School Notes
Honors and Awards
Hugues Beaufrere, DABVP, DACZM, DECZM, DVM, Ph.D., was recognized with the school’s 2023 SVM Innovation in Teaching Award for exceptional innovation in course material design and presentation, application of active learning techniques, and inspiration of faculty colleagues. An associate professor in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, he also received the 2023 Association of Avian Veterinarians Lafeber Manuscript Award in the Best Original Research category.
Faculty and residents from the Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service were honored with several awards and certificates at the Veterinary Dental Forum, the largest veterinary dental conference in the world. Maria Soltero-Rivera, DAVDC, DVM, received the American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC) Peter Emily Service Award, presented annually to an outstanding AVDC Diplomate for contributions in the service of the AVDC and in furthering the field of veterinary dentistry. Shirley Kot, DAVDC, DVM, received the AVDC Wiggs Outstanding Candidate Award, given annually to an outstanding veterinarian on successful completion of an approved training program. Stephanie Goldschmidt, DAVDC, DVM, and Soltero-Rivera received the Foundation for Veterinary Dentistry Research Grant Award, given to encourage and support quality research and educational development in veterinary dentistry.
Julia Colosi, DVM, and Evangelia Makrygiannis, DVM, were presented with research awards at the 2023 Veterinary Cancer Society (VCS) annual conference. Colosi is a third-year resident in the Medical Oncology Service, and her oral abstract presentation titled “Outcomes of Dogs Treated with Sequential Half Body Radiotherapy and a Short CHOP Chemotherapy,” won the E. Gregory MacEwen Memorial Award for outstanding oral research presentation. Makrygiannis is a second-year resident in the Medical Oncology Service, and her poster presentation titled “Toxicity and Preliminary Efficacy of Fixed Dose Rate Gemcitabine in Dogs with Neoplasia,” won the Amiya K. Patnaik Memorial Award for outstanding poster research presentation.
Julie Dechant, DACVS, DACVECC, DVM, was recognized with the school’s 2023 Zoetis Distinguished Veterinary Teacher Award for excellent teaching in the classroom and the clinic. As Professor of Clinical Equine Surgical Emergency and Critical Care and Assistant Director of the Large Animal Clinic, Dechant is committed to maintaining broad species expertise and has provided didactic content regarding camelid species for all three large animal streams in year three of the DVM curriculum.
Lynelle Johnson, DACVIM, DVM, Ph.D., was honored with the school’s 2023 Boehringer-Ingelheim Research Mentoring Award. A professor in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology for 23 years, Johnson has contributed to development and mentorship of students, house officers, and junior faculty. Johnson has served as a primary research mentor for 43 of 90 peer reviewed manuscripts, as well as 27 peer reviewed manuscripts with residents from small animal internal medicine, cardiology, radiology, and surgery due to her diversity of interests combined with her focused expertise in respiratory disease.
Michael Kent, DVM, DACVIM, DACVR, received the American College of Veterinary Radiology (ACVR) 2023 Distinguished Service Award at the ACVR annual conference in New Orleans. He is chief of the Oncology Service in Radiation Oncology at the UC Davis veterinary hospital, as well as director of the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Companion Animal Health. This award is presented to an ACVR member for appreciation of their altruistic service, dedication, and passion for the organization. Kent was recognized for his commitment as radiation oncology exam director for more than 10 years and for advancing residency training.
Heather Knych, DACVCP, DVM, Ph.D., was recognized with the school’s 2023 Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award for excellence in teaching pharmacology at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels. As a professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences, Knych receives high praise for her teaching effectiveness—specifically her organization of and clarity of presentation, ability to distill complex pharmacology and pharmacokinetics/dynamics information into readily understandable material, and application of knowledge in discussions.
Stephen McSorley, Ph.D., was honored with the school’s 2023 Zoetis Award for Research Excellence. A Professor in the Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology, McSorley strives to bridge the fields of bacterial pathogenesis and basic immunology by incorporating the complexity of the pathogen’s biology with state-of-the-art analysis of innate and adaptive immune responses. He has published more than 105 journal articles in a variety of high impact journals including Nature and the Journal of Immunology, and has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for 20 years.
John Pascoe, DACVS, Ph.D., was honored with the Vice Chancellor's Alumni Excellence Award from the University of Queensland. The award recognizes unwavering commitment to advancing veterinary medical education, the veterinary profession globally, and academic leadership. Pascoe is an accomplished veterinary surgeon, leader, and mentor who has developed innovative ways for veterinary students to learn surgery, created and managed various programs that have had far-reaching influence in the veterinary community at UC Davis and all over the world, and successfully mentored and trained residents, Ph.D. candidates, postdoctoral fellows, and countless veterinary students.
In Memoriam
Domenico (Meco) Bernoco, DVM ’59, Ph.D. ’71
Charles Hjerpe, DVM ’58
UC Davis Establishes Bird Flight Research Center
How can bird flight inform aircraft design?
A unique research collaboration between Professor Michelle Hawkins, director of the school’s California Raptor Center, and Assistant Professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering Christina Harvey, hopes to answer that question.
They are launching a new bird flight research center, to be housed at the raptor center, with a nearly $3 million grant from the Department of Defense. The center will utilize motion capture and photogrammetry —which uses photography to determine the distance between objects—technologies to image birds in flight and create 3D models of the wing shapes to inform the design and capabilities of the next generation of uncrewed aerial systems. The center will be the first of its kind in the country.
The birds, including turkey vultures, a peregrine falcon, a kestrel, a barn owl, kites and a redtailed hawk named Jack, will be trained to fly down the facility’s hallway and land on a perch, getting exercise that will help with their rehabilitation and longevity.
Harvey anticipates that by gleaning information about how different types of birds maneuver around complex environments, they can inform the development of next-generation drones and other uncrewed aerial systems to deliver packages, detect and fight wildfires, and more.
Hawkins plans to use the imagery and modeling of the birds in flight to see where their deficits are and where to target rehabilitation efforts. She also anticipates incorporating the technology into her teaching to train the next generation of veterinarians, comparing the videos of birds in flight to the birds’ X-rays and CT scans.
“We’ll be able to do much more with the equipment available because it’s going to be so state-of-the-art,” Hawkins said.
For Harvey, this project is the beginning of what she envisioned was possible when she first considered coming to UC Davis.
“This partnership isn’t something that you would find anywhere else and that’s really exciting for all of us collaborating on this project,” she said.
Launching Key School Initiatives
Shortly after Dr. Mark Stetter joined the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine as its ninth dean, he spent six months meeting with faculty, staff, students and stakeholders to help inform the school’s top priorities.
From those listening sessions and in consultation with the school’s Academic Council, four main areas of focus emerged: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; People First (employee engagement/satisfaction); Facilities; and Research. In each of these areas, working groups were formed and included over 150 volunteers from across the school.
With the help of a consultant, these working groups developed a set of recommendations and priorities that have evolved into strategic initiatives for 2024, for which the school will invest nearly $1.5M in the coming year. The timing on this works well as the school’s current strategic plan is scheduled to sunset in 2024 and our accreditation will be in 2025. This will allow us to begin work now on these important initiatives and work toward a new strategic plan later this fall.
“While our mission and vision remain constant, it was important for us to reassess some of our key priorities,” Stetter said. “The world as a whole has gone through a great deal of change in the past three years and like you hear on the airplane before gathering your luggage overhead...contents may have shifted. I wanted to hear from our entire community about the issues that have shifted and ensure we are putting our resources toward our most important opportunities.”
Four school leaders served as ambassadors for these initiatives: Dr. Danika Bannasch (research), Dr. Bruno Pypendop (people first), Mary McNally (facilities) and Monae Roberts (DEI). Special thanks to Joe Dinunzio for his leadership in facilitating all the strategic initiative work over the course of 2022-2023.
New Leadership for Veterinary Medical Center
Dr. Michael Mison, DVM, DACVS, has been named associate dean for Veterinary Medical Center Operations/Chief Veterinary Medical Officer. His appointment will also include a professor position with the Soft Tissue Surgery Service. Mison came to UC Davis from the University of Florida where he served as the Associate Dean for Clinical Services—Small Animal Operations and Clinical Professor of Surgery. He also previously served as hospital director at the University of Pennsylvania and has owned a private multi-specialty practice.
Mison is a graduate of the University of Florida and completed his internship and residency at Michigan State University. Throughout his career, he has received additional leadership training through the Wharton Business School and the Harvard Extension School Professional Development Program. A committed surgeon and talented administrator, Mison believes that a positive and supportive work environment enhances patient care and benefits all involved—the animals, clients, staff, students, and faculty, and he continuously works to improve culture and ensure the well-being of those working in the hospital.
Under Secretary of U.S.D.A. Visits School
U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture, Dr. José Emilio Esteban, visited the school in February to join our Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM) students for an engaging discussion. He offered insights about his journey as a Mexican-American food scientist and former veterinarian who is now serving a key role in protecting the nation’s food supply.
Esteban is an MPVM (1990) and Ph.D. (1993) alumnus from UC Davis who obtained his DVM from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and an MBA from the Panamerican Institute. His distinguished career includes roles at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In his current position, Esteban leads the Office of Food Safety at the USDA, overseeing the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which has regulatory oversight for ensuring that meat, poultry and egg products are safe, wholesome and properly labeled.
We’re happy to announce that Esteban will be serving as our commencement speaker on Friday, May 24 from 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. As usual, tickets will be limited, but the event will be livestreamed with a recording available afterward. For more information, visit www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ admissions/commencement.
New Leash on Life
DVM student Annika Bram, Class of 2025, has captured hearts online by documenting the journey of her foster dog back to health. Frannie could barely stand due to her obesity and was scheduled for euthanasia before she was rescued in December 2023. The 8-year-old dog weighed 125 pounds, double the healthy weight range for her breed. Two months later, she had already lost more than 30 pounds and continues to improve her mobility and love for chasing tennis balls every day. She was suffering from hypothyroidism, which can lead to excessive weight gain, among other health issues. While Frannie still has a long way to go, a custom diet and physical therapy have made a huge difference.
“It’s incredible to see the response from people,” Bram told ABC’s Good Morning America after her TikTok channel garnered nearly a million likes. “I didn’t realize it was because of how much of an impact she was making on people’s lives and how much of an inspiration she was.”
Join the “Fran Club” to watch Frannie’s weight loss journey on Instagram @frannies.fight or TikTok @franniesfight.