Each spring, the college sets aside a day to celebrate our diverse research activities and to build our research community.
RESEARCH DAY – APRIL 16, 2025
Research Day features formal presentations as well as afternoon poster session, where college researchers including veterinary students, graduate students, trainees, staff, and faculty members present their research progress. A keynote speaker from outside of the college, whose work broadly addresses college research efforts, is selected.
Research Day is also a time to recognize outstanding effort with the presentation of graduate student awards and the initiation of new members into Phi Zeta, the honor society of veterinary medicine.
The Pensinger Lecture in Comparative Medicine; Keynote Address
After completing his DVM at the University of Illinois in 1960, Dr. Robert Pensinger studied at the University of Pennsylvania under David K. Detweiler, who has been called the “Father of Veterinary Cardiology.” Dr. Pensinger went on to practice as a veterinary cardiologist in Santa Cruz, Calif. In 2003, he and his wife established the Dr. Robert and Cynthia Pensinger Fund to support an annual lecture in comparative medicine.
The 2025 Pensinger Lecturer
Dr. Carol Reinero received her DVM from the University of California-Davis. She completed a Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Rotating Internship at Texas A&M University and returned to UC Davis to complete a Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency and subsequently a PhD in Immunology. She is currently 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 (Bringing REspiration and Aerodigestion Toward HEalth), a specialty service designed to improve the health of dogs and cats with a wide variety of respiratory and interlinked digestive disorders.
Her clinical interests include interstitial lung diseases, airway disorders, pulmonary hypertension, and advanced respiratory diagnostics. She has served on 40 graduate committees and as the primary advisor for 17 of these; 8 of her prior trainees hold academic positions at Colleges of Veterinary Medicine. She is a past-President for the Veterinary Comparative Respiratory Society. Dr. Reinero has spoken nationally and internationally on respiratory diseases in small animals and has published well over 150 peer reviewed scientific manuscripts and book chapters.
Invited Internal Presentation
Dr. Bo Wang received his PhD degree from The Ohio State University and completed his postdoctoral training at UCLA. He joined the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 2018. His lab focuses on understanding how lipid metabolism is regulated in physiology, and how dysregulation of lipid metabolism contributes to the pathogenesis of disease conditions, including obesity, diabetes, fatty liver diseases, atherosclerosis and cancer.
He has received several awards and fellowships, such as the Zoetis research award from the College of Veterinary Medicine, George Popjak research award from UCLA, NIDDK career development award, NIDDK postdoctoral fellowship, American Heart Association postdoctoral fellowship, and distinguished university fellowship from The Ohio State University.
Itinerary
LAC 100, Veterinary Teaching Hospital Large Animal Clinic
8:00 a.m.
Welcome
Gireesh Rajashekara, Associate Dean For Research and Advanced Studies
Presentation of Graduate Student Awards
Gireesh Rajashekara
- Joseph O. Alberts Award, for an outstanding graduate student
- Dr. Victor E. O. (Ted) and Carroll J. Valli Award, for an outstanding graduate student in pathology or clinical pathology
- Paul B. Doby Award, for an outstanding graduate student who is conducting infectious disease research applicable to food animals
Miranda Vieson, Secretary, Mu Chapter of Phi Zeta
- Phi Zeta Literary Award — Basic Science
- Phi Zeta Literary Award — Clinical Applied Science
Phi Zeta Initiation
Annette McCoy, Associate Professor
President, Mu Chapter of Phi Zeta
Student Lightning Talks
Six student abstracts will be selected. The presenting author will have 3 minutes and one PowerPoint slide to present a preview of their poster and attract an audience for the Poster Session. Faculty judges will evaluate the quality of the lightning talk and the poster presentation and award prizes of $1,000 that can be used toward research-related activities. Three total prizes will be given.
- Distinct Activity Patterns of Direct and Indirect Pathway Neurons in the Dorsal Striatum During Voluntary Movement
Bo Yuan, Poster #107 - Chronic Exposure Of Mice To Propylparaben Reduces Progesterone Receptor Signaling And Promotes Fibrosis In The Uterus
Pranav Volety, Poster #95 - Prognostic Indicators for Survival of Passerines
Angela Warner, Poster #102 - Elucidating the Immune Cell Dynamics in Staphylococcus Aureus-Driven Skin Inflammation
Sushma Halekote Rudramurthy, Poster #34 - Dominant Negative Competence-Stimulating Peptide Maintains Alveolar Integrity by Inhibiting Pneumolysin Release During Acute Streptococcus Pneumoniae Infection in Mice
Tongyu Zhang, Poster #111 - The Role of Conserved Herpesvirus Protein Kinase (CHPK) in Regulating Late Herpesvirus Protein Trafficking
Hafiz Sohaib Zafar, Poster #108
Break
9:00 a.m.
Pensinger Lecture in Comparative Medicine
Science, Medicine, and Serendipity: A Clinician’s Journey Through Unexpected Turns
Carol Reinero, DVM, PhD
Professor and the Director of the Comparative Internal Medicine Laboratory, University of Missouri-Columbia
Co-Founder and Co-Director of the University of Missouri BREATHE Clinic
Break
10:15 a.m.
Student Speaker Competition
Six student abstracts will be selected. The presenting author will have 12 minutes for their presentation and 3 minutes to answer audience questions. Faculty judges will evaluate the quality of the presentation and three speakers will win $1,000 that can be used toward research-related activities.
- Investigating IL-1β Signaling Axis and Inhibition Strategies with Small Molecules in Canine Metastatic Osteosarcoma: Insights for Translational Medicine
Matheus Moreno Passos Barbosa - The Impact of Developmental Exposure to Phthalates on Alzheimer’s Disease Progression is Sex- and Dose-Dependent
Selin Aktuna - Characterization of Mammary Neoplasia in Free-Ranging and Managed Care California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)
Lydia Hall - Maximizing Cytoreductive Effects of Stereotactic Radiation Therapy through Molecular Inhibition of PARP in Pet Cats with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Jordan Hampel - Exposure to a Phthalate Mixture Throughout the Reproductive Lifespan Dysregulates Ovarian Apoptosis, Estrogen Receptor Expression, Estradiol Synthesis, and Follicle Dynamics
Adira Safar - Epidemiology, Trends, and Spatial Analysis of Shigella Infections in the United States
Rashid Bajwa
Atrium, Veterinary Medicine Basic Sciences Building
12 noon
Boxed Lunch (must be registered for afternoon session to receive lunch)
12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Poster Session
Odd numbered posters will be presented from 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Even numbered posters will be presented from 1:30-2:30 p.m.
LAC 100, Veterinary Teaching Hospital Large Animal Clinic
2:45 – 3:30 p.m.
Invited Internal Presentation: Novel Regulation of Lipid Metabolism in the Liver
Bo Wang, PhD, MS
Associate Professor in Comparative Biosciences
2024 Zoetis Research Award Winner
Awards Ceremony
Sponsors
Research Day activities are co-sponsored by Zoetis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Phi Zeta, and the College of Veterinary Medicine Office of Research and Advanced Studies.