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at texas a&m the college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences (cvm) the bush school of government and public service and the college of agriculture & life sciences (coals) all participated in creating content for this course |
the field experience in one health and outbreak investigation course was held for the second year this summer and had 12 graduate students enrolled most from the participating universities and one from the north carolina state college of veterinary medicine two of these phd students came from texas a&m one studying biomedical sciences and the other studying industrial engineering |
we had a mixture of students coming from a variety of different perspectives essentially feeding into the one health approach of tackling complex problems said dr craig coates coals instructional associate professor of entomology |
for each week of the course the students traveled to one of the three universities to participate in workshops field activities and case updates for a vector-borne disease outbreak simulation |
students were able to meet with dozens of faculty members from all three institutions including 10 from texas a&m to represent the variety of people involved in real-life disease outbreak response |
we have different expertise in different colleges coates said the complexity of a disease outbreak from the human perspective the pathogens and the vectors requires people from all sorts of different places |
the one health perspective part of it is the understanding that even if you might be a veterinarian and youre working on companion animals you may come across something that would be an indicator of a disease that could be transmitted to humans he said |
the first week of the course took place at ut rio grande valley where students practiced tick identification visited a usda facility studying the cattle fever tick and received the first pieces of information about the simulated disease outbreak |
the second week at texas a&m began with lectures on a community health perspective on an outbreak response bioterrorism genetic engineering of vectors and other relevant topics the coalss department of entomology hosted lectures and workshops throughout the week in the heep center rooms and laboratories |
next the students toured the texas a&m veterinary medical diagnostic laboratory and spent tuesday evening setting mosquito traps in the gardens at texas a&m which were gathered the next morning to practice mosquito identification |
throughout the week the students continued to receive updates on the disease outbreak simulation and used the knowledge they were accumulating to identify the possible disease vector and pathogen and develop response strategies |
later in the week dr sarah hamer cvm associate professor and director of the schubot exotic bird health center took the students to a local field site managed by the texas a&m department of wildlife & fisheries to teach them how to trap wild animals including common disease reservoir hosts such as birds and rodents |
we saw all of the things that we had captured and we brought all of those mammals or birds back to a central area so the students could get hands-on processing hamer said we were able to plunge students right in so they could get experience with blood draws and holding birds |
i think that was a lot of fun for them to be able to get up close and personal with the animals and learn how that is important from an outbreak perspective she said |
for the third week of the course students visited the utmb to focus on the human side of a disease outbreak response at the end of the week they participated in a mock media conference to learn how to educate the general public on a spreading disease |
this course was one of five the cvm is funding with the 2018-2019 tier one program (top) educational grant translating science into policy: preparing for pandemics and bioterror attacks granted to andrew natsios director of the scowcroft institute of international affairs dr gregory brian colwell director of the program on global health research at the texas a&m school of public health and dr gerald parker cvm associate dean of global one health director of the biosecurity and pandemic policy program at the bush school and strategic advisor of the institute for infectious animal diseases in agrilife research |
this grant is largely managed by christy blackburn assistant research scientist at the scowcroft institute of international affairs who also conducted the first course funded by the grant |
high-consequence disease outbreaks are becoming a new normal and one health experiential learning opportunities linking multiple colleges and universities are essential to prepare students for 21st century challenges parker said |
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for more information about the texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences please visit our website at vetmedtamuedu or join us on facebook instagram and twitter |
contact information: jennifer gauntt interim director of cvm communications texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences; jgauntt@cvmtamuedu; 979-862-4216 |
dr weihsueh chiu a professor in the college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences (cvm) department of veterinary integrative biosciences (vibs) was appointed to the national toxicology program (ntp) board of scientific counselors this spring |
this federal board serves as an advisory committee to the ntp and evaluates the scientific merit of ntp intramural and collaborative programs members are appointed by the secretary of the us department of health and human services (hhs) from a variety of scientific fields |
as part of the ntp board of scientific counselors chiu will participate in multiple meetings for the next three years to provide his advice and expertise on present and future scientific matters related to the ntps mission to evaluate agents of public health concern by developing and applying the tools of modern toxicology and molecular biology |
agents evaluated by the ntp cover a broad range from industrial chemicals to drugs and from dietary supplements to radio waves emitted by cell phones |
chiu who joined the cvm in 2015 after a 14-year career as a scientist at the us environmental protection agency (epa) is a member of the cvms interdisciplinary faculty of toxicology where he mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers |
chiu also teaches several core graduate classes including principles of human health risk assessment of chemicals |
he earned his phd from princeton university in 1998 and has since focused his career on the studies of toxicology environmental health and public health |
i am honored to have been chosen to serve on the ntps board of scientific counselors chiu said i am looking forward to helping the ntp advance the science of toxicology so that we as a society can make more informed health-based decisions about the multitude of chemicals and other agents to which we are exposed every day |
along with chiu the texas a&m university system will also be represented on the board by dr kenneth ramos assistant vice chancellor for health services |
more information about the ntp board of scientific counselors can be found at https://ntpniehsnihgov/about/org/bsc/indexhtml |
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for more information about the texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences please visit our website at vetmedtamuedu or join us on facebook instagram and twitter |
contact information: jennifer gauntt interim director of cvm communications texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences; jgauntt@cvmtamuedu; 979-862-4216 |
dr joanne hardy a clinical associate professor of veterinary surgery at the texas a&m large animal hospital (lah) hails from quebec canada she received her doctor of veterinary medicine (dvm) degree from the university of montreal the only french veterinary school in north america after veterinary school she completed a residency at the ohio state university |
hardy joined the faculty at ohio state and obtained board certifications in veterinary surgery and in veterinary emergency and critical care during this time she was invited to texas a&m university to speak at a conference and she really liked the environmentand the college station area in generaland when a job opened up at texas a&ms college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences (cvm) she immediately applied for it and got the job |
as a clinician hardy is responsible for the emergency and critical care service in the lah which consists of medical surgical and food animal faculty who deal with the daytime cases and share the after-hours emergency duty |
what we see is anything from a horse with a fever to major surgical candidates such as abdominal surgery and colic to neonatal emergency cases hardy said we receive many food animal emergencies which can include llamas pigs cattle goats and sheep in fact im bringing my own sheep today to be looked at by the food animal faculty so its a heavy after-hours schedule for sure |
the problem is people come home from work at 5 oclock and then they find their animals sick so that becomes an after-hour problem we see everything; if its a concern for the owner its a concern for us she said |
students participate in all of the work at the lah which is a great opportunity for them to see more emergent or urgent disease and illnesses as well as to participate in the triaging of those cases whether the animal needs to have immediate surgery or just monitored its a good opportunity for the students to learn in the hospital environment |
the lah also has a great intensive care service the service is top-of-the-line and the technicians are some of the best in the country |
there are at least two technicians oftentimes three or four in the hospital after hours at all times; they participate in receiving the emergencies and getting started with the diagnostics the hospital staff can perform pretty much any diagnostics that need to be done according to hardy |
ive seen times when weve had horses with head injuries that needed to get an mri imaging or a ct doneor whatever needs to be done reallyon a sunday and we got it done she said so at any time i think our faculty and our technicians are absolutely fantastic to jump in and help out it takes a village and weve got a great village thats for sure |
hardy also fulfills the college mission of teaching with the colleges recent implementation of a new curriculum clinicians teach with a more hands-on approach |
the students from day one learn a lot of hands-on skills she said there are a lot more hands-on laboratories and sessions with live animals but also with models so a lot of the techniques that we teach them can first be learned on models |
the professional programs office has come up with some really creative ways to teach the students different techniques she said they learn first on the model so they can really get the hang of doing a procedure and then when they get to the actual animal theyre a lot more proficient |
with so many good things happening in the teaching world hardy said she thinks most faculty are much more involved from day one |
it used to be we were more centered on the third and fourth years; now were more involved throughout the curriculum she said |
hardy also participates in research projects currently she is involved with dr paul lindahl from the texas a&m college of sciences department of chemistry lindahl has an interest in iron metabolism and so working collaboratively across colleges hardy and lindahl are attempting to learn how iron is absorbed in the body |
even though iron is a really common nutrient iron deficiencies result in world-wide problemsespecially in developing countriestheres actually a lot to learn about how iron is used by the body hardy said |
she is also collaborating with a few cvm faculty members by using remote monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate and ecg etc in testing some different machineries to explore for example early detection of illness among cattle from a herd |
hardy also oversees the residents who are pursuing their specialty programs in surgery |
i think the way we learn is different today hardy said i remember going through vet school and having to learn everything by rote memory because you had to knowyou couldnt look up things on your phone right |
now what students are having to learn is to look for good information good resources but then they dont have to memorize so much hardy said now they can really think and assess and apply what theyre learning; its a different way of learning it really is but its a good way i think |
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note: this story originally appeared in the 2019 spring edition of cvm today |
for more information about the texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences please visit our website at vetmedtamuedu or join us on facebook instagram and twitter |
contact information: jennifer gauntt interim director of communications media & public relations texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical science; jgauntt@cvmtamuedu; 979-862-4216 |
the study published in plos one will be used to help with lion conservation and wildlife management in and around the southern african country |
dna evidence suggests that modern lions as a species originated in the republic of zambia a u-shaped country in southern africa known for its rugged terrain and diverse wildlife |
today zambia has one of the largest lion populations with more than 77 000 square miles of protected land the population is approximately 1 200 strong |
modern lion inhabitants live in what has been thought to be two isolated genetically distinct subpopulations divided by an area that includes zambias capital and largest city lusaka as well as a lot of rural communities and farming and grazing land |
this middle ground has always been considered uninhabitable by lions; however researchers at the texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences (cvm) have found that small numbers of lions in zambia are in fact moving across this previously believed uninhabitable land |
in their genetic analysis of these lions recently published in the journal plos one cvm doctoral student caitlin curry and professor in the cvms department of veterinary pathobiology (vtpb) dr james derr found through examining the nuclear and mitochondrial genes of lions on both sides of the divide that there were high levels of genetic diversity within the entire lion population |
the nuclear dna is inherited by both parents so you get an idea of diversity in the entire population whereas the mitochondrial dna is only inherited through the mother curry said by examining both youre getting two different views of inheritance through the populations |
working in collaboration with dr paula white of the zambia lion project the pair analyzed the genes of 409 lions using dna extracted from material collected in cooperation with the zambian wildlife authority |
by focusing on the nuclear dna the researchers saw movement or similarities between the two subpopulations they attribute this to what is called male-mediated gene flow |
in the lion mating system the females stay in or dont move very far away from their natal prides but males move all over trying to find new prides once they get old enough males are kicked out of the pride and they either find a new pride or make a new pride curry said so males are the ones bringing the genes to new locations |
this gene flow increases genetic diversity by introducing new genes to a new area |
a benefit of having higher genetic diversity is a greater chance for adaptation to a changing environment curry said both the eastern and western subpopulations have high levels of genetic diversity but they are still staying genetically distinct enough to remain two sub-populations |
the study also determined where the lions are moving based on which lions are more genetically similar to each other |
lions in the north and south luangwa national parks part of the eastern sub-population appear completely separated from the western sub-population curry said gene flow also is occurring through the southern regions of the eastern sub-population with lions moving between the lower zambezi national park and eastern corridor to the kafue national park |
these findings will be used to help with lion conservation and wildlife management in and around zambia |
lions are a flagship species meaning that as a large charismatic carnivore their research and conservation influences many other species that share its habitat curry said knowing where lions are moving will help in making decisions on where and how to manage lions and other wildlife populations |
this shows them they need to open corridors to make movement across that land easier and safer for lions and also to reduce human-wildlife conflict curry said thats probably why theyre having that conflict in the first place because theyre not taking into consideration that lions actually are moving across it |
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for more information about the texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences please visit our website at vetmedtamuedu or join us on facebook instagram and twitter |
contact information: jennifer gauntt interim director of cvm communications texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical science; jgauntt@cvmtamuedu; 979-862-4216 |
dr kevin washburn a professor in the texas a&m college of veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences (cvm) department of large animal clinical sciences (vlcs) wears many hats |
as a specialist in large animal internal medicine and surgery he serves the needs of his ailing veterinary patients; as a faculty member he mentors veterinary students and performs research |
washburn said the opportunity to practice veterinary medicine alongside teaching and research is precisely what drew him to texas a&m university 13 years ago |
but his path into veterinary medicine particularly food-animal medicine was far from serendipitous raised in a rural farming community in southern oklahoma he developed a close understanding of animal agriculture |
i was heavily involved with national future farmers of america organization in high school he said i exhibited livestock all four years of high school |
taking care of his familys livestock involved frequent trips to the local veterinary clinic |
the local veterinarian was my neighbor and i spent quite a bit of time with him when he was working with my cattle washburn said |
over time this inside look into a rural veterinary practice solidified washburns interest in pursuing a career in food-animal medicine |
after obtaining a bachelors degree in agricultural economics from oklahoma state university washburn joined the doctor of veterinary medicine program there although the program did not have a food-animal medicine track he chose elective courses with an emphasis on food animals after graduating he went straight into food-animal private practice |
although washburn greatly enjoyed his line of work he developed a yearning to teach and he quickly realized that a basic veterinary degree would not suffice for this purpose |
i knew that to teach i needed to go back to school and become a specialist he said so i left my private practice went back to oklahoma state university and completed a residency in large animal internal medicine |
during his residency washburn became board certified in food-animal practice and large animal internal medicine to poise himself for a career in academia |
then when a faculty position opened at the veterinary school at texas a&m washburn applied and landed the job although taking the job meant moving out of his home state he was excited by the prospect of a more fulfilling career involving teaching research and surgery |
training future food-animal veterinarians |
in 2005 when washburn started teaching at texas a&m food-animal medicine was not a career path offered to veterinary students; three years ago however that changed when the cvm started the food-animal medicine track |
washburn now trains students interested in careers in food-animal medicinean area of veterinary medicine that he is deeply passionate about |
i really look forward to coming to work every day because of the interaction with students he said enthusiastically im definitely not the wise old owl but because i worked in private practice for a while before coming back to academia i can teach my students skills that are highly translatable to private practice especially in food-animal type practices because thats my background |
when washburn is asked about his students his eyes well up with pride |
we have 16 veterinarians out there in the workforce who have gone through the food-animal track he said weve got at least 11 more who will graduate next may |
washburn noted that food-animal clinicians trained in the cvm are a huge benefit for states like texas where there is a thriving livestock industry |
i think my job as a clinical instructor is to be able to do all that i can to produce veterinarians who can go and serve people in portions of the state like the texas panhandle that have a predominant livestock industry he said our program provides a pipeline for students who want to be feedlot consultant veterinarians dairy veterinarians or swine veterinarians in large production-based facilities |
turning the spotlight on bovine research |