Gustavo Aguirre, VMD, PhD, presented IC-200: Potential Treatment for BEST1 Related Retinal Diseases at the IVERIC bio Gene Therapy R&D Investor Day on September 13, 2019. In addition, he published Gardiner KL, Cideciyan AV, Swider M, Dufour VL, Sumaroka A, Hauswirth WW, Iwabe S, Jacobson SG, Beltran WA, and Aguirre GD, “Long-Term Structural Outcomes of Late-Stage RPE65 Gene Therapy,” Molecular Therapy, 2019 (Epub ahead of print). He also published Sudharsan R, Beltran WA, “Progress in Gene Therapy for Rhodopsin Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa,” Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 2019, 1185: 113–18. He also published Iwabe S, Dufour VL, Guzmán JM, Holle DM, Cohen JA, Beltran WA, and Aguirre GD, “Focal/Multifocal and Geographic Retinal Dysplasia in the Dog: In Vivo Retinal Microanatomy Analyses,” Veterinary Ophthalmology, 2019 (Epub ahead of print). He also published Krishnan H, Diehl K, Stefanovski D, Aguirre GD, “Vitreous Degeneration and Associated Ocular Abnormalities in the Dog,” Veterinary Ophthalmology, 2019 (Epub ahead of print). He also published Das RG, Becker D, Jagannathan V, Goldstein O, Santana E, Carlin K, Sudharsan R, Leeb T, Nishizawa Y, Kondo M, Aguirre GD, and Miyadera K, “Genome-Wide Association Study and Whole-Genome Sequencing Identify a Deletion in LRIT3 Associated with Canine Congenital Stationary Night Blindness,” Scientific Reports, 2019, 9, 14166.
Maia Aitken, DVM, passed the certifying exam and is now a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. She joins the ranks of “double-boarded” clinicians, having previously achieved board certification with the American College of Veterinary Surgery.
Montserrat Anguera, PhD, received the Lupus Foundation of America Impact Award.
William Beltran, DVM, PhD, presented “Gene Therapy for Inherited Retinal Diseases: From Curing Lancelot to Treating People” at the Universidad de Alicante, Spain, in October 2019. He also presented “Avances en Terapia Génica Retiniana: El Caso de la Retinosis Pigmentaria Ligada al X” at the Annual RETIMUR foundation meeting in Murcia, Spain, in October 2019. He also presented “Progress in Retinal Gene Therapies: The Example of RPGR-XLRP at the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu,” in Barcelona, Spain, in October 2019. As the Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine in December 2019, he presented on “Gene Therapy for Retinal Degenerative Diseases: Past Success and Future Challenges, Through the Eyes of Man’s Best Friend.” He published Gardiner KL, Cideciyan AV, Swider M, Dufour VL, Sumaroka A, Hauswirth WW, Iwabe S, Jacobson SG, Beltran WA, and Aguirre GD, “Long-Term Structural Outcomes of Late Stage RPE65 Gene Therapy,” Molecular Therapy, 2019 (Epub ahead of print). He also published Sudharsan R and Beltran WA, “Progress in Gene Therapy for Rhodopsin Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa,” Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 2019, 1185: 113–18. He also published Iwabe S, Dufour VL, Guzmán JM, Holle DM, Cohen JA, Beltran WA, and Aguirre GD, “Focal/multifocal and geographic retinal dysplasia in the dog-In vivo retinal microanatomy analyses,” Veterinary Ophthalmology, 2019 (Epub ahead of print).
Ana Castejon, DVM, received the Debra B. Smith Journal of Veterinary Dentistry Editor’s Award for her publication, “Treatment Outcome of 22 Dogs with Masticatory Muscle Myositis (1999–2015),” Journal of Veterinary Dentistry, 2018, (35)4: 281–89.
Diane Gaertner, DVM, was named Associate Vice Provost for University Laboratory Animal Resources.
Hannah Galantino-Homer, VMD, PhD, DACT, presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the ACVP in San Antonio. Her topic was “The Contribution of Keratinocyte Stress to Equine Laminitis Pathogenesis; Macro- and Micro-Anatomical Lesions and Up-Regulation of a Stress Marker, Grp78/BiP.” Her collaborators are Julie B. Engiles, VMD, DACVP, Lynne Cassimeris, PhD, Bettina Wagner, DVM, Caitlin Armstrong, and Kimberly Hildreth, V’21. She published Armstrong C, Cassimeris L, Santos CDS, Micoogullari Y, Wagner B, Babasyan S, Brooks S, GalantinoHomer H, “The Expression of Equine Keratins K42 and K124 Is Restricted to the Hoof Epidermal lamellae of Equus Caballus,” PLOS One 2019, 14(9): e0219234.
