Four Kansas State University veterinary students receive $1,000 AVMA scholarshipsMarch 7, 2019Four Kansas State University veterinary students have each been awarded $1,000 by the Auxiliary to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Legacy Endowed Scholarship. The awards are given to students at 32 AVMA-accredited veterinary colleges in the U.S., the Atlantic Veterinary College in Canada, and St. George's University and Ross University in the Caribbean to support their education. This year, the scholarships went to third-year veterinary medicine students, Danielle Pickering and Katelyn Guill-Sanchez, and second-year veterinary medicine students, Rebecca Tomasek and Katya Luckenbach. "This scholarship will help me relieve some of the financial burden of veterinary school, as I pursue a career in small animal or mixed medicine, and eventually a doctorate," Pickering says. "As a veterinary student who is interested in public health and international veterinary medicine, I am always looking for educational opportunities to travel to other countries to experience what the field of veterinary medicine is like in them," Luckenbach says. "Being an out-of-state student, it is hard to justify borrowing extra money for electives involving international travel, so having the privilege of being awarded this scholarship will help to fund my upcoming international veterinary tours elective." "I am so excited to receive this award for the …
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KSU veterinary researchers, Anivive license FIP antiviral drugSeptember 20, 2018A collaboration at Kansas State University and Anivive Lifesciences is promoting the commercial development of GC376, an antiviral compound for feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), which previously has had no effective treatment or cure. Yunjeong Kim, DVM, PhD, ACVM, and Kyeong-Ok "KC" Chang, DVM, MS, PhD, virologists at KSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, and William Groutas, a medicinal chemist at Wichita State University, have been collaborating since 2006 to develop antiviral drugs for human and animal viruses. The licensing agreement was coordinated by the KSU Institute for Commercialization with Anivive Lifesciences, a California company whose proprietary software accelerates the discovery and development process of new pet medicines. "We have been working on antiviral drugs that inhibit a specific virus protease of some important human and animal viruses, and we were able to make very potent inhibitors of FIP," Dr. Kim said. "Through collaborative work with Niels Pedersen at the University of California, Davis—including a field trial on feline patients—we became increasingly hopeful that antiviral treatment may one day substantially benefit cats with FIP. Licensing our compound to Anivive Lifesciences is a huge step forward in transitioning our research to commercialization to make this treatment available to the …
KSU food animal medicine research receives investment from alumni coupleSeptember 4, 2018Kelly and Marcie Lechtenberg have created the T.G. Nagaraja and M.M. Chengappa Excellence Fund at the Kansas State University (KSU) College of Veterinary Medicine to support graduate student work and research in food animal medicine. T.G. Nagaraja, BVSc, MVSc, PhD, is a University Distinguished Professor of Microbiology in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University whose research expertise is in gut microbiology of cattle. M.M. Chengappa, BVSc, MVSc, MS, PhD, DACVM, also a KSU University Distinguished Professor, primarily researches the pathogenesis of important infectious diseases of animals in an effort to develop strategies to protect animals from such diseases. "This gift and past contributions to the department from the Lechtenbergs are vital in helping us maintain and build programs critical to our missions in teaching, research discovery and contributions to animal and human health," said Derek Mosier, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, head of the diagnostic medicine and pathobiology department. "The Lechtenbergs' gift in particular helps support a wide variety of department needs, from infrastructure, student support, support of specific research projects and as an investment in the future of our training and research programs." The Lechtenbergs both are KSU …
Kansas State University experts confront African swine fever in AsiaAugust 28, 2018Jürgen Richt, DVM, PhD, Regents Distinguished Professor, KBA Eminent Scholar, and director of Kansas State University's Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD), is providing guidance to officials in East Asia on the emerging problem of African swine fever. African swine fever is a highly contagious disease of domestic pigs and wild boar that causes high fever, respiratory problems, weakness, and stillbirths. Mortality rates among affected animals approach 100 percent. Dr. Richt was in Asia delivering a series of presentations when an outbreak of African swine fever was reported in China on Aug. 1, with a second outbreak reported on Aug. 16, and a third on Aug. 19. "Efforts to handle a potential outbreak have not succeeded, so we have to be concerned about the disease spreading across national boundaries," Richt said. "The first outbreak occurred only a little more than 120 miles north of North Korea." The disease presents trade problems for China and other Asian countries, Richt said. China produces nearly half the world's pork. Following his conversations with veterinary medicine faculty and students at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea, and with members of South Korean media …
KSU selects first NBAF Scientist Training Program fellowshipsAugust 9, 2018Five graduate students from the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine have been awarded National Bio and Agro-defense Facility Scientist Training Program fellowships. The awardees will receive tuition, stipends, and funds for supplies and travel from a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS). The students were selected for their interest and expertise in emerging animal diseases, diseases that infect both animals and people, or foreign animal diseases that threaten global health and food security. Once they complete the fellowship program, they are committed to working at the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York and, ultimately, the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF), which is under construction adjacent to the university's Manhattan campus. The selected students already have received training in high-containment facilities that work with pathogens that will be studied at NBAF. The fellowship recipients, who will be mentored by professors with whom they have worked with for at least one to three years, are Kaitlynn Bradshaw, a master's student in veterinary biomedical science; Chester McDowell, a concurrent doctor of veterinary medicine …
