Chair’s updates: in this fall 2019 episode, some news from me (Chair), Alumni, and an introduction to the incoming cohort. Staying in touch with the MPVM We have constructed a comprehensive database of our alumni but many emails are missing and many of those we have are bouncing. Please update any contact information by emailing Janet ([email protected]) and share this newsletter with colleagues. We have the MPVM alumni Facebook page: I wish I could add you directly but I can’t. Search Facebook for MPVM alumni, ask to join, and then I can approve. I tend to put everything on Facebook, notices about people’s presentation, job listings, etc. and only aim to send two newsletters per year via the listserve, so if you want all the news, join with Facebook. The webpage has had a major facelift as well, check out https://mpvm.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/. Chair’s news We’re back to a new academic year with our new cohort. Brief bios and photos of incoming students are below. One remarkable feature of this class is the preponderance of international students- in fact all but 2 are international. And this is exciting! But it also makes clear to me that we have an opportunity to better get our message out to American veterinary graduates. Much of my MPVM-dedicated time is going to recruitment, in strong collaboration with the Office of Strategic Planning and Communications in the Vet School, led by Tom Hinds. We’re trying new outreach strategies, advertising, networking. If you have more ideas, I’m all ears. Completing the outreach team is our MPVM Recruitment Committee, this year led by Dr. Alda Pires with Dr. Fernanda Ferreira and our student reps (below). To date we’ve updated the web, we’ve created a new poster and package for ambassadors to take with them to meetings, and we’re networking like mad, sending flyers to every admissions officer of US vet schools as well as a personal email to every alum in an academic position worldwide. We’re also posting on webpages and listserves of various professional organizations. We especially want to thank Dean Lairmore and Executive Assistant Dean McNally who supported a request for an infusion of funds to accomplish the advertising that Tom has proposed. We are in the admission season! Anyone going on the MPVM webpage will see links from every page to start an application. This year, we are open to dual degree prospects (students enrolled in a DVM or equivalent curriculum who pause that degree, come to the MPVM for a year, and then return to finish vet school), and we can consider candidates who have at least a bachelor’s degree but no formal veterinary/MD degree as long as they have extensive experience and expertise in health-related science. Over the summer and into the fall, Membership Chair Dr. Sharif Aly and I, as well as committee member Dr. Esteban Soto, have engaged quite a few fresh faculty faces in the program. You can peruse their interests here: https://mpvm.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/about/faculty, but I think you will agree we offer a nice portfolio of interests to help mentor students for the research portion of their MPVM. Requests for service on faculty committees also met very positive responses. Besides those I’ve already mentioned, we have Admissions and Student Affairs co-chaired by Dr. Aly and Dr. Gabriele Maier (who also serves as the program’s advisor) with members Dr.
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Chair’s updates: in this fall 2019 episode, some news from me (Chair), Alumni, and an introduction to the incoming cohort. Staying in touch with the MPVM We have constructed a comprehensive database of our alumni but many emails are missing and many of those we have are bouncing. Please update any contact information by emailing Janet ([email protected]) and share this newsletter with colleagues. We have the MPVM alumni Facebook page: I wish I could add you directly but I can’t. Search Facebook for MPVM alumni, ask to join, and then I can approve. I tend to put everything on Facebook, notices about people’s presentation, job listings, etc. and only aim to send two newsletters per year via the listserve, so if you want all the news, join with Facebook. The webpage has had a major facelift as well, check out https://mpvm.