In Short

Teller teaches telehealth at Texas A&M

Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences has named Dr. Lori Teller as the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital's first clinical associate professor of telehealth.

The Houston native and CVMBS alumnus spent more than 30 years in private small animal practice before officially joining the college faculty this September.

Dr. Teller is currently creating the teaching hospital's telehealth program, which involves accounting for ways that clients and patients benefit from the service, noting workflow considerations, and keeping pace with the rapidly advancing communications technologies. She also spends a portion of her time as a primary care instructor at the hospital.

Elected to the AVMA Board of Directors three years ago, Dr. Teller has taken the lead in understanding the significance of telehealth for veterinary medicine. "I saw the handwriting on the wall," she said. "I suggested to the AVMA board that this was really a hot area and was something we should be looking at.

"Shortly after that discussion, a committee was tasked within the AVMA, really a working group, to take a look at telemedicine and put something together."

The result was "Telemedicine: Report of the AVMA Practice Advisory Panel (2016)," adopted by the AVMA House of Delegates in 2017.

FIP antiviral licensed for commercial development

A new collaboration at Kansas State University is promoting the commercial development of GC376, an antiviral compound for feline infectious peritonitis, which previously has had no effective treatment or cure. Researchers at KSU and elsewhere have been working on antiviral drugs that inhibit a specific virus protease of some important human and animal viruses, and they were able to make very potent inhibitors of FIP. Kansas State has licensed GC376 to Anivive Lifesciences Inc. of California. The approval process, overseen by the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine, requires several steps documenting the efficacy, safety, and manufacturing of the compound. Researchers say it could take several years before GC376 will be available on the market.

Veterinarian appointed NIU president

Dr. Lisa C. Freeman was appointed president of Northern Illinois University on Sept. 20, becoming the DeKalb, Illinois, institution's 13th president as well as the first woman and veterinarian named to that position.

Dr. Freeman earned a veterinary degree in 1986 from Cornell University. Three years later, she received a doctorate in pharmacology from The Ohio State University, and she subsequently worked as a postdoctoral fellow and research scientist at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

She joined NIU in 2010 as vice president for research and graduate studies. She previously spent 16 years as a faculty member at Kansas State University, where her roles included associate dean for research and graduate programs for the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Freeman had been serving as acting president for NIU since July 2017.

"NIU is home to world-class faculty, dedicated employees, and a diverse and proud student body, with an incredibly strong support network of alumni and donors," said Dr. Freeman following her appointment. "I look forward to collaborating with the Huskie community to strengthen the transformative educational experience NIU provides regionally, nationally, and globally."

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Related JAVMA content:

AVMA creates tools, resources on telehealth (March 1, 2018)

A glimmer of hope for a fatal feline disease (Dec. 15, 2017)