Veterinary toxicologist warns of blue-green algae dangers to livestock, petsJune 27, 2018Steve Ensley, DVM, Ph.D., a clinical veterinary toxicologist at the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, a part of the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, is warning pet and livestock owners about cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae. Cyanobacteria, which grow and replicate rapidly in warm, sunny environments where agricultural runoff deposits nutrients into waterways that allow the algae to thrive, can pose a health hazard to animals and humans who come into contact with the various toxins it produces. The most prominent problem involves a toxin called microcystin, which affects the gastrointestinal tract and liver, according to Dr. Ensley. When animals are exposed to this toxin, they may experience vomiting or diarrhea; if the exposure is severe, it can be lethal and cause liver failure in animals, Ensley said. "If there is a bloom in a body of water that animals are drinking out of, then we need to move them away from it as fast as we can," Ensley said. "Fence off that water source if at all possible." If livestock and/or pet owners are worried that their animals could potentially be exposed to blue-green algae, then they should regularly check for signs of its development, Ensley said. …
KSU conducts first US livestock study with Japanese encephalitis virusJune 20, 2018North American domestic pigs could be susceptible to Japanese encephalitis virus infections, according to a study by Kansas State University (KSU) College of Veterinary Medicine researchers. The study, believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S., was published recently in Scientific Reports. "Collectively, our study demonstrates for the first time that North American domestic pigs can contribute to the Japanese encephalitis virus transmission cycle as amplifying hosts," said So Lee Park, a third-year veterinary student and concurrent doctoral student in pathobiology who was first author of the study. Japanese encephalitis virus is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that has human and veterinary health significance. The virus is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable encephalitis in Asia and the western Pacific, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus can be maintained in a cycle between mosquitoes and vertebrates, mainly pigs and wading birds. While most human infections are mild, a small percentage of people develop encephalitis. About 1 in 4 cases of Japanese encephalitis are fatal, the CDC stated. The virus in swine can cause encephalitis in piglets and reproductive diseases in mature adult pigs. The KSU study suggests …
KSU vet med college joins Clinical and Translational Science Award One Health AllianceMay 4, 2018The Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine has been accepted as a member of the Clinical and Translational Science Award One Health Alliance. The group is comprised of veterinary schools that are partnered with medical institutions through a National Institutes of Health Clinical Translational Science Award. The alliance's mission is to advance the understanding of translational medicine and research, leveraging the expertise of physicians, research scientists, veterinarians, and other professionals to find solutions for medical problems and to address the well-being of humans, animals, and the environment. The primary collaborator with Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine is Frontiers: Clinical and Translational Science Unit at the University of Kansas, Fairway. "Like many schools of veterinary medicine, our college continues to have a strong focus on One Health," said Bonnie Rush, DVM, DACVIM, interim dean of Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. "We already have a 20-year collaboration with the KU School of Pharmacy, training its pharmacy students in our Veterinary Health Center. Our newest collaboration with KU scientists seeks to identify novel therapeutics for erythrocyte-infecting pathogens of both veterinary and human importance." Other examples of ongoing collaborations include 1Data, a structured environment and animal …
K-State research center cumulative gift reaches $1MApril 24, 2018The Kansas State University Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases, an interdisciplinary research center in the College of Veterinary Medicine, has received a $1 million cumulative gift ($250,000 for each of the last four years) from Abaxis to further its mission of combating vector-borne diseases with a focus on pathogenesis, surveillance, and disease prevention. The Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases is at the forefront of research on issues influenced by urban areas that continue their encroachment into animal habitats and can become unsuspecting starting points for vector-borne diseases, according to Ken Aron, chief technology officer at Abaxis. "We've identified several projects, including vaccine development to control canine infections with Ehrlichia species, Anaplasma species infections in dogs, and Rickettsia, the Rocky Mountain spotted fever disease agent, also in dogs," said Roman Ganta, Ph.D., professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, and center director. Additionally, Ganta identified a project for developing axenic, or cell-free, media growth of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species pathogens. The Abaxis gift also provided matching support for a K-State National Bio and Agro-defense Facility transition fund grant focused on vaccine development and a pathogenesis study to prevent heartwater, which is caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium. …
KSU establishes translational and comparative oncology research centerJanuary 24, 2018The Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine's new Center of Excellence for Translational and Comparative Oncology Research (CETCOR) focuses on improving the diagnosis, management, and treatment of both human and animal cancers. CETCOR was established in late 2017 through start-up funding from the university's Johnson Cancer Research Center and support from the College of Veterinary Medicine. "The overriding objective of CETCOR is to expedite the pre-clinical and clinical development, production and/or licensure of novel or improved medical interventions—drugs, immunotherapeutics and medical devices—for the treatment, diagnosis and monitoring of both human and animal cancers," said Raelene Wouda, BVSc, DACVIM (Oncology), MANZCVS (SAIM), assistant professor of oncology in the college's clinical sciences department. One unique aspect of CETCOR is that it does not focus on a single type of cancer or the development of a single novel drug or technology, said Dr. Wouda. "Our group aims to facilitate the advancement of all cancer-associated research taking place on campus and within the wider K-State community, whether that be at the basic physiologic and pharmacologic level or in the later stages of the therapeutic drug development pathway," Wouda said. CETCOR's primary mission is to advance discoveries by university faculty and …