Urs Giger, Dr med vet, the Charlotte Newton Sheppard Endowed Professor of Medicine, retired after a 35-year career of research, teaching, and clinical practice at Penn Vet.
Fuyu Guan, PhD, published Guan F, You Y, Li X, and Robinson MA, “A Comprehensive Approach to Detecting Multitudinous Bioactive Peptides in Equine Plasma and Urine Using HILIC Coupled to High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry,” Drug Testing and Analysis, 2019, 11(9): 1308–25.
Ronald Harty, PhD, published Han Z, Dash S, Sagum C, Ruthel G, Jaladanki CK, Berry CT, Schwoerer MP, Harty NM, Freedman BD, Bedford MT, Fan H, Sidhu SS, Sudol M, Shtanko O, and Harty RN, “Modular Mimicry and Engagement of the Hippo Pathway by Marburg Virus VP40: Implications for Filovirus Biology and Budding,” PLOS Pathogens, January 6, 2020.HTML
Joan Hendricks, VMD, PhD, was honored to receive the Philadelphia Zoo’s Distinguished Service Award at a gala attended by Dean Hoffman and an entire table of students. She was also a keynote speaker at the second annual Royal Canin Women’s Veterinary Leadership Forum. And, as she enters her second year on the Women’s Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative, she hopes that more members of the Penn community, including students, will get involved.
Rebecka Hess, DVM, MSCE, published Anderson JD, Rondeau DA, and Hess RS, “Lispro Insulin and Electrolyte Supplementation for Treatment of Diabetic Ketoacidosis in Cats,” J Vet Intern Med 2019; 1–9. She also published Cai SV, Famula TR, Oberbauer AM, and Hess RS, “Heritability and Complex Degregation Analysis of Diabetes Mellitus in American Eskimo Dogs,” J Vet Intern Med 2019, 1– 9. She also published Lechner MJ and Hess RS, “The Utility of Serum, Plasma, and Whole Blood Glucose Measurement on a Point-of-Care Glucometer: A Prospective Study of 152 Samples from Dogs and 111 Samples from Cats,” American Journal of Veterinary Research, 2019: 1074–1081. She also published Hess RS, Henthorn P, Devoto M, Wang F, and Feng R, “An Exploratory Association Analysis of the Insulin Gene Region with Diabetes Mellitus in Two Dog Breeds,” Journal of Heredity, 2019, 110(7): 793–800.
Christopher Hunter, PhD, the Mindy Halikman Heyer Distinguished Professor of Pathobiology at Penn Vet, has been elected president-elect of the International Cytokine and Interferon Society. He began his term in November and will take office as president in October 2021.
Cynthia Otto, DVM, PhD, published Murarka M, Vesley-Gross ZI, Essler JL, Smith PG, Hooda J, Drapkin R, and Otto CM, “Testing Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines to Train Dogs to Detect Ovarian Cancer from Blood Plasma,” J Vet Behav 2019, 32(July–August): 42–48. She also published Otto CM, Cobb ML, and Wilsson E, “Editorial: Working Dogs: Form and Function,” Frontiers Vet Sci, October 18, 2019, https://doi. org/10.3389/fvets.2019.00351. She presented A Prescription for the Working Dog Deficit at the American Veterinary Medical Association, Washington DC on August 6, 2019. She made three presentations at IVECCS in Washington DC on September 8–9, 2019: “K9-1-1: Disasters, Drugs, and Diseases, How Dogs’ Noses Save Lives” (Knowles Memorial Lecture), “Occupational Hazards of Working and Sporting Dog,” and “Disasters Happen: A Guide to Mitigation and Response.” She also presented “Sniffing Out Ovarian Cancer: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Early Detection at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania OB-GYN Grand Rounds,” Philadelphia, on December 5, 2019.
Michael Pesato, DVM, passed the certifying exam and is now a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in the specialty of food animal practice.
Ellen Puré, PhD, was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Smith Ragsdale, MSW, was part of the team that received Penn’s 2019 Green Purchasing Award. (Read more about the award below.)
Laurel Redding, VMD, PhD, obtained board certification in preventive medicine (DACVPM). She published Redding LE and Cole S, “Posters Have Limited Utility in Conveying a Message of Antimicrobial Stewardship to Pet Owners,” Frontiers Vet Sci, November 22, 2019. She also published Redding LE, Kelly BJ, Stefanovski D, Lautenbach JK, Tolomeo P, Cressman L, Gruber E, Meily P, and Lautenbach E, “Pet Ownership Protects Against Recurrence of Clostridioides Difficile Infection,” Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 7(1), ofz541.
Alexander Reiter, Dr med vet, DiplTzt, Dipl. AVDC, EVDC, gave didactic lectures and tutored hands-on laboratories at conferences in Japan in September, in Sweden in October, and in Austria in December.
