Accolades

American Humane Association

The American Humane Association has named Dr. S. Kwane Stewart (COL ‘97) as its chief veterinary officer and national director of the organization’s Humane Hollywood division and the No Animals Were Harmed program. His appointment is part of an effort by the AHA to expand the No Animals Were Harmed program to include the protection of animal actors off the set as well as on.

Dr. Stewart spent the early part of his career as an associate and emergency veterinarian in small animal practice. In 2004, he became chief medical officer of Vetco Hospitals Inc., a network of nearly 50 vaccination clinics and veterinary hospitals in the western United States. After five years, he became veterinarian for Stanislaus County, Calif. In that position, he developed the state’s first public-private spay-neuter clinic.

Phi Zeta

Phi Zeta, the international honor society of veterinary medicine, recently presented two awards for winning research manuscripts.

Each award consists of an engraved plaque and a check in the amount of $1,000. Phi Zeta has chapters at the 28 U.S. veterinary colleges and at St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies.

Dr. Josephine S. Gnanandarajah, King of Prussia, Pa., won the 2013 Phi Zeta Research Award in the Basic Sciences category. The Kappa chapter at Minnesota submitted her winning manuscript, “Comparative faecal microbiota of dogs with and without cacium oxalate stones” (J Appl Microbiol 2012;113:745-756).

Dr. Gnanandarajah earned her BVSc degree from the University of Peradeniya Veterinary School in Sri Lanka in 2003. As a research assistant in Dr. Michael P. Murtaugh’s laboratory at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, she studied the serum proteomic profile of pigs infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus to elucidate novel host response molecules. Her doctoral research was on the role of gut microbiota in the incidence of oxalate urinary stones in dogs.

Dr. Kathleen Ivester (MO ’02), West Lafayette, Ind., was presented with the 2013 Phi Zeta Research Award in the Clinical Sciences category. The Omicron chapter at Purdue submitted her winning manuscript, “Variability in particulate concentrations in a horse training barn over time” (Equine Vet J 2012;44 suppl. 43:51-56).

Dr. Ivester completed a large animal surgery residency at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2006 and a year later became board-certified in veterinary surgery by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. She is pursuing her doctorate at Purdue under Dr. Laurent L. Couetil.

Crufts Dog Show

Elaine Ostrander, PhD, and Dr. Gustavo Aguirre (UP ‘68) received recognition during the Crufts Dog Show, March 7-10 in the United Kingdom, for their work in canine health.

Dr. Ostrander won the Lifetime Achievement Award. She is chief of the Cancer Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Her research over two decades includes work to map the dog genome and development of a host of other important tools for research in canine genomics.

Dr. Aguirre received the International Prize in Canine Health. He is a professor of medical genetics and ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. He has worked on mapping the dog genome and on the characterization and treatment of eye diseases in dogs. He has identified more than 14 genes that cause blindness in more than 59 breeds of dogs.

Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame

Dr. Paul Nicoletti (MO ’56), professor emeritus of infectious diseases at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, was honored Feb. 12 by the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame’s “for his invaluable contributions to Florida agriculture.”

An international authority on brucellosis, Dr. Nicoletti began his career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Missouri, followed by Wisconsin, New York, Mississippi, and Florida. His field studies on brucellosis led to modifications in use of brucellosis vaccine, which saved the Florida cattle industry millions of dollars and led to the eradication of the disease from the state.

At the UF veterinary college, he taught infectious diseases, epidemiology, public health, and food safety for 28 years. Dr. Nicoletti influenced many veterinary students to consider careers in agriculture and public health, and endowed a need-based scholarship for students interested in public health. After retiring in 2003, he endowed another scholarship for students interested in food animal medicine. He recently donated $1 million to enable UF students from low-income backgrounds to follow his career path.

Dr. Nicoletti served from 1968-1972 as an epizootiologist in Tehran, Iran, with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. He is a past president of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Florida and Alachua County VMAs, and Animal Disease Research Workers in the Southern States.