AVMA honors
During the AVMA Annual Convention this July in Chicago, the AVMA conferred awards on several individuals for their efforts in advancing veterinary medicine, animal welfare, and public health.
Dr. James H. Brandt received the AVMA Award, and Dr. Benjamin L. Hart received the Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award. Following are some key achievements of the other award recipients.
AVMA Animal Welfare Award
This award recognizes an AVMA member for achievements in advancing the welfare of animals.
Dr. Leslie D. Appel
Dr. Appel (COR ’94) is founder and executive director of Shelter Outreach Services, a high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter program in New York state. Since its inception in 2003, the program has neutered more than 82,000 companion animals. Students from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine rotate through SOS every week. Dr. Appel also is founder of the annual Shelter Medicine Conference at Cornell. Previously, she was director of shelter veterinary outreach at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and an instructor in small animal surgery at Cornell. While at Cornell, Dr. Appel started the Cornell Animal Sterilization Assistance Program and was director of Cornell Companions, a pet visitation program. She has served on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee and on the Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ board of directors.
AVMA Humane Award
This award recognizes a nonveterinarian for achievements in advancing the welfare of animals.
Mark Tinsman
During his 28 years as a Red Cross volunteer or employee, Tinsman developed an appreciation for the importance of household pets in the lives of disaster victims. Since he joined the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a mass care specialist in 2006, one of his primary roles has been facilitating support for household pets and service animals. He has worked with the AVMA, National Animal Rescue and Sheltering Coalition, National Alliance of State Animal and Agricultural Emergency Programs, and federal partners to develop and promote humane options so that disaster survivors can evacuate and shelter with pets before or following a disaster. Tinsman said, “Whether working with partners on planning activities or deployed to the field following a disaster, the chance to assist people and their pets has made my work life all the more satisfying.”
AVMA Public Service Award
This award recognizes an AVMA member for outstanding public service or contributions to public health and regulatory veterinary medicine.
Dr. Millicent Eidson
Dr. Eidson (COL ‘83) is a research scientist with the New York State Department of Health, serving as a co-leader for climate change and health studies. After joining the department in 1997, she established a system for reporting dead birds as an early indicator of human risk of West Nile virus. She is associate chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University at Albany School of Public Health. Previously, she was New Mexico’s state public health veterinarian. Her proudest accomplishment was an investigation in that position that found an association between certain L-tryptophan supplements and a new disease, eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. Dr. Eidson has been a leader with the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, the epidemiology specialty of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, and the American Association of Public Health Veterinarians.
AVMA Meritorious Service Award
This award recognizes a veterinarian who has contributed to the profession through activities outside organized veterinary medicine and research.
Dr. Cathy King
Dr. King (WSU ’97) is founder and CEO of World Vets, an international veterinary aid organization. After earning her veterinary degree, Dr. King earned a doctorate in animal physiology from the University of Idaho. Early in her career, she was a mixed animal practitioner, and then she started a small animal hospital in Deer Park, Wash. She sold the practice in 2008 to provide full-time leadership for World Vets. The organization provides veterinary aid in 36 developing countries with programs focusing on small animals, horses, livestock, and public health. World Vets supplies civilian veterinarians for U.S. military humanitarian aid missions and offers international disaster relief services. It runs the International Veterinary Medicine Program for veterinary and veterinary technician students and the Latin America Veterinary Training Center in Nicaragua for veterinarians and veterinary students from Central and South America.
XIIth International Veterinary Congress Prize
This award recognizes an AVMA member who has contributed to international understanding of veterinary medicine.
Dr. Corrie Brown
Dr. Brown (ONT ‘81) has worked internationally building animal health infrastructure for more than 25 years. After earning her veterinary degree, she completed a combined residency and doctorate in comparative pathology at the University of California-Davis. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. Dr. Brown served as an assistant professor of pathology at Louisiana State University briefly before joining the Department of Agriculture’s Plum Island Animal Disease Center, where she focused on the diagnosis and pathogenesis of transboundary animal diseases. In 1996, she joined the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine as a professor of veterinary pathology. She has conducted workshops on basic field necropsy and diagnostic techniques in 30 countries. She also has served on many national and international expert panels about animal health.
AVMA President’s Award
Dr. Douglas G. Aspros, 2012-2013 AVMA president, chose, as recipients of this award, individuals or groups who have made a positive impact on health, veterinary organizations, and the profession.
Dr. Link Welborn
Dr. Welborn (FL ’82) owns four small animal hospitals in Florida and is a past president of the American Animal Hospital Association. He was chairman of AAHA task forces that produced revisions to the AAHA standards of accreditation for small animal practices, the first AAHA standards of accreditation for specialty practices, and the 2011 AAHA Canine Vaccination Guidelines. He was a member of the AAHA-AVMA task force that developed guidelines for canine and feline preventive care. He has been active with veterinary economic groups. He is chair of the AVMA Veterinary Economics Strategy Committee and was chair of the AVMA Workforce Advisory Group, responsible for the 2013 Veterinary Workforce Study. He is the AAHA delegate to the AVMA House of Delegates. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in Canine and Feline practice.
Dr. Donald F. Smith
Dr. Smith (ONT ’74) was dean of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine from 1997-2007. A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, he focused early in his career on food animal and equine surgery at Cornell and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Returning to Cornell as department chair and associate dean in 1987, he led the development of a new veterinary curriculum. As dean, he established academic priorities in cancer biology and oncology, genomics and medical genetics, and pathogenic bacteriology. His tenure saw reconfiguration of the departmental structure, an increase in extramural research funding, completion of a $55 million life sciences building, funding for a new diagnostic laboratory, expansion of clinical residency and graduate programs, and establishment of a DVM-PhD program. As dean emeritus, Dr. Smith devotes his time to teaching and to researching the history of veterinary medicine.
American Association of Equine Practitioners
The AAEP is the world’s largest professional organization dedicated to equine veterinary medicine. Founded in 1954, the association comprises nearly 10,000 veterinarians and veterinary students who dedicate themselves to caring for horses. The AAEP brings together members from private practice, academia, regulatory medicine, and research in the pursuit of one mission—to improve the health and welfare of horses. Through this mission, the AAEP serves as a respected source of information for the equine industry. From animal welfare to uniform medication rules in equine competition, the AAEP dedicates resources to provide a consistent veterinary perspective to contemporary issues affecting horse health. The professional development of equine veterinarians also is a primary goal of the association. The AAEP Annual Convention and ancillary educational events attract veterinarians from around the world.