The College of Veterinary Medicine has announced the recipients of its College Achievement Awards, which were presented at the recent CVM Fall Convocation.
The recipients include:
Merit Employee of the Year: Susan Fulter is the longest-serving employee in the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, having served the lab, college and stakeholders for 36 years. One indication of her dedication was working to ensure the successful start-up of the new media preparation center in Phase 1 of the new VDL which played a critical role in the Bacteriology Section’s seamless transition to the new facility.
Merit Mid-Career Employee of the Year: From Day 1, Nicole Bergman has been eager not only to learn but to master all aspects of her role in supplying ordering for the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. She is responsible for the successful procurement of millions of dollars worth of diagnostic supplies and equipment annually while playing a vital role in the daily operation of the facility.
Graduate Student of the Year: Megan Thomas is a dual DVM/PhD candidate in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Program who is a dynamic and engaged scientist who is driven to understand and help solve clinically important problems. She has had four published manuscripts, three additional published preprints that are submitted and under review at high ranking journals, and four manuscripts in preparation.
Service Team of the Year: In the last decade, the Poultry Team has grown from one faculty member to 10 dedicated members. This growth has been mirrored by the team’s substantial contributions to the field including a significant increase in diagnostic services, funding projects, stakeholder outreach, conference presentations and published research. The team also focused on innovative training programs to cater to the diverse learning needs of CVM students including a concerted effort to create valuable educational opportunities for CVM students.
Service Team of the Year: The Dairy HPAI Investigation Team is a multidisciplinary team with members in the VDL’s molecular, next generation sequencing, histopathology and serology sections, combined their talents to make the first diagnosis of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus in dairy cattle last March. This group of dedicated and talent team of diagnosticians and clinicians put the College of Veterinary Medicine on the leading edge of the investigation and response to introduction of HPAI into the U.S. dairy herd.
Outstanding Achievement in Extension or Professional Practice Award: Dr. Drew Magstadt played a leading role in the detection of the first case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in dairy cattle this past year. This is just the most recent example of the impact he daily has in the veterinary diagnostic field. In addition to coordinating pathology cases, he is responsible for coordinating bovine molecular diagnostic cases and BVDV PI ear notch testing.
Frederick Douglass Patterson Award: Dr. Rachel Derscheid is passionate and dedicated to raising awareness and effecting change in CVM and beyond. As the CVM Faculty Success Advisor, she diligently works to ensure all members of CVM search committee have proper training on how to perform an unbiased search.
CVM Award for Early Career Achievement in Research: While at Iowa State, Dr. Gustavo Silva has received approximately 53 grants and contracts for $1.6 million in funding as a PI and has served as CO-I on projects totaling $5 million. These grants fund studies that are of high relevance to the Iowa and U.S. livestock and poultry industries. Silva has documented his scholarship in research through an extensive list of more than 50 presentations and close to 100 abstracts and proceeding papers.
Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence: Dr. Pat Gorden has documented success in competitive grantsmanship securing almost $3 million in funding as a PI from a mix of industry, biopharmaceutical, state, and federal sources. His most recent research activity has received almost a $400,000 USDA grant for projects which seeks to understand disease dynamics of an acute outbreak of HPAI in dairy cattle.
September 2024