National Academies of Practice adds new veterinary fellows
The National Academies of Practice, an interdisciplinary organization of health care practitioners and scholars, accepted the following eight new fellows of the Veterinary Medicine Academy.
Dr. Ellen N. Behrend (Pennsylvania ’88) is a professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. She has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters and served as section editor for seven textbook editions. She has chaired or served on graduate committees for many master’s and doctoral students. Dr. Behrend had a five-year tenure on the board of regents of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, which included being president of the college and chair of the board.
Dr. Sherry Burrer (Ohio State ’97) is a senior veterinary medical officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and an epidemiologist with the Emergency Preparedness and Response Office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health. She is board certified in veterinary preventive medicine. Since joining the CDC in 2008, she has led, participated in, or published on research and responses in the areas of syndromic surveillance, community assessment, at-risk populations, emergency preparedness and response, drought, hurricanes, and infectious diseases.
Dr. Ruthanne Chun (Wisconsin ’91) was a faculty member at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine before she joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine in 2005. In 2010, Dr. Chun was named associate dean for clinical affairs and hospital director at the school. She developed an interprofessional clinic that serves animals owned by underprivileged populations, and she became active in the interprofessional education community on campus. Dr. Chun led the development of the interprofessional educational module on team communication taught on campus.
Dr. Patricia Sanchez Diaz, a 1997 veterinary graduate of the University of Extremadura in Spain, is an associate professor at the University of the Incarnate Word’s Rosenberg School of Optometry in San Antonio and a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. During postdoctoral fellowships, she focused on the molecular basis of antimicrobial resistance in nosocomial pathogens and on mechanisms underlying growth of pediatric tumors. Her current research interests include the genetics of inherited retinal dystrophies, epithelial mesenchymal transition as a model to study proliferative vitreoretinopathy, and strategies to enhance student learning and promote interprofessional education and collaborative practice.
Dr. Laura Molgaard (Iowa State ’91) is dean of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, where she has been on the faculty since 1997. She oversaw the veterinary college’s professional education program from 2001-19. She has helped advance veterinary education internationally and helped advance interprofessional education through advocacy for the role of veterinarians in health professions. She contributed to an international effort to develop competencies, milestones, and entrustable professional activities—tasks that trainees are entrusted to perform unsupervised after attaining sufficient competence—for veterinary education, modeled after best practices in other health professions.
Dr. Paul Plummer (Tennessee ’00) is executive director of the National Institute of Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Education at Iowa State University and a professor in the Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine. He works at the intersection of translational one-health research focused on antimicrobial resistance via his academic role and his leadership of a laboratory focused on zoonotic and food safety pathogens. He is a voting member of the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria and serves on the AVMA Committee on Antimicrobials.
Dr. Allison Siu (Auburn ’19) founded the first Students for One Health organization at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. She also served in leadership roles at the national level promoting and advocating for public health in the veterinary curriculum. She worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an export veterinary medical officer, then joined the Wyoming Department of Health as an officer with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and member of the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the CDC.
Dr. Link Welborn (Florida ’82) is a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in canine and feline practice; owner of six animal hospitals in Tampa, Florida; and a past president of the American Animal Health Association. He is currently chief executive officer of Veterinary Study Groups, Covetrus chief veterinary officer for North America, and a board member of the Veterinary Innovation Council. He chaired the AVMA Veterinary Economics Strategy Committee. Dr. Welborn was a member of the AAHA Canine Vaccination Guidelines Task Force since its inception in 2002 and chair from 2010-20.
A version of this article appears in the May 2022 print issue of JAVMA.