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/. Chair’s news We’re back to a new academic year with our new cohort. Brief bios and photos of incoming students are below. One remarkable feature of this class is the preponderance of international students- in fact all but 2 are international. And this is exciting! But it also makes clear to me that we have an opportunity to better get our message out to American veterinary graduates. Much of my MPVM-dedicated time is going to recruitment, in strong collaboration with the Office of Strategic Planning and Communications in the Vet School, led by Tom Hinds. We’re trying new outreach strategies, advertising, networking. If you have more ideas, I’m all ears. Completing the outreach team is our MPVM Recruitment Committee, this year led by Dr. Alda Pires with Dr. Fernanda Ferreira and our student reps (below). To date we’ve updated the web, we’ve created a new poster and package for ambassadors to take with them to meetings, and we’re networking like mad, sending flyers to every admissions officer of US vet schools as well as a personal email to every alum in an academic position worldwide. We’re also posting on webpages and listserves of various professional organizations. We especially want to thank Dean Lairmore and Executive Assistant Dean McNally who supported a request for an infusion of funds to accomplish the advertising that Tom has proposed. We are in the admission season! Anyone going on the MPVM webpage will see links from every page to start an application. This year, we are open to dual degree prospects (students enrolled in a DVM or equivalent curriculum who pause that degree, come to the MPVM for a year, and then return to finish vet school), and we can consider candidates who have at least a bachelor’s degree but no formal veterinary/MD degree as long as they have extensive experience and expertise in health-related science. Over the summer and into the fall, Membership Chair Dr. Sharif Aly and I, as well as committee member Dr. Esteban Soto, have engaged quite a few fresh faculty faces in the program. You can peruse their interests here: https://mpvm.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/about/faculty, but I think you will agree we offer a nice portfolio of interests to help mentor students for the research portion of their MPVM. Requests for service on faculty committees also met very positive responses. Besides those I’ve already mentioned, we have Admissions and Student Affairs co-chaired by Dr. Aly and Dr. Gabriele Maier (who also serves as the program’s advisor) with members Dr.
Tracey Goldstein And Dr. Ashley Hill; and Curriculum chaired by Dr. Beatriz Martinez-Lopez with Dr. Rob Atwill, Dr. Mary Christopher, and Dr. Sohail Sajid. I’m very excited to report that we’re working to create an MPVM dual degree scholarship! Graduating DVMs in 2020 may experience heavy student debt burdens, limiting their ability to enroll in the MPVM program and take government, public service, and non-profit employment. As a pioneer in One Health, UC Davis’ MPVM program has made a huge impact worldwide on public health, herd health, wildlife conservation and more through our outstanding alumni. As we look to the future, raising scholarship funds for our students will be a key component to our success. Our development office will be reaching out to MPVM alumni in the coming months, and I hope you will share your thoughts on this with them. Last bits from me. Other things I’ve been doing include collating career information in a Box account the students can all access as well as on the alumni Facebook page. Send me information about jobs any time and I’ll add them to these resources. We, along with Grad Pathways and others, are offering training on SAS, R, career planning, and how to give a good presentation. MPVM sponsored two MPVMers to attend the Geovet Conference held this year at UC Davis! We’ll send out another newsletter in the spring, and I’ll call for alumni news again at that point, or you can post on the Facebook page any time you want. Our 2019 incoming MPVM Cohort
Dr. Daniel Chen DVM graduated from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) in 2017, and is a certified veterinarian in Taiwan. Daniel focused on swine disease pathology during his veterinary training, and worked at various institutions as an intern, including university laboratories, rescue centers, and zoos. When he was in school, he served as an organizer for NPUST’s successful application for American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). After graduation, he was employed at an animal hospital as a clinical veterinarian. Daniel has just been elected to the Executive Committee for the 2010/2020 MPVM class.
Dr. David Sheedy, BCom, B.Sci, DVM (Distinct.). David hails from the rugged coastline of country Victoria in Australia and was briefly a private financial analyst before embarking on a veterinary career with the University of Melbourne’s DVM Class of 2015. Upon graduation he began work as a private practitioner focusing predominately on dairy production and joined the University of California Davis’s Dairy Production Medicine Residency program in 2018. His veterinary passions include maintaining safe, affordable and sustainable food production and is currently investigating antimicrobial use and resistance within the Californian dairy industry. When not donning his working coveralls and rubber boots, you’ll find David itching for a surf or any trip down the coast. David has just been elected President of the 2010/2020 MPVM class.
