The annual Research Day celebration at the College of Veterinary Medicine took place on April 16. Dr. Annette McCoy, associate professor of equine surgery, coordinated the event. (See photos from the event.) More than 100 research abstracts were submitted and reviewed to determine finalists for the student competitions. All abstracts were presented during the poster session in the college atrium.
“It was wonderful to see all the great interactions and conversations happening about the exciting and diverse research being conducted in our college,” Dr. McCoy said, in an email announcing the winners of the student competitions. “All of our student speakers and poster presenters should be commended for their outstanding efforts!”
This year’s Pensinger Lecture was given by Dr. Carol Reinero, a professor and the Director of the Comparative Internal Medicine Laboratory at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is also the co-founder and co-director of the University of Missouri BREATHE Clinic, a specialty service designed to improve the health of dogs and cats with a wide variety of respiratory and interlinked digestive disorders.
Dr. Reinero’s keynote speech was entitled: “Science, Medicine, and Serendipity: A Clinician’s Journey Through Unexpected Turns.”
The Invited Internal Presentation was given by Dr. Bo Wang, who joined the College of Veterinary Medicine faculty in 2018. His presentation was entitled: “Novel Regulation of Lipid Metabolism in the Liver.”
Four graduate students were honored with awards. Raya Boyd and Endia Fletcher received the Joseph O. Alberts Award, which recognizes outstanding graduate students. The Paul B. Doby Award, which recognizes an outstanding graduate student who is conducting infectious disease research applicable to food animals, was given to Chongyang Zhang. Lydia Hall was awarded the Dr. Victor E. O. (Ted) and Carroll J. Valli Award, which celebrates an outstanding graduate student in pathology or clinical pathology.
Tara Prezioso was awarded the Phi Zeta Literary Award for Basic Research and Matheus Moreno Passos Barbosa was given the Phi Zeta Literary Award for Clinical Science.
Six student abstract presentations were selected to give lightning talks for the audience and a panel of faculty judges to attract an audience for their poster presentation. Three were selected for awards of $1,000 that can be used toward research-related activities.
The six student lightning talks were:
- Bo Yuan: Distinct Activity Patterns of Direct and Indirect Pathway Neurons in the Dorsal Striatum During Voluntary Movement
- Pranav Volety: Chronic Exposure Of Mice To Propylparaben Reduces Progesterone Receptor Signaling And Promotes Fibrosis In The Uterus
- Angela Warner: Prognostic Indicators for Survival of Passerines
- Sushma Halekote Rudramurthy: Elucidating the Immune Cell Dynamics in Staphylococcus Aureus-Driven Skin Inflammation
- Tongyu Zhang: Dominant Negative Competence-Stimulating Peptide Maintains Alveolar Integrity by Inhibiting Pneumolysin Release During Acute Streptococcus Pneumoniae Infection in Mice
- Hafiz Sohaib Zafar: The Role of Conserved Herpesvirus Protein Kinase (CHPK) in Regulating Late Herpesvirus Protein Trafficking
The lightning talk winners were Pranav Volety, Hafiz Sohaib Zafar, and Sushma Halekote Rudramurthy.
Additionally, six students were selected to participate in the Student Speaker Competition. Faculty judges evaluated the students’ presentations, awarding three speakers with $1,000 to be used toward research-related activities.
The six presentations were:
- Matheus Moreno Passos Barbosa: Investigating IL-1β Signaling Axis and Inhibition Strategies with Small Molecules in Canine Metastatic Osteosarcoma: Insights for Translational Medicine
- Selin Aktuna: The Impact of Developmental Exposure to Phthalates on Alzheimer’s Disease Progression is Sex- and Dose-Dependent
- Lydia Hall: Characterization of Mammary Neoplasia in Free-Ranging and Managed Care California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)
- Jordan Hampel: Maximizing Cytoreductive Effects of Stereotactic Radiation Therapy through Molecular Inhibition of PARP in Pet Cats with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
- Adira Safar: Exposure to a Phthalate Mixture Throughout the Reproductive Lifespan Dysregulates Ovarian Apoptosis, Estrogen Receptor Expression, Estradiol Synthesis, and Follicle Dynamics
- Rashid Bajwa: Epidemiology, Trends, and Spatial Analysis of Shigella Infections in the United States
The Student Speaker Competition winners were Jordan Hampel, Matheus Moreno Passos Barbosa, and Lydia Hall.
By Haley Maser
