AVMA names new class of congressional fellows
The AVMA in May announced that Drs. Radhika Gharpure, Matt Holland, and Mark Logan had been selected for the 2017-18 AVMA Congressional Fellowship Program.
The AVMA fellowship is sponsored through the American Association for the Advancement of Science to place scientific advisers in congressional offices and on committee staff. More than 65 veterinarians have served as AVMA Congressional Fellows.
The newest class will serve for one year in Washington, D.C., starting this August. During their tenure, fellows will advise federal policymakers on a range of issues, including food safety, public health, animal welfare, research, and small-business concerns.
Come this September, the fellows will interview with congressional offices or committee staff and receive their yearlong placements. Once placed, they will support the activities of that office full time. AVMA fellows are not employees of the Association or lobbyists.
Dr. Gharpure is a 2016 graduate of the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. As a veterinary student, she interned with such entities as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Agriculture.
Recently, Dr. Gharpure completed a master’s in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she focused on epidemiology and infectious diseases. Her professional interests include emerging and neglected zoonoses, outbreak response, and global health policy.
Dr. Holland graduated from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 2017. He served as Student AVMA president while pursuing a master’s in public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to his veterinary career, Dr. Holland was a television producer for various sports outlets in Chicago and New York City.
His background in journalism and in organized veterinary medicine and public health led Dr. Holland to the recognition that health communicators are needed at the intersection of science and policy.
Dr. Logan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1983 and moved to the community of Cape May Court House, New Jersey, where he began a 34-year career in small animal practice. He is a past president of the New Jersey VMA and has served on the New Jersey Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners since 2002.
Additionally, Dr. Logan has been a member of the Board of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, New Jersey. He served as a district director on the American Veterinary Medical Law Association board from 2007-09 and remains a member of the organization.
Learn more about the AVMA’s Congressional Fellowship Program. Application forms for the 2018-19 program will be available online this fall, with completed applications due Feb. 9, 2018. Questions should be emailed to fellowship
avma [dot] org (fellowship[at]avma[dot]org).