Beautiful Pet Portraits

Check out these incredible pet portraits created by Alena Naimark from Tufts University!

  

Alena enjoys creating these as stress relief from school. If you want one of your very own, contact us here at The Vet Gazette, and we can get you in contact with Alena! 

2019 SAVMA Symposium Experience

Victoria Villafane, Ross University 

Amidst the hectic life of a veterinarian student, I hesitated before making the decision to travel mid- semester back to the states for SAVMA symposium. Most schools were on spring break but for Ross students, travel consisted of lugging our laptops, notebooks, and all study materials with us and studying throughout the day any break we got. The question came up more than once, of why we would put ourselves through that just for a convention. Since I have never been before, I did not know the answer until I took the chance and packed my bags, heading off to Athens, Georgia. I felt a mix of nerves, excitement, and stress as I settled in on the plane hoping it was all going to be worth it.

Stepping into symposium, I knew I made the right choice. I looked around at the many vet students from all across the country, glanced at the lengthy list of veterinarian names there to give us lectures and guide us through wet labs and I smiled. This wasn’t something I would ever be able to experience during any other part of vet school. I knew I had the opportunity to network with others in my field, listen to lectures expanding my knowledge on what we learn in school, and to strengthen skills during wet labs.

I took a turn into the big exhibit hall full of vendors, promotors, recruiters and was pleasantly overwhelmed with an influx of information. I stopped at the Hills table and was fascinated as they discussed the release of liquid diets for sick animals. My mind flashed back to countless hours of mashing up food and blending it with water into a soupy consistency and hand feeding sick patients and thought of how helpful and amazing this would be to have in hospitals. They also allowed us to practice placing a nasogastric tube on a model which was really neat as I had never done it before. I continued walking around learning about joint supplements, working with exotics opportunities, veterinarians in the army and about AVMA PLIT. As we stopped at the Zoetis booth, I stood in awe as they had a huge board announcing scholarship recipients and there under the RUSVM column was my name. I had no idea they announced the winners at symposium, so it was incredible and special to have been there when I won the scholarship.

I was also able to attend lectures given by veterinarians and it was an inspiring experience as for the first time in my vet journey, I was able to follow along with cases and examples and actually understand the information coming across. It was very encouraging to see the progress I am making as well as expanding my current knowledge base. One example was an oncology lecture given where the presenter discussed cases on osteosarcoma and hemangiosarcoma. Being able to follow along the cases from presenting complaint to treatments to consequences, it gave me the motivation and encouragement to keep working hard being able to experience how it is paying off. I was able to pull my clinical pathology knowledge out and answer questions about what we would expect to see in patients with these conditions and it was satisfying to feel like I can begin to think and communicate like a veterinarian.

Another day, I attended a dental wet lab. I was interested to learn more about topics that we do not go very in depth in at school, so I chose dentistry, not knowing what I was getting into it. At first, it was extremely intimidating and scary to watch the doctors show us what we have to do. I felt like we were on a construction site instead of in a lab with all of the drilling and hammering. I could never have imagined how hard it actually is pulling teeth, but although it was a challenge and I have never felt my arms so sore, I was still ecstatic that I chose this lab and got to practice extracting a whole set of teeth. It is not something I would have gotten to do at school. Not only did I walk out of that lab with a new appreciation for dentistry, but I definitely increased my muscle mass.

Aside from the wealth of veterinary knowledge I left with, I also learned a very valuable lesson; our education is not limited to the classroom and it’s our responsibility to take advantage of opportunities presented to us. Experiences are just as important as our studies. I am so happy I decided to take the trip to SAVMA symposium and I am grateful for the immense impact it has had on my journey as a DVM candidate.

Research Highlight

Check out this abstract for some cool research Sophie Cressman from Ohio State University! She is in the middle of helping with using a mouse model to try and make pretreatment more effective for adoptive cell transfer therapies useful in human cancer treatment, HIV treatment, and CAR T-cell therapy. Pretty cool, huh?

Adoptive T-cell gene therapy, including Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, is a new treatment method being investigated as a potential cure for certain cancers and other previously incurable diseases like HIV/AIDS. The efficacy of the therapy can be significantly improved by preconditioning patients before cell transplantation. During preconditioning, lymphodepletion treatment ablates lymphoid cells to create a favorable “space” for the transferred cells. Current lymphodepleting preconditioning methods, however, rely on high doses of toxic and non-specific chemotherapies which often result in variable therapeutic efficacy of CAR T-cells in patients and cause adverse and sometimes deadly side effects.

The general hypothesis is that CD3e-immunotoxin (CD3e-IT) treatment will work as a viable preconditioning method for T-cell gene therapy by depleting all organs’ T cells prior to adoptive T-cell transplant and promoting the survival then repopulation of transplanted T-cells. CD3e-IT, an anti-CD3e monoclonal antibody conjugated with diphtheria toxin, is a potentially safer and more effective preconditioning regimen for adoptive T-cell therapy. The Kim lab has recently developed a murine version of CD3e-IT using murine CD3e monoclonal antibody with Fc silencing mutations and, in a preliminary study, found that CD3e-IT can specifically and effectively ablate the majority of T-cells in all organs, except CXCR5+ follicular T-helper cells (Tfh). Tfh in germinal centers (GC) are especially important in HIV infection as they remain a reservoir for HIV such that viral infection can persist even after antiretroviral therapy. Tfh are also significant therapeutic targets for follicular lymphomas of GC origin including follicular lymphoma, nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma, and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. The goal of this study is to enhance the safety and efficacy of adoptive T-cell gene therapy by finding lymphodepletion preconditioning treatment conditions that will safely and effectively ablate all T-cells in the body, including Tfh, to promote the survival and functionality of adoptively transferred T-cells.

Vet Students Impacting Environmental Health

Shannon Rudin, University of Minnesota

During the summer and fall of 2017, I was lucky enough to partake in a research project that assessed forest habitat throughout the state of Idaho. The project was centered out of Lewiston, ID and funded by the Clearwater Basin Collaborative with additional partners, including Idaho Fish and Game, the National Forest Service, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The research project aimed to survey vegetation and test nutrition samples taken from the habitat provided in the Clearwater Basin Region in respects to its value to elk populations. My team focused on nutritional availability in a variety of forest types throughout the region, including Subalpine Fir, Western Red Cedar, Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine. Research for this project began in 2014 after declining elk populations had been observed for years. As elk populations decline, there is a ripple effect that impacts the environment and other wildlife populations. Considering the quality and nutritional content available in habitats allows land management organizations to make more informed decisions to improve the habitat and therefore encourage population growth. Although my field season with this research project went by far too fast, I appreciate the opportunity to work with such a large collaboration that pulled together efforts to consider the quality of environment to support wildlife populations.

"I can has treat, Mom?!"

Check out Kristin Reichert's (University of Wisconsin) adorable furry friends, Riviera (Rivy for short) and Konza living their best lives!

Casual Saturday at the Dog Park

I can haz treat, mom?

Pure Content post 16-mile hike