Vet Med Open House April 6
The College of Veterinary Medicine held its eighth annual Open House from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2013 along the campus' Esplanade. The Open House is a way for the College to reach out to the community and introduce WesternU and CVM. It also gives guests an opportunity to learn about the veterinary profession, pet care and animal awareness. CVM students and clubs hosted booths on pet care and provide tours of the College and Banfield. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts earned scouting merit badges and fun patches as they learned about various aspects of animal care. Aquarium of the Pacific's Aquarium on Wheels, K-9 unit demonstrations, shelter pet adoptions, pet microchipping and pet vaccinations also were available.
CVM Donations
WesternU Trustee Vince Naimoli made a generous year-end gift of $5,000 to the Veterinary Medicine Scholarship Fund, and another generous $5,000 gift in January in support of equipping the new VACS II vehicle.
The College also received a $12,000 gift from the Betty J. Jones & The Cassius Cat Foundation to fund six scholarships for College of Veterinary Medicine students this year. This is the eighth consecutive year the Foundation has supported CVM student scholarships and they have now provided $89,000 in support. Along with the financial support, students receive a stuffed cat when they earn their scholarship to remind them of "Cassius," the beloved cat of Ms. Betty J. Jones.
Alumni News
Roxanna Khorzad, DVM '08, is practicing with Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, MA. Dr. Khorzad joined Angell in 2012 after completing her residency in Emergency and Critical Care with them.
Kelly Everson, DVM '08, is practicing with Mobile Veterinary Care in Noblesville, IN.
Kelly Koetters, DVM '09, administers equestrian services at Katherine Road Animal Hospital in Quincy, IL, travelling to the client/patient rather than them having to trailer to hospital.
Faculty News
Veterinary Assistant Professor and physiologist Dr. David Kersey was awarded a $5,000 grant from Zoo Atlanta to further his studies of giant panda thyroid hormones by investigating thyroid activity in the male panda. This project will be done in collaboration with Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and will involve Student Doctor Ainjil Bills, DVM '15, throughout the course of the study.
Veterinary Assistant Professors Dr. Yvonne Drechsler (virologist) and Dr. Pedro Diniz (small animal infectious disease investigator) have been informed of new funding for their proposed study titled, "Host immune response of feline kidney cells to pathogenic and non-pathogenic feline coronavirus strains: Developing biomarkers for FIP." The study has been competitively evaluated and funded by the Winn Feline Foundation in the amount of $25,000.
Veterinary Professor and avian virologist Dr. Ellen Collisson has published the work conducted in her laboratory that concluded the work of her post-doctoral fellow Dr. Ghida Banat now residing in Beirut, Lebanon. The article, "Association of the chicken MHC B haplotypes with resistance to avian coronavirus," was a collaboration with Dr. Tkalcic and Dr. Saggese on our CVM faculty and scientists from several other scientific institutions. The study examined poultry resistance to respiratory disease and found evidence of genetic factors that confer improved resistance. The manuscript mentions related studies at Western University of Health Sciences currently being conducted by Dr. Dawes and Dr. Drechsler. Click here to view the article. The complete citation is: Association of the chicken MHC B haplotypes with resistance to avian coronavirus. GR Banat et al. Developmental and Comparative Immunology 39 (2013) 430–437.
Veterinary Associate Professor and pathologist Dr. Tracey McNamara was recently appointed by the One Health Commission Board of Directors to serve on the 
Commission's Council of Advisors. This appointment for a three-year term recognizes Dr. McNamara's ongoing commitment of leadership and support in the One Health concept. The mission of this non-profit organization is the establishment of closer professional interactions, collaborations, and educational and research opportunities across the health sciences professions, together with their related disciplines, to improve the health of people, animals, plants and our environment. Leadership and expertise from the Council of Advisors is particularly needed to help identify, develop, and implement demonstration projects that would tackle high priority health challenges using the One Health approach. In addition, expertise and input is needed as the Commission strives to develop a leading center for One Health communications and resources.
