CRWAD dedicated to Ross
The 88th annual meeting of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases was held Dec. 2-4, 2007, in Chicago. An estimated 540 people attended the meeting, with guests from 27 countries, including Egypt, the Philippines, and Uzbekistan.
The conference was dedicated to Dr. Richard F. Ross of Ames, Iowa. For more than 25 years, the 1959 Iowa State University graduate dedicated his skills and energy to swine infectious disease research.
Not long after earning a PhD degree in veterinary bacteriology, Dr. Ross returned to Iowa State in 1966 for a research faculty position with the Veterinary Medical Research Institute, where he was eventually awarded the Clarence Hartley Covault Distinguished Professor in Veterinary Medicine.
A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists, Dr. Ross has served on the Secretary of Agriculture's Strategic Planning Board and as dean of Iowa's colleges of veterinary medicine and agriculture. He is also a former president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges and CRWAD.
Life membership was awarded to Dr. Donald G. Simmons of Apex, N.C., former director of the AVMA Education and Research Division, and to Dr. Bruce N. Wilkie, professor emeritus of pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph.
Officers for 2008 are Dr. Richard E. Isaacson, Saint Paul, Minn., president; Dr. Bill Stitch, Columbia, Mo., vice president; and Robert P. Ellis, PhD, Fort Collins, Colo., executive director.
The Association for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine named Dr. Clive C. Gay recipient of the 2007 Calvin W. Schwabe Award. A 1960 graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, Dr. Gay served on the faculty of Washington State University from 1979-2005, and was the division head for population medicine, theriogenology, and food animal medicine and surgery within the Department of Clinical Sciences from 1988-2005.
Recipients of the AVEPM student awards were as follows: Epidemiology and Animal Health Economics category, oral: W.L. Walker, The Ohio State University, for "Effects of internal teat sealant use on udder health and milk yield in a commercial Jersey dairy herd," and T.C. Boyer, University of Minnesota, for "GIS as a tool for regionalization of orbivirus infection risk: a case study in Illinois and Indiana." Food and Environmental Safety category, oral: T.M. Platt, Texas A&M University, for "In-feed antimicrobial drug administration and antimicrobial susceptibility of non-type-specific Escherichia coli." Poster: H.L. Abrecht, The Ohio State University, for "Evaluation of serum total protein as an indicator of IgG level in dairy calves up to eight days old."
The Mark Gerhart Memorial Award was presented by the AVEPM to W.Q. Alali, Texas A&M University, for "Longitudinal study of antimicrobial resistance among Escherichia coli isolated from integrated multi-site cohorts of humans and swine."
The American Association of Veterinary Immunologists presented the Distinguished Veterinary Immunologist Award to John E. Butler, PhD, of Iowa City, Iowa. Dr. Butler received his degree in zoology/biochemistry from the University of Kansas in 1965 and has been a faculty member in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Iowa Medical School since 1971. His research has been supported by the Department of Agriculture and National Institutes of Health.
Recipients of the AAVI student awards were as follows: First place, oral: Amanda A. Adams, University of Kentucky, for "Characterization of the immunological and physiological response of aged horses to equine influenza infection." Second place, oral: R.R. Kulkarni, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, for "Immunization of broiler chickens against Clostridium perfringens-induced necrotic enteritis and identification of B-cell epitopes in protective antigens." First place, poster: L.K. Beura, University of Nebraska, for "Certain PRRSV proteins inhibit IFN- promoter activation." Second place, poster: A.A. Elliot, University of Tennessee, for "Relationship of CXCR1 genotypes with responses to experimental challenge with Streptococcus uberis."
The Society for Tropical Veterinary Medicine student award was presented to E. Cobo, University of California-Davis, for "Systemic immunization induces protection against Tritrichomonas foetus colonization in bulls, unlike preputial infection."
The American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists student award was presented to James B. Reinbold, Kansas State University, for "Diagnosis of bovine anaplasmosis following iatrogenic infection."
The NC-1007 Gastroenteric Diseases (North Central Committee for Research on Enteric Diseases of Swine and Cattle) student awards were presented to the following recipients: Oral: Paul Plummer, Iowa State University, for "Transcriptional and functional analysis of Campylobacter genes involved in chicken colonization." Poster: J. Erume, University of Nebraska, for "Relative contributions of LT and STb to the virulence of F4+ Escherichia coli in swine."
The American College of Veterinary Microbiologists selected Dr. Gordon R. Carter of Blacksburg, Va., as the Distinguished Veterinary Microbiologist award recipient for 2007. Dr. Carter received his DVM degree in 1943 from Ontario Veterinary College. His focus has been the microbiology of infectious diseases of animals with emphasis on laboratory diagnosis.
Dr. Carter has been a faculty member of at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, where he retired as professor emeritus in 1986.
The ACVM student awards were presented to the following recipients: In vitro category: S.P.S. Pallai, The Ohio State University, for "Infection and transmission studies with low pathogenic H5 subtype avian influenza viruses of different origins." Molecular category: S. M. Szczepanek, University of Connecticut, for "Global in vitro transcriptomic comparison of Mycoplasma gallisepticum strains Rlow and F." In vivo category: S. Ahluwalia, Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, for "Auburn University differential immune response against Chlamydophila abortus associates with differential severity of staphylococcal and streptococcal mastitis in postpartum and post-abortion sheep." Poster: J.J. Bao, South Dakota State University, for "Genetic marker development in the Nsp2 region of a U.S. type I PRRSV."
The Don Kahn Award of the ACVM was presented to D.M. Madson, Iowa State University, for "Experimental inoculation of mature boars with different isolates of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2)."
The Biosafety and Biosecurity Student Awards, sponsored by the Animal Health Institute, were presented to the following students: First place: H.B. Kim, University of Minnesota, for "Evaluation of virucidal effect in vitro on disinfectants and formalin against porcine circovirus type 2." Second place: M.F. Spindel, Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, for "Development of a one-step real time reverse transcription PCR assay for the rapid detection of canine influenza virus in nasal swab specimens." Poster: K.A. Smith, Michigan State University, for "New prospects for vaccine production: an immortalized chick embryo cell line that grows human and avian influenza virus."