Research Roundup January 2025
Careful observations lead to scientific breakthroughs. Whether observing classroom behaviors, cattle interactions, effects of pharmaceuticals or anti-anxiety methods in dogs, each study relies on the innovative leaders at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine to make informed examinations that propel research forward.
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Our newsletter highlights the bright minds, innovative research and state-of-the-art medicine at NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
RX FOR SUCCESS: Few people can say that a chance reading of a news article helped them find their dream career, but Dr. Cassie Donnell can.
Eight years later, Donnell is now a second-year clinical veterinary pharmacy resident at #NCStateVetMed, embedded within the hospital`s internal medicine team. This one-of-a-kind arrangement within a distinctive residency program gives Donnell a leading part in ensuring patient safety across the hospital, from checking drug interactions to combatting antimicrobial resistance.
"My NC State experience has been absolutely incredible,” Donnell says. “I feel so welcomed in an environment where pharmacists may not always have been involved in all of these different roles."
Meet Donnell, January`s featured house officer, at the link in our bio.
COLOSTRUM CONUNDRUM: The Dawkins family`s prized Highland cows are their passion and their farm`s livelihood, so it was harrowing when a routine calving took a turn that endangered the life of a newborn calf.
Starlight didn`t receive enough colostrum while nursing from her mother, Luna. Her weakened immune system didn`t have the power to fight off the pneumonia and sepsis she developed soon after birth.
The Dawkinses brought Starlight to #NCStateVetMed, where rapid intervention and advanced treatments including a transfusion of immune antibodies helped get Starlight back on her feet. Ruminant experts also took Luna into their care, ensuring dam and calf could bond during a critical point in Starlight`s calfhood.
"It just seemed like a very good experience all the way around, for everybody," owner Kristi Dawkins says.
Read how NC State helped send cosmically cute Starlight and Luna back into orbit at the link in our bio.
OUR ER IS OPEN 24/7/365. Winter weather conditions are on the horizon, and closings are rampant. We wanted our community to know our ER at #NCStateVetMed will remain open for emergencies. Shout out to our top-notch and dedicated ER doctors, technicians and staff! They are simply amazing.
As a reminder, here is important information for our Small Animal Emergency Service:
Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Phone: 919-513-6911
Address: 1052 William Moore Dr. Raleigh, NC 27607
More information is available via the 🔗 in our bio.
PREPARING PETS FOR WINTER WEATHER. Temps will be dropping across North Carolina this weekend, and below-freezing temperatures and inclement weather might mean changes in your pets` routines. What should you look for to keep your animals safe in the cold? Our #NCStateVetMed experts shared some tips. ➡️
WERE YOU ON THE RIGHT TRACK? If you took part in the #NCStateVetMed New Year`s pedi-puzzle, here are the answers! How many did you get right?
CRIME-FIGHTING FORENSICS. Thanks to grants from the National Institute of Justice, Dr. Kelly Meiklejohn, associate professor in the #NCStateVetMed Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, will launch two more studies on improving DNA extraction methods: one tied to illegal leather-making that can involve sea turtles and the other to ensure that more crime-scene samples are authorized for further testing. Read more about this important research at the link in our profile. #DNAresearch #forensics #veterinaryresearch #instituteofjustice
STEP... INTO THE NEW YEAR! #NCStateVetMed treated over 30,000 patients this year - and we got up close with a variety of these animals. Test your toe trivia and see if you can identify all nine of the paws, claws, hooves and foots. Comment your guesses!
P.S. No need to be a nail biter...the answers will be revealed in the new year!
PHOENIX RISES: Over the past 34 years, Cynthia Van Der Wiele`s constant companion has been her citron-crested cockatoo, Phoenix.
Van Der Wiele adopted Phoenix while attending @ncstate. It was fitting, then, that Phoenix was referred to #NCStateVetMed when a previously removed mass on her head started to regrow in spring 2023.
NC State veterinarians diagnosed Phoenix with squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, and sought an effective treatment when the cancer resisted surgery and radiation. In-house exotic animal oncology experts proposed an innovative topical treatment that has kept the carcinoma from growing.
Financial support from @petcolove and the Blue Buffalo Pet Cancer Treatment Fund helped make it all possible.
“Treatment for cancer in exotics is definitely challenging to begin with, so to take away the financial hardship for these owners to let them try these new, state-of-the-art treatments, it’s amazing,” says Dr. Tara Harrison, associate professor of exotic animal medicine and lead investigator of the Exotic Species Cancer Research Alliance.
Read Phoenix`s story at the link in our profile.
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