Dr. Celeste Morris, DVM, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine (2017) and MBA, Iowa State University College of Business (2014) is completing her MPVM as part of her residency in the Livestock Herd Health & Reproduction Department at UC Davis. After veterinary school, she completed a one year livestock ambulatory internship at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. Her research interests include livestock herd health, livestock production, public health and food safety. Celeste grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and enjoys baking, hiking, traveling, crossword puzzles, spending time with family and friends, and playing with her dog Onyx and cat Opal. Celeste has just been elected to the Executive Committee for the 2010/2020 MPVM class.
Dr. Andy Lu/ Taotao Lu, DVM, graduated from Nanjing Agricultural University in China, College of Veterinary Medicine. He has worked on Classical Swine Fever Elisa testing as well as canine babesiosis and is interested in African Swine Fever and Pseudorabies Virus. Andy has just been elected to the Recruitment Committee for the 2010/2020 MPVM class
Dr. June Palmado Barrera, DVM obtained her veterinary degree from the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine in 2018. She is very passionate about utilizing the One Health approach to promote public health on a global scale. She is particularly interested in investigating factors that increase the risk of zoonotic infectious diseases at the wildlife-livestock-human interface, as well improving herd health management to improve global food security. As a MPVM candidate and team member of HALI Project team in Tanzania, June is studying the risk of viral spillover among Tanzania’s livestock, wildlife, and humans. June has just been elected Social Co-chair of the 2010/2020 MPVM class.
Dr. Shayne Ramsubeik, DVM (2009), MBA (2015) graduated from the University of the West Indies St Augustine campus, Trinidad and Tobago. His professional interests are poultry infectious disease and food safety. Shayne is a Trinidadian veterinarian who has been working in the poultry sector for the last ten years. His area of focus has been broiler meat production and has functioned at different capacities and managerial positions within integrated poultry operations. During the MPVM, Shayne’s desire is to study the spatial and temporal disease patterns of
infectious poultry diseases in California and risk factors associated with these diseases so as to develop prevention and control programs. He aims to acquire the skills, training and experience necessary to become a subject matter leader in the field of preventive veterinary medicine, epidemiology and food safety with a special focus on poultry. Shayne has just been elected Social Co-chair of the 2010/2020 MPVM class.
Dr. Tanapon Sukkankah (nickname Fung) is from Bangkok, Thailand. He graduated from Faculty of veterinary medicine at Kasetsart University, where he had developed his interests in livestock production and reproduction, especially in dairy cattle. During his undergraduate period, he had a chance to visit rural dairy farms in Thailand and realized that dairy cattle farmers suffered from financial insecurity caused by the lack of knowledge, so they were unable to have sustainable and profitable dairy businesses. From that time he decided to work for the government for the sake of Thai farmers. After he graduated, he worked at the Bureau of Biotechnology in Livestock Production. His research is feed and feeding effects to dairy cattle production and reproduction. In his
free time, he likes practicing mindfulness and playing with cats. Fung has just been elected to the Recruitment Committee for the 2010/2020 MPVM class. Dr. Elisa Cella, at University of Padua and University of Perugia (IT), has interests primarily in food safety and food-borne diseases. After her Master’s in Veterinary biotechnology, she enrolled in MPH to become more familiar with population health and diseases prevention. She joined the group of dairy epidemiology at UC Davis to work on projects related to antimicrobial resistance in dairy cattle. During the MPVM her desire is to study antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. Elisa has just been elected to the Curriculum Committee for the 2010/2020 MPVM class
Dr. Sejin Cheong, DVM got her veterinary degree in South Korea in 2016. She has worked in a veterinary clinic and a laboratory animal resource center in South Korea. Her interests are nutrition of food producing animals and its
association with chronic effects on humans as food products. During MPVM, she desires to research on nutrition of dairy products and human disease such as cancer in perspective of one health.
Dr. Francisco Astorga Jorquera, DVM (2017), at Universidad de Chile, Chile. Francisco is a veterinarian who has worked for the last couple of years in a research laboratory in southern Chile executing some projects related with antimicrobial resistance in dairy cattle and udder health. He also has worked for the private industry, developing new vaccines against some prevalent bacterial diseases in salmon and dairy herds. Francisco’s interests are in the line of public health, specially focused on dairy production and antimicrobial resistance. As an MPVM student, he will be working on evaluating the efficacy of different intramammary treatments against mastitis in dairy farms in southern Chile considering different risk factors that might affect the outcome.
