Wisconsin Alumni Association

Message from Dean Buss
to UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine alumni

Welcome to the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine’s alumni e-newsletter! Periodically, we’ll keep in touch to let you know what’s happening at your alma mater. In this issue:

WHAT’S NEW AT THE SCHOOL?

The new Radiation Therapy and Physical Rehabilitation Clinic Opens its Doors

The new Radiation Therapy Clinic is complete and will provide a much-anticipated upgrade to the school’s tumor radiation services. Installed is a TomoTherapy unit that houses a helical CT/linear accelerator radiation unit, which specifically targets the tumor and avoids surrounding sensitive tissues. The clinic is also home to an expanded physical rehabilitation space and three new conference rooms to better serve student, faculty and staff needs.

The School is Celebrating 100 years of Veterinary Science

In 2011, we celebrate 100 years of veterinary science at UW-Madison. From our start in 1911 as the Department of Veterinary Sciences and continuing today as the Comparative Biomedical Sciences program at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine, we have made significant scientific contributions to both animal and human health. Throughout the year, we will highlight some of the program’s scientific contributions, and in June we will host a gala weekend of events. More information will follow in future e-newsletters.

Dörte Döpfer Receives Global Health and Staff Development Grant

Dr. Dörte Döpfer

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Global Health (CGH) awarded twelve development grants to UW faculty and staff members, with funding support from the Division of International Studies and the Morgridge Center for Public Service. One of those grants went to Dr. Dörte Döpfer (DV, MSc, PhD at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine) for work with the Zoonotic and Emerging Diseases research group led by Dr. Eric Fèvre. The two join forces for diagnosis and spatial modeling of infectious diseases acquired by humans and animals that live in close domestic proximity during a One Health project in Kenya. The influence of socio-economic and biological co-factors on temporal and spatial patterns of disease will be explored in collaboration with key partners from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).

And the survey says...

The Alumni Advisory Board recently met to discuss the results of the alumni survey. As a result of your feedback, we're going to focus our efforts on keeping classmates connected and on creating a mentorship database. More information to follow! As always, the advisory board is interested in hearing from you. Please feel free to contact us at alumniboard@vetmed.wisc.edu.

An Enjoyable Reception at AAEP

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the AAEP Alumni Reception on December 6. It was good to see so many people connect with fellow alums. A special thank you to Pfizer Animal Health and Boehringer Ingelheim for their support of the AAEP reception.

Reception at Western Veterinary Conference

Please join us in Las Vegas, Nev., on Monday, February 21, 2011 for an alumni reception during the Western Veterinary Conference. We’ll be in the Palm F room from 7:30 to 9:30 pm at the Mandalay Bay Resort. We always have a great time socializing with fellow alumni over hors d’oeuvres and beverages. No RSVP is required, but if you want to let your classmates know you will be there, you can RSVP on Facebook. Look under "events" in the "Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine Alumni" group.

Save the date! Alumni Reunion will be held June 25

All alumni and families are welcome as we celebrate graduates from the classes of 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and graduates from the Veterinary Science and Comparative Biomedical Sciences Program! More details will be coming soon, but be sure to save the date.

CLINICAL TRIALS

Offset The Cost Of Biopsy For Dogs With Lymphoma, Osteosarcoma, Oral Melanoma, Sarcoma, Mast Cell Tumor, Primary Lung Tumor, Or Hemangiosarcoma

We have recently been named one of three centers nationally to become a cancer tissue procurement center for the newly formed Canine Comparative Oncology and Genomics Consortium (CCOGC), a group of veterinary and medical researchers who have determined that a well-described repository of canine tumor tissues is an essential resource to progress new cancer therapies. This new resource to fight cancer has been named the Pfizer Inc. CCOGC Biospecimen Repository. The cost of surgical biopsy collection, a necessary diagnostic step in the majority of patient work-ups, is completely covered in most cases (unless involving open cavity collection).

For additional information, please contact? Dr. Lassara McCartan, Dr. Kim Wirth, or members of the oncology Service at (608) 263-7600.

Clinical Trials Constantly Updated on VMTH Website

For information on other clinical trials please check the VMTH website.

CONTINUING EDUCATION UPDATES

Upcoming Continuing Education Conferences

The School’s Office of Continuing Veterinary Medical is presenting the following conferences:

January 28, 2011 - Cold Hard Facts on Hot Topics: An interactive conference with case presentation on oncology, neurology, nutrition and dermatology.
January 29, 2011 – Basic Large Animal Ultrasound
February 5, 2011?- Marine Mammal Behavior Conference
February 6, 2011 - Small Animal Behavior Conference
February 26, 2011 – Back to Basics with Anesthesiology

Check out www.vetmed.wisc.edu/ce for more information.

Experts on horse first aid to speak at UW

The Office of Continuing Education will host the 22nd Annual Serious Horse Owner Seminar on Saturday, February 19, 2010. This year’s topic is “First Aid for Horses—When to call the vet and what to do before help arrives.” See their website for more information.

If you have specific requests for information, we’d love to hear them. Just hit “reply” and let us know what’s on your mind.

Daryl D. Buss, Dean
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of Wisconsin-Madison
alumni@vetmed.wisc.edu