Page 15 - Volume 18 Issue 2
P. 15
Teacher of the Year Researcher of the Year
Hrvoje Smodlaka, Jinjun Hao, PhD
DVM, PhD
Hrvoje Smodlaka, DVM, PhD, and Jinjun Hao, PhD., is a very long way away
associate professor of anatomy, is the from the remote rural village in the Shaanxi
Zoetis Distinguished Teacher of the Year. province of China, where he grew up, helping
his parents raise crops and feed sheep and pigs
Dr. Smodlaka, a member of the College of after school.
Veterinary Medicine’s founding faculty,
says hard work is the key to success, He decided to emulate his elder brother, who
whether it is studying or singing. was the first college student in the village’s
history. Dr. Hao left home to study biology in
As a veterinary student in his native Shanghai, then earned a doctorate in the U.K.
Croatia, he graduated at the top of his and worked at Vanderbilt University in
class, and wanted to continue learning. Tennessee before arriving at WesternU five
Hrvoje Smodlaka That led him to enroll in postgraduate Jinjun Hao years ago. Now an assistant professor of stem
programs in the United States, first at cell and cancer biology, Dr. Hao received the
Mississippi State University, then at the University of Tennessee, where 2017 Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence at Honors Day in April.
he earned his doctorate.
“Recognizing the importance of research in our understanding of life science
While on the faculty at the University of Georgia, Dr. Smodlaka heard and in developing new mediciations, I started my biochemistry research as a
about the new and innovative veterinary college opening in California, PhD candidate at the University of Leeds in England,” Dr. Hao said. “I have
and applied for a faculty position. collaborated extensively and published numerous papers with the faculty of
several colleges within WesternU, as well as Loma Linda University, Cedars-
Another accomplishment is the development of his singing voice. He
delighted students at the college’s International Night in January with a Sinai Medical Center, and the University of California campuses in Irvine and
bel canto aria. Bel canto, or “beautiful singing,” describes a vocal style Riverside.”
with an Italian origin. Dr. Hao also was named the CVM grant writer of the year. Dominique
Griffon, DMV, MS, PhD, DECVS, DACVS, the associate dean for research,
“The students call it opera, but bel canto is technically not opera,” Dr.
Smodlaka said. “I say that I am a classical singer, fond of Italian folk lauded Dr. Hao for writing and applying for seven study grants in one year,
songs. including four from the National Institutes of Health (NIH.)
One of Dr. Hao’s current research interests is cancer drug development by
”I was raised as a church singer, and I have been singing since I was a using the tiny embryos of zebrafish. Astonishingly, these tropical fish, which
child,” he said. “A good voice is not a gift; it takes lots of effort to grow no longer than an inch and a half, have muscle, blood, kidneys and eyes
develop it.
that share many features with human organs and tissue.
“In life, nothing comes served on a platter,” he said. “When you do hard
work, you get and appreciate the real value of your labor.” His other main thrust is in stem cells and their possible use in the treatment of
degenerative diseases.
“There is a saying in Latin -- Per aspera ad astra, or ‘over the thorns, up
to the stars’ -- that can be translated more commonly in English as “Stem cell therapy is believed to be a promising and innovative approach to
‘through hardships to the stars.’ It means every path to success is paved treat heart failure,” the doctor said. “Our work of efficiently differentiating
with difficulty.” stem cells into cardiac cells in a short time frame paves the way for future
cardiac cell therapy.”
Dr. Smodlaka gets that message across to students by telling them not to
ask him easy questions. Dr. Hao hopes to inspire CVM students to become as interested as he is in
discovering the future of medicine.
“Ask me tough questions, questions that I don’t know the answers to, so
it will make me think, or I might have to do research to find the answer,” “I have trained 15 students in my laboratory, and many of them have taken
Dr. Smodlaka said. “They will have to do a lot of searching and studying steps to a career in research,” he said.
to come up with a hard question. I want them to work hard, to study.
“When you work hard, you know that you deserve your degree.”
Veterinary Outlook 13
Hrvoje Smodlaka, Jinjun Hao, PhD
DVM, PhD
Hrvoje Smodlaka, DVM, PhD, and Jinjun Hao, PhD., is a very long way away
associate professor of anatomy, is the from the remote rural village in the Shaanxi
Zoetis Distinguished Teacher of the Year. province of China, where he grew up, helping
his parents raise crops and feed sheep and pigs
Dr. Smodlaka, a member of the College of after school.
Veterinary Medicine’s founding faculty,
says hard work is the key to success, He decided to emulate his elder brother, who
whether it is studying or singing. was the first college student in the village’s
history. Dr. Hao left home to study biology in
As a veterinary student in his native Shanghai, then earned a doctorate in the U.K.
Croatia, he graduated at the top of his and worked at Vanderbilt University in
class, and wanted to continue learning. Tennessee before arriving at WesternU five
Hrvoje Smodlaka That led him to enroll in postgraduate Jinjun Hao years ago. Now an assistant professor of stem
programs in the United States, first at cell and cancer biology, Dr. Hao received the
Mississippi State University, then at the University of Tennessee, where 2017 Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence at Honors Day in April.
he earned his doctorate.
“Recognizing the importance of research in our understanding of life science
While on the faculty at the University of Georgia, Dr. Smodlaka heard and in developing new mediciations, I started my biochemistry research as a
about the new and innovative veterinary college opening in California, PhD candidate at the University of Leeds in England,” Dr. Hao said. “I have
and applied for a faculty position. collaborated extensively and published numerous papers with the faculty of
several colleges within WesternU, as well as Loma Linda University, Cedars-
Another accomplishment is the development of his singing voice. He
delighted students at the college’s International Night in January with a Sinai Medical Center, and the University of California campuses in Irvine and
bel canto aria. Bel canto, or “beautiful singing,” describes a vocal style Riverside.”
with an Italian origin. Dr. Hao also was named the CVM grant writer of the year. Dominique
Griffon, DMV, MS, PhD, DECVS, DACVS, the associate dean for research,
“The students call it opera, but bel canto is technically not opera,” Dr.
Smodlaka said. “I say that I am a classical singer, fond of Italian folk lauded Dr. Hao for writing and applying for seven study grants in one year,
songs. including four from the National Institutes of Health (NIH.)
One of Dr. Hao’s current research interests is cancer drug development by
”I was raised as a church singer, and I have been singing since I was a using the tiny embryos of zebrafish. Astonishingly, these tropical fish, which
child,” he said. “A good voice is not a gift; it takes lots of effort to grow no longer than an inch and a half, have muscle, blood, kidneys and eyes
develop it.
that share many features with human organs and tissue.
“In life, nothing comes served on a platter,” he said. “When you do hard
work, you get and appreciate the real value of your labor.” His other main thrust is in stem cells and their possible use in the treatment of
degenerative diseases.
“There is a saying in Latin -- Per aspera ad astra, or ‘over the thorns, up
to the stars’ -- that can be translated more commonly in English as “Stem cell therapy is believed to be a promising and innovative approach to
‘through hardships to the stars.’ It means every path to success is paved treat heart failure,” the doctor said. “Our work of efficiently differentiating
with difficulty.” stem cells into cardiac cells in a short time frame paves the way for future
cardiac cell therapy.”
Dr. Smodlaka gets that message across to students by telling them not to
ask him easy questions. Dr. Hao hopes to inspire CVM students to become as interested as he is in
discovering the future of medicine.
“Ask me tough questions, questions that I don’t know the answers to, so
it will make me think, or I might have to do research to find the answer,” “I have trained 15 students in my laboratory, and many of them have taken
Dr. Smodlaka said. “They will have to do a lot of searching and studying steps to a career in research,” he said.
to come up with a hard question. I want them to work hard, to study.
“When you work hard, you know that you deserve your degree.”
Veterinary Outlook 13
