Here Come the Holidays | Message from the Dean

Message from the Dean | December 2018

Here Come the Holidays ... and Finals

As the holidays approach, I want to wish each of you a fantastic holiday season. As the students very well know, this also means that finals are fast approaching. I wish all of our students good luck and success as the semester approaches its end.

Now that the elections are behind us, we will focus the next six to nine months on working with Governor-elect Tony Evers, his staff and the state's legislators to successfully enumerate the school's new addition. If you have an opportunity, please assist us by telling your local legislator of the important impact the School of Veterinary Medicine has on the state of Wisconsin and its citizens. Importantly, please highlight the necessity of the school's new addition to continue to serve the citizens of the state of Wisconsin and to lead the veterinary medical profession in the coming decades.

As you may remember, we conduct a School of Veterinary Medicine climate survey every other year and I would encourage you to please complete this survey by December 7.

For those who haven't heard, I am sad to report that one of the school's greatest friends, Morrie Waud, passed away at his home in Illinois on November 6. Morrie was a dedicated equine enthusiast and for over two decades supported the school and its students in a wide variety of ways. He was a kind and giving soul who cared for our students like they were a part of his family. I wish his wife Tracey, his son Morrison, and all of Morrie's extended family my sincere sympathy for their loss and wholehearted gratitude for all that Morrie did and continues to do for the UW School of Veterinary Medicine.

Again, to all of our students, good luck with your upcoming finals and I wish everyone a happy holiday and fantastic upcoming New Year.

UW Veterinary Care Updates from the Director

The last few months have seen several changes in our large animal hospital. Clinicians now have a new dedicated workspace, similar updates and remodels have started in the "cage" area to provide a cleaner, brighter, more modern workspace for students, and soon a permanent storage shed for large animal feed and bedding will be constructed.

We are also excited to now have a large animal standing CT scanner installed by the manufacturer on loan to us for six months (or 100 horses scanned, whichever comes first). We plan to offer this as a diagnostic procedure for client-owned animals before the end of the year. Campus will be organizing an official proposal to allow us to purchase a large animal CT scanner, providing a truly state-of-the-art imaging tool for our patients .


	Ferguson (left) greets his best friend Grayson (right) at Holyland Donkey Haven. (Photo: Jenny Peek/WPR)

Hospital patient Ferguson, a rescued miniature donkey, has continued to thrive since receiving an amputation and prosthesis at UW Veterinary Care earlier this year. With Ferguson now back at Holyland Donkey Haven, here's a great update from Wisconsin Public Radio.

Welcome to new employees Mckenzy Suhr, a greeter/cashier in reception, and to Christina (CJ) Hoekstra in phone reception. And welcome back to Carolyn Bormann in Radiology, returning from retirement to assist part-time .

Finally, congratulations to Lily Parkinson, who recently completed a residency in zoological medicine at UW Veterinary Care, on becoming a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine.

In this season of joy and giving, remember that each of you in the hospital bring happiness to our clients on a daily basis. Here's a recent bit of feedback from a very grateful client:

"I am always made to feel that my horse is the only horse in the world that is important. Of course that is not true, but I am so impressed with the amount of unhurried time that is taken with Cowboy and with me, explaining things to me and giving me options moving forward. Plus everyone is so very kind . "

- Joanna, Madison, Wisconsin

Ruthanne Chun DVM'91
Director, UW Veterinary Care
Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs

School News

This holiday season, consider sending the SVM's 2018 holiday card. Recipients will enjoy beautiful, original artwork by Wisconsin artist Kathy Esch and you will be supporting our school, our hospital and our students. And don't miss shopping at the 30th annual SVM Craft Fair on December 7, with 20 percent of proceeds benefiting the school's Companion Animal Fund.

The winter issue of On Call has mailed and is online, highlighting the many donors who support all that we do at the school; Ferguson, a rescued miniature donkey who is the first large animal to receive an amputation and prosthesis at UW Veterinary Care; the Vaccination Against Canine Cancer Study; and much more.

Faculty and Staff News

Welcome to Elena Ungur, who joined the Department of Pathobiological Sciences as department administrator on November 26.

Get to know Sophie Aschenbroich, a clinical assistant professor in anatomic pathology, in this new faculty focus. What's one thing she hopes students who take a class with her will come away with? "That science is all in the subtleties and cannot be placed in a box, that there is no black and white."

Following their retirement this fall, professor Tim Yoshino and clinical instructor Linda Sullivan have been awarded emeritus status, recognizing their myriad accomplishments and contributions to the school and the university.

Congratulations to associate professor Stephen Johnson and professor Marulasiddappa Suresh on earning a Zoetis Distinguished Veterinary Teacher Award and Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence, respectively.

Research News

Mostafa Zamanianan, an assistant professor of pathobiological sciences, and Nic Wheeler, a postdoctoral fellow in Zamanianan's lab, were part of a consortium paper published in Nature Genetics in November. The largest genomic study of parasitic worms to date, the research identified hundreds of thousands of new genes and predicted many new potential drug targets and drugs. Zamanianan and Wheeler contributed the primary analyses of receptors and ion channels (druggable targets) featured prominently in the text. Learn more about their research.

Research led by neuroscientist Ian Duncan, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that an overlooked source may be able to replace the lost insulation of nerve cells by creating a thin replacement coating of myelin. The study opens new opportunities to slow or reverse diseases like multiple sclerosis.

Congratulations to Ann Turco, a pre-doctoral trainee in the lab of Chad Vezina, on receiving the inaugural Eula and Donald S. Coffey Innovative Research Award at the annual meeting of the Society for Basic Urologic Research in November. The award is presented to the most innovative abstract at the meeting. Four researchers from the SVM and Vezina's lab also received travel awards to support attendance at the meeting: Turco, Mark Cadena, Hannah Ruetten and Kyle Wegner.

Applications are now being accepted for the UW-Madison Global Health Institute's 2019 global health grants and awards. Faculty, staff, clinicians and graduate students are eligible for support. The competitive grants program is designed to enhance global health activities on campus and improve health locally and globally.