Introducing your new SAVMA Executive Board

Over the next several weeks, I'll be posting short bios of your SAVMA Executive Board.  The officers are a group of students that are former SAVMA Delegates, and were elected by their fellow Delegates to oversee the House. They were all sworn in to their current positions at the 2013 SAVMA Symposium at LSU.   They work hard to represent you, their fellow vet students, but many of you will never meet them face to face!  This series of posts will put a face with a name, and let you know a little bit about what SAVMA is working on on a national level.  The officers also would love to hear ideas or questions from you, so feel free to email them!

Kyle Donnelly, editor

From left to right, Ricci Karkula, President-elect; Dr. Derrick Hall, SAVMA advisor; Kyle Donnelly, The Vet Gazette editor; Nate Vos, Economics Ad Hoc Officer; Scott Dudis, Global Public Health Officer; Sam Smith, International Exchange Officer-elect; Elise Ackley, President; Caitlin Pohlit, Secretary; Al Claiborne, Treasurer; Ashley Bredenberg, Global Public Health Officer-elect; Steen Smith, International Exchange Officer; Becky Eddy, Economics Ad Hoc Officer-elect; Theresa DiCarli, AVMA Staff Consultant

Transmyocardial therapeutic-delivery using real-time MRI guidance

Entry, Abstracts
Jeremy Maurer, Penn

Fig.1 (a) Needle catheter showing microcoils and extended nitinol injection needle. (b) Portions of the heart segmented on cine stack (TR/TE=3.4/1.54ms, voxel=1.3x1.3x5 mm3, FA 43o) are used to build 3d model of the left, right ventricle and infarcted region. (c) 3D model overlaid into real-time MR images is used to (d) navigate the catheter to pre- defined injection targets. Catheter model is built from MR images of active tracking coils. (e) Injection of iron-oxide laden therapeutic into myocardium (yellow arrow) monitored under real-time MRI. TR/TE=2.8/1.19 ms, voxel=1.9x1.9x5mm3, FA/tracking FA =50o/15o, 1.5-4 frames/s. (f, g) Pre- and post- injection MRI confirms injection of microbeads. TR /TE = 6.8/3.25ms, FA=30o, voxel =1.0×1.0×5.0mm3.Hegde S, Shea S, Pan L, Karmakar P, Barbot J, Kirchberg K, Vadakkumpadan F, Maurer J, Cook J, Trayanova N, Solaiyappan M, Johnston P, Kraitchman D. Transmyocardial Therapuetic-Delivery Using Real-Time MRI Guidance. SCMR 16th Annual Scientific Sessions, San Francisco, CA, January 31 - February 3, 2013. Poster.

Background: Catheter-based transmyocardial injection offers a minimally invasive method to deliver therapeutics to the heart. It is typically performed under X-ray fluoroscopic guidance, which suffers from poor demarcation of myocardial boundaries and an inability to assess myocardial viability. MRI-guided intramyocardial delivery of therapeutics at 3T offers the potential for more precise targeting of these therapies with superior tissue contrast.

Our group has been actively involved with microencapsulated stem cell therapy to improve cell retention and prevent stem cell rejection. However, most microencapsulated stem cell products are too large to be administered transmyocardially. We demonstrate here intramyocardial injection of a prototype single stem cell therapeutic into the myocardium of a normal swine using real-time MR guidance and a custom active injection catheter.

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Entry, Creative Corner
Regina Shores, Virginia-Maryland

"In Memory"

"Sunset at the Bay"

"Untitled"

Economic Initiatives and Education Integrated Outreach (EIEIO) Grant

The SAVMA Governmental Affairs Committee and Education and Professional Development Committee are offering a grant to veterinary students and veterinary student organizations to provide funding for awareness of the current financial concerns for veterinary students.

These events may include but is not limited to: letters to government officials, invitation of government officials and/or leaders to events involving student participation, travel of students to meetings concerning budgets, webinars, or other economic education events. Economic education events could be (but are not limited to) lectures or wet-labs that educate students on managing finances and understanding current loan repayment options.

These grants, up to $1000, will be awarded to the applications which best demonstrate innovation, the potential to impact a large number of students, and accurate presentation of a topic(s) related to economic issues for veterinary students. The GAC and EPDC hope that with this grant, veterinary students will have the opportunity for exposure to current and practical topics that may not otherwise be included in the typical veterinary curriculum.

The grant application will be sent out beginning September 1st, 2013 and will be reviewed and awarded based on a first come first serve basis. Your student delegate will e-mail your school with the application, or you may check in here after the application period opens.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail gac.savma@gmail.com. Good luck!

Experience at TRC: Tambopata Research Center, Peru

This edition's Life as a Vet Student category: Each day the veterinary profession becomes less national and more global. The AVMA states, "In recent years the AVMA has turned to the global stage to advance its strategic goals, particularly in the areas of animal welfare and veterinary education, and has worked hard to ensure that the U.S. veterinary profession's voice is heard in international settings." Are you interested in global health? How have you contributed or plan to contribute in international veterinary medicine?

Entry, Life as a Vet Student
Lauren Thielen, Texas A&M University

TRC, Tambopata Research Center, is a macaw conservation research facility located in south-eastern Peru, deep within the beautiful Peruvian Amazon, along the Tambopata River. The lodge is about 100km from the closest city, Puerto Maldanado, an 8hr boat ride upriver from the town. The research is lead by Texas A&M’s Dr. Donald Brightsmith, supported by Texas A&M Veterinarians and many volunteers from throughout the world. The lodge serves as both a research facility as well as a site for ecotourists to become immersed in the Amazon.

Over Christmas I was given the unbelievable opportunity to volunteer at TRC as a veterinary student. TRC’s research is focused on the long term monitoring of macaw and parrot biology, research first began in 1999. The location of the TRC lodge is no coincidence, as it is located only a 2 minute boats ride to the clay lick. The clay lick is a huge part of the research, as it is a location where thousands of birds can be observed at once. The purpose of animals arriving at the clay lick is to ingest the sodium-rich clay not provided in their diet. Additionally, by studying the clay lick the social order and behavior of different parrot species can be observed.

Breeding season is during the rainy season, December to June, and that is when the veterinarian comes into play. Chick growth data is taken to better understand the reproductive success of both Scarlet and Red-and-green Macaws. The data sets are used to help understand the fluctuations in clay lick use related to nesting, food supply, and bird abundance. As a veterinary student I spent my days walking throughout the Amazon Rainforest to different macaw nest sites to check on the development of the chicks.

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