Dr. Marta Carreño Gútiez graduated as a DVM from the University of Zaragoza in July 2019. She did an internship in 2018 at UC Davis, performing a research study of antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella from 1995 to 2015 in the United States, and decided to continue her educational background with the master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine. Her main interest is a compendium of antimicrobial resistance, One Health and spatiotemporal data analysis. In her research project, she is seeking to know the resistance patterns of different antimicrobials, their possible transmission through feeding or direct / indirect contact with animals, and their spatiotemporal distribution.
Dr. Elham Khaliji obtained her DVM degree from Veterinary College of Shiraz University in Iran in 2011. After graduation, she worked as a technical manager of a veterinary pharmaceutical company in Tehran. Her experience in vet school and industry piqued her interest in the importance of epidemiologic principals and methods to enhance animal and human health. She is motivated to gain extensive knowledge in epidemiology, animal disease modelling and surveillance to improve animal health and production efficacy. Since more attention is now paid to the public health risk of antimicrobial agents used in food-producing animals, she is eager to do research concerning
prudent use of antibiotics in food producing animals. News from Alumni
Belkhiria, Jaber: Originally from Tunisia, I graduated from the Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM) in 2014 then transitioned to a PhD in Epidemiology with the Center of Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance (CADMS). Later in November 2017, I joined the PREDICT team as Postdoctoral student under the UC Davis One Health Institute (OHI) working remotely from Tunisia. Throughout PREDICT, I had the opportunity to use multiple skills I have acquired during my MPVM and PhD in two
West African countries: Senegal and Guinea. Aside from the statistical and epidemiological tools, I found out that soft skills such as risk communication and leadership were extremely important. Shortly after PREDICT discovered the recent Bombali Ebola virus in Guinea and Sierra Leone, I was involved in critical discussions with politicians, decision makers, and community leaders about future steps after the important viral discovery. The MPVM network is incredibly rich and diverse. I’m still in contact with most of my MPVM cohort and every time we meet it feels like a big family reunion. Moreover, there is not a single scientific meeting where I did not meet at least one fellow MPVM Alumni. Recently, I was introduced to Dr. Enkee Shiilegdamba, The Mongolia Country Program Director for WCS. Although we haven’t met before but we shared multiple memories from our MPVM and living in Davis.
Cropper, Thomas: I am in the San Antonio Texas area working for the AF in a job sharing position (we work every other week) with Dr Theresa Casey, as Director of Trainee Health Surveillance. We consider what we do to apply "One Health" team concepts to identify zoonotic disease hazards from wildlife and disease vectors and apply countermeasures to protect men and women in training. I have been part of a team that has published on several different topics but additionally work with university and public health partners in this region of Texas. The State of Texas hosts the James Steele conference (Diseases in Nature Transmissable to Man) annually, where I help as a conference planner with speakers and find the meeting to be extremely helpful. My wife Ingrid and I have moved here in 1998 after departure from the Washington DC area where I was the USAF/SG consultant for Public Health. Denicol, Anna: I was in the MPVM class of 2009. Today I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Animal Science here at UC Davis. Below I copied the link to my page if that could be of interest to the newsletter, https://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/people/faculty/anna-denicol Esteban, Emilio: I was one of the early graduates from MPVM (’89). Currently working with USDA/FSIS. Info in the signature block below. Always good to get news from the school. J. Emilio Esteban, DVM, MBA, MPVM, PhD, Chief Scientist, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 2129 South Building, Washington, DC 20250, Cell: 706 215 2287, Desk: 202 690 9058, [email protected] Hattery (Curtis), Ellie, MD, MPVM: I will be moving back to Sacramento (from Seattle) I will be an Assistant professor of Surgery at UC Davis. I have completed General Surgery residency as well as trauma, burn and palliative care fellowships. Lavan, Robert: I spoke at the 2019 AVMA Meeting on “CHANGES IN GLOBAL PET OWNER ADHERENCE TO FLEA AND TICK MEDICATIONS”. I work for Merck Animal Health in Outcomes Research and graduated from the MPVM program in 1992.
Lee, Kyuyoung: I am Kyuyoung Lee, aka. "Q', an alumnus of MPVM 2016!! I am a Ph.D. Candidate of the graduate group in Epidemiology (GGE) and work in UC Davis, CA, US!
Nowrouzian, Iradj: I am a Professor, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, The University of Tehran These photos are evidence of what happened in my life after I returned home from the MPVM, showing some of my research and an “Elite Professor” award in 2018. I am proud to have received my education at UC-Davis, MPVM program. I will never forget the spiritual atmosphere and brilliant teachers I experienced. Thank you.
Quesenberry, Peter: I’m currently serving in N. Thailand, mostly working with local organizations which are involved with integrated community development projects. I still spend lots of time writing animal health materials for farmers in developing countries. For instance, see https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RT6TJVT/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1, Sincerely, Pete Quesenberry, MPVM 1991
Randhawa, Nistara: I have met some wonderful people from different countries and gained valuable exposure as a result of the avenues that the MPVM program opened up for me. After working with California sea lion data from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, and meeting professionals working at places like the World Bank during one of our policy programs, I realized I was ready to
transition to a PhD and delve deeper into research and learning. Since then, I've worked in Tanzania tracking bats, carried geospatial and network analyses, helped train people in R programming and gained experience with data science subjects from pioneers in their fields. None of this would have been possible without the MPVM program and the amazing mentors who I met through it.
Roug, Annette: Dr. Annette Roug is originally from Denmark, and studied the MPVM at UC Davis from 2008-2009 with Prof. Woutrina Smith as major professor. After the MPVM Annette pursued a PhD in wildlife epidemiology, also at UC Davis and with Prof. Smith, where the researched the health and ecology of African buffaloes in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, and the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis in communities bordering the park. She is currently the wildlife veterinarian for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah, USA where she oversees
the statewide wildlife health program. Her current research focuses on a variety of topics relating wildlife capture and wildlife health. She is also adjunct professor at Utah State University, and research associate at UC Davis, where she been co-instructor at the RX One Health course in Tanzania for the last 3 years. Salman, Mo: I want to share with you and others about my role in PVM since this journal was mainly an avenue to promote veterinary epidemiology among scientific community: “After 10 years as the Editor in Chief of Elsevier Preventive Veterinary Medicine (PVM), I am stepping down from this role. Since the conception and starting of PVM by MPVM leaders at that time, I have with honor contributed to this journal as a contributor in various publications, independent reviewer, editorial board member, associate editor, and finally as EiC. I believe that PVM has been a sound scientific venue for preventive veterinary medicine in general and specifically in the field of veterinary epidemiology. The MPVM though its founders and later through several of its graduates has been instrumental in the scientific high status of this journal. I will maintain my regular activities at Colorado State University in teaching, research, and outreach activities in the field of preventive veterinary medicine. “ Theil, Jacob: I was hired by UC Davis Campus Veterinary Services February of this year and am currently a Senior Veterinarian for research animals housed here on campus. After the MPVM program (2015 graduate), I worked a year in small animal practice in Citrus Heights, then pursued a residency at Stanford University in Comparative Medicine. Earlier this year, I was hired as a veterinarian at UC Davis and am currently assisting with our AAALAC site visit.
Valdes-Donoso, Pablo: Pablo works currently works in Cryoocyte as Health Scientist and Economist. Cryoocyte is a company dedicated to the management and analysis of Big Data in Aquaculture to optimize production and to promote sustainability. Pablo has a PhD in Epidemiology, a MS in Economics, and an MPVM from UC Davis; and a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine degree from Universidad de Chile. Prior to joining Cryoocyte, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Agricultural Issues Center at the University of California, analyzing the economic impacts of policies in different agricultural sectors. Here’s to a great year everyone!
