department of Animal Sciences

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

From Dr. Fahey's page at ResearchGate, we learned that he still serves on graduate student committees at the University of Illinois, and he is also engaged in nutrition consulting, most of which relates to pet animal nutrition with a smaller amount related to human nutrition.

He also serves on many GRAS panels dealing with the safety of food and feed ingredients

Title: Copper Metabolism and Its Implications for Canine Nutrition



L. A. Amundson*,¶,1, B. N. Kirn* , E. J. Swensson* , A. A. Millican* , G. C. Fahey#*Zinpro Corporation, Eden Prairie, MN 55344, USA ¶Animal and Dairy Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA #Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801.

Check it out at DOI

We’re glad to recognize AAVN members who have successfully published an original research article, textbook chapter, case report, or review paper. If you have something in the works and soon to be published, please let us know!

Don't Miss this Upcoming Webinar!

Tuesday, March 26, 8 pm ET

Horses have evolved a primary adaptation to a grasslands nutritional environment over approximately 30-40 million years. Humans domesticated horses between 6,000 and 9,000 years ago, began feeding grains as a concentrated energy and nutrient source ~2,000 years ago, and began to utilize pelleted concentrates <100 years ago.

It is likely that the change in dietary fractions of structural and nonstructural carbohydrates over a relatively short period of time is a significant contributor to the current prevalence of insulin resistance and equine metabolic syndrome in horses. This knowledge does not make the challenge of identifying nutritional and management solutions for an animal that is utilized for athletic production any easier. Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is generally defined by a combination of obesity, previous or current laminitis, and insulin resistance.

This lecture will begin with some historical perspective on the rise in prevalence of equine metabolic syndrome.  Some of the relevant research that has helped shape current nutritional recommendations will also be highlighted. Finally, examples of dietary and husbandry management that might be utilized to reduce the risk of EMS or manage EMS in horses will be discussed.

We have lots of info to share with you,

AAVN Student Members! 

Register for our Town Hall & Trivia on Thursday, April 4 at 8 pm ET to learn more about student programs and travel funds for the 24th Annual Symposium in June.

PLUS test your nutrition knowledge (and win fabulous prizes, including a Nespresso machine!). 

Register here!  

AAVN Student Chapter at OVC Holds Tube Lab

Submitted by Dr. Sarah Abood

The annual tube feeding lab was hosted on a cold night in January by the Ontario Veterinary College’s Nutrition Club to give students a chance to learn more about feeding tubes and the value they provide in helping patients unable to eat adequately on their own. This year's event featured 4 stations: tube types and patient indications for selecting a best option, technique tips for placing tubes (using models), choosing and preparing diets to administer through tubes, and developing feeding plans (including calculations). This is a meaningful workshop for students because they get to engage with the Clinical Nutrition team and like-minded peers interested in furthering their knowledge about tubes and nutrition support for sick patients. Students saw first-hand how canned diets and kibble are blenderized, as well as exposure to different tube types and methods for placement and feeding. The workshop was designed to help students discover how they can apply these skills when they go out into practice.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the feeding tube lab. It re-enforced things like nutrition calculations and esophagostomy tube placement. I liked learning about different types of feeding tubes and what the different indications are to use them as well as the diet station. I had never really thought about all the things we should consider when choosing a diet for tube feeding!” Alexandra Lytasz

There were 24 students and most were members of the second and third year veterinary classes. Three members of the Clinical Nutrition team helped organize and run the stations. Pizza was provided with support from Nestle Purina Canada.

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CGS Monthly Virtual Rounds

Comparative Gastroenterology Society Webinars offers monthly webinars the First Thursday of each month 4-5PM ET (excluding February, July & August)

For more details click here

Save the Date!

European Workshop on Equine Nutrition

July 1-4, 2024

Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Norway

Look out for information on abstract submission, conference schedule and registration in Autumn 2023 on the EWEN website.