Veterinary Professor and anatomist Dr. Wael Khamas published an article titled, "A Survey of Camel production in three different ecological zones of Pakistan." His collaborators were two Pakistani scientists who with Dr. Khamas have studied dromedary camel herders and assessed their economic success. Camel herds are the major source of income of the camel herders at all zones were sale of milk and meat, sale of animals and crop cultivation. The socio-economic value of the animals as well as management techniques, health management and reproductive records are analyzed. The complete citation for this paper is: Pasha, R.H., A.S. Qureshi and W.A. Khamas, 2013. A Survey of Camel production in three different ecological zones of Pakistan. Int. J. Agric. Biol., 15: 62‒68.
Student News
Veterinary Student Doctor Natalie Punt (DVM 2015) was awarded for summer 2013 a funded research internship at the National Institutes of Health in 
Bethesda, Maryland in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (http://www.ninds.nih.gov/), and she was one of 20 students selected for a fellowship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Medical Fellows Program (HHMI). She has participated in research in the genomics lab of Dr. Kristopher Irizarry, Associate Professor, funded by the Merial Veterinary Scholar's research award last summer. She received a recognition award for her WesternU Student Technology and Research Symposium presentation for her work elucidating the comparative genomics mechanisms underlying cancer resistance in the naked mole rat. Natalie has expressed an interest in pursuing research as part of her career and receiving this extremely competitive summer research internship at the NIH will undoubtedly launch her research aspirations that were nurtured at Western University of Health Sciences. This is an excellent example of the quality and potential of our veterinary students.
Read the latest updates from the students themselves in the latest Student Government Association Newsletter.
Events & Conferences
April 18: WesternU's College of Pharmacy presents the Ray Symposium on campus. Dr. Patricia Crawford, RD, director of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley, and a Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist, will present "Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention," at 5:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall 1 of the Health Education Center on WesternU's Pomona campus.
April 20: Shelter Club (SC-ASV) has organized a spay/neuter clinic at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society on Saturday, April 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They would love to have alumni join them along with Assistant Professor David Forster and Professor Frank Bossong, as it would be a great opportunity to help the first and second year students gain experience and make the clinic a success. If you are interested, please email the Shelter Club alumni representative, Katie Hollar, at khollar@westernu.edu.
May 13: The College of Veterinary Medicine is hosting a Retirement Reception for Associate Dean Stephen Waldhalm to celebrate and remember all the contributions each has given to the College. The reception will be held on Monday, May 13, 2013 from 3:00-5:00 p.m. on campus on the Esplanade by the Health Education Center. Please RSVP for the reception to Annaluz Wilton at awilton@westernu.edu by May 1.
May 15: WesternU Alumni Networking Mixer, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at McCormick & Schmick's in Pasadena (111 N Los Robles). Meet up with other WesternU alumni and join us for an evening of complimentary appetizers, drinks and lively conversation. RSVP by May 10 to Austin Braunwalder.
May 15-17: WesternU's 32nd Commencement at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium
June 10: WesternU's 2013 Towne & Gown Golf Tournament, benefiting student scholarships, will be held Monday, June 10, 2013, at the Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga.
June 20: WesternU Reception, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach (200 S Pine Ave)) during the California Veterinary Medical Association's Pacific Veterinary Conference. (CVM students and alumni: Register for the conference by April 30 to save up to $75 off registration fees.)
July 13: Save the date to join your fellow alumni for complimentary drinks and snacks at WesternU's "Day at the Beach" in Malibu on Saturday, July 13, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
See a full list of upcoming events on the Online Alumni Events page.
For more information or to RSVP for these events, please contact the Alumni Office at (909) 469-ALUM or alumni@westernu.edu.
Front Page | COMP | CAHP | COP | CGN | CVM | CDM | CO | CPM | GCBS