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K-State Today

Division of Communications and Marketing
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March 14, 2018

Phi Zeta Research Day awards recognize research by students, faculty in College of Veterinary Medicine

Submitted by Joe Montgomery

Research by Kansas State University students, residents, interns and faculty earned honors at Phi Zeta Research Day, March 6, at Kansas State University.

The annual event is organized by the Sigma chapter of the Society of Phi Zeta, the professional honor society of veterinary medicine. The society's name is based on the Latin word "philozoi," meaning "love for animals," and its mission is to promote scholarship and research to improve the health and welfare of animals.

Graduate students participating in Phi Zeta Research Day are working toward a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Master of Science, Master of Public Health and/or doctoral degrees at K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine.

The day's events include a keynote address given by an invited speaker, followed by both oral and poster presentations, describing basic or applied science investigations, as well as case reports and case series.

"Phi Zeta Research Day is a wonderful opportunity for the College of Veterinary Medicine to acknowledge our students' scholarly and research achievements," said Raelene Wouda, president of the Kansas State University chapter of Phi Zeta and assistant professor of oncology, who added that this year's event received a record number of abstract submissions and that the student presentations reflected the variety, depth, and value of research emerging from the college.

"Here at K-State, we strongly encourage students to become actively involved in either clinical and/or laboratory research programs, and we hope these opportunities will inspire them to incorporate research in their future veterinary careers," Wouda said. "The combination of a veterinary degree and research experience makes our students uniquely qualified to be highly successful scientists, both capable and keen to contribute meaningfully to the continual advancement of veterinary, human and public health."

This year's award recipients were announced at a reception and ceremony, as well as several endowed scholarships. The recipient of the Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence by an outstanding faculty member also was announced: Weiping Zhang, professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology.

"Dr. Zhang is working at the cutting edge of vaccine technology — developing novel vaccines to combat diarrheal pathogens in both young pigs and children," said Frank Blecha, associate dean for research. "He has supported his extensive research program at K-State with over $12 million of funding from several agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Zhang's collaborative vaccine development strategy for enterotoxigenic E. coli holds great promise for a new multiepitope vaccine that will limit diarrheal deaths in animals with high relevance for human health as well."

New members of the Society of Phi Zeta, nominated based on their exceptional academic achievements, are also initiated at this ceremony.

The following students, faculty and interns received an award or scholarship:

Mollie Burton, third-year veterinary medicine student, top Doctor of Veterinary Medicine student poster award for "Prevalence and strain diversity of Anaplasma marginale in Kansas cattle herds."

Arashi Nakashima, senior in animal sciences and industry, top undergraduate student poster award for "Parachlorella kessleri-derived extracellular polysaccharides inhibit colon carcinoma growth in mice via an enhancement of host antitumor immune responses."

Sarah Remfry, master's student in biomedical science, top research poster by an intern, resident or master's student award for "Prevalence of top-7 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in wheat grains by culture method."

Deepa Upreti, master's student in biomedical science, top research poster by an intern, resident or master's student award "Evaluation of competitive ELISA for detection of antibodies to Rift Valley fever virus in cattle and sheep sera."

Ti Lu, doctoral student in pathobiology, top doctoral student poster award for "Identifying immune-dominant and neutralizing epitopes from K88 fimbriae of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli."

Katelyn Fentiman, third-year Veterinary Health Center medical resident, first place in tapplied science oral presentation for "The effect of topical latanoprost on aqueous humor flow rate in normal dogs."

Olga Norris, second-year Veterinary Health Center medical resident, second place in applied science oral presentation for "Indicators of persistent hypertonicity in diabetic dogs."

Geoffrey "Rob" Browning, Veterinary Health Center medical intern, second place in applied science oral presentation for "Pharmacokinetics of oral gabapentin in Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber)."

Krishani Denali Perera, master's student in biomedical science, first place in basic science oral presentation for "Identification and characterization of protease inhibitors for ferret and mink coronaviruses."

Ana Stoian, doctoral student in pathobiology, second place in basic science oral presentation for "Important CD163 peptide sequences in resistance to PRRSV-2 infection."

Sarah Stuebing, third-year veterinary medical student and doctoral student in psychology, second place in basic science oral presentation for "Behavioral and neurobiological assessments of episodic-like memory in aged and young rats."

Michael Denk, third-year veterinary medicine student, first place in case reports and case series for "CT-guided osteological preparation and examination of the skull of a Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)."

Anastasia McHaney, Veterinary Health Center intern, second place in case reports and case series for "Use of ultrasound in the diagnosis of soft tissue foreign bodies."

Vinay Shivanna, first-year medical resident in diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, third place in case reports and case series for "First report of Parapoxvirus infection in an American bison (Bison bison)."

Nicole Winegarner, fourth-year veterinary medical student, A.S.R. Ganta Veterinary Student Award.

Rui Guo, doctoral student in pathobiology, A.S.R. Ganta Graduate Student Award.

Alyson Fitzgerald, second-year veterinary medical student, Benjamin and Catherine Kurz Research Scholarship.

Jacob Herford, second-year veterinary medical student, Dr. Horst W. and Elisabeth A. Leipold Scholarship.

Stephen Mercer, fourth-year veterinary medical student, Miller Pathology Scholarship Award.

So Lee Park, third-year veterinary medicine student and doctoral student in pathobiology, Dr. Harish C. and Ved K. Minocha Scholarship.