Thomas Schaer, VMD, was selected for Penn Health-Tech’s annual Pilot Award Program for the 2020 funding year. Penn Health-Tech expands the university’s biomedical technology pipeline by uniting Penn Medicine, Penn Engineering, and beyond to create transformative technologies that address pressing healthcare needs. His project is An Augmented Reality Surgical Navigation System. His collaborator is Kathryn Wulster, VMD.
James Serpell, PhD, gave invited plenary talks at separate conferences in Italy (Verona), Netherlands (Arnhem), and Brazil (São Paulo) on topics including animal-assisted interventions, one welfare, and canine behavior. He published Edwards P, Hazel SJ, Browne M, Serpell JA, McArthur ML, and Smith B, “Investigating Risk Factors that Predict a Dog’s Fear During Veterinary Consultations,” PLOS ONE, 2019, 14(7):e0215416. He also published MacLean EL, Snyder-Mackler N., vonHoldt B, and Serpell JA, “Highly Heritable and Functionally Relevant Breed Differences in Dog Behavior,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2019; 286. He also published Starling MJ, Fawcett A, Wilson B, Serpell JA, and McGreevy P, “Behavioural Risks in Female Dogs with Minimal Lifetime Exposure to Gonadal Hormones,” PLOS ONE, 2019, 14(12): e0223709. He also published Shouldice VL, Edwards AM, Serpell JA, Niel L, and Robinson AB, “Expression of Behavioural Traits in F1 Goldendoodles and Labradoodles,” Animals, 2019, 9(12): 1162.
Patricia Sertich, VMD, DACT, hosted a retreat for the 2020 American College of Theriogenologists Certifying Examination Committee January 5-10, 2020 at New Bolton Center’s Allam House. Chairman Dr. Brian Whitlock from the University of Tennessee and Vice Chairman, Dr. Julie Cecere, from the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, conducted the retreat to prepare the 2020 ACT Certifying Examination that will be administered in Pittsburgh, PA in July. Other committee member in attendance included Dr. Ahmed Tibary of Washington State University, private small animal practitioner Dr. Joann Randall of Woodstock, Illinois, Dr. Soon Hon Cheong of Cornell University and ACT Secretary, Dr. Kara Kolster of Glen Allen, Virginia.
The residential atmosphere of the Allam House was perfect for the intense work of exam preparation. Tyler Harold provided excellent IT support. Dee Crandall, New Bolton Center librarian, facilitated the team having access to a complete set of reference books and other library resources. Sertich, past chairman, will complete her six-year tenure on this committee this summer.
Deborah Silverstein, DVM, DACVECC, spoke at IVECCS in Washington, DC, in September 2019, and at Cardiopulmonary Bootcamp, Ithaca, New York, in October 2019.
Gail Smith, VMD, PhD, received the American College of Veterinary Surgeons ACVS Merit Award for his major contributions in the field of veterinary orthopedic surgery. In studying orthopedic conditions and developing novel ways to improve the quality of life of veterinary patients, he gained worldwide acceptance and changed the way musculoskeletal disease is now studied and treated.
Boris Striepen, PhD, published Sateriale A, Slapeta J, Baptista R, Engiles JB, Gullicksrud JA, Herbert GT, Brooks CF, Kugler EM, Kissinger JC, Hunter CA, and Striepen B, A, “Genetically Tractable, Natural Mouse Model of Cryptosporidiosis Offers Insights into Host Protective Immunity,” Cell Host & Microbe, 2019, 26(1): 135–46. He also published Tandel J, English E, Sateriale A, Gullicksrud J, Beiting DP, Sullivan MC, Pinkston B, and Striepen, B, “Lifecycle Progression and Sexual Development of the Apicomplexan Parasite Cryptosporidium Parvum,” Nature Microbiology 2019, 4(12): 2226–36. He also published Pawlowic M, Somepalli M, Sateriale A, Herbert GT, Gibson AR, Cuny G, Hedstrom L, and Striepen B, “Genetic Ablation of Purine Salvage in Cryptosporidium Parvum Reveals Nucleotide Uptake from the Host Cell,” Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 116: 21160–65. He presented the keynote lecture at the National Institutes of Health Malaria Research Program Symposium in Bethesda, Maryland, in September 2019. He also presented the keynote lecture at the 8th National Infection Biology/Microbiology Meeting in Balsta, Sweden, in October 2019.
Andrew Vaughan, PhD, and his colleagues were featured in Quanta (November 15, 2020) and Wired (November 18, 2019) magazines — “Cells That ‘Taste’ Danger Set Off Immune Responses” — for their recent tuft cell work.
Charles Vite, DVM, PhD, gave four lectures on neurology at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in November.
Susan Volk, VMD, PhD, received the emerging inventor of the year award from the Penn Center for Innovation.
Jeremy Wang, PhD, MD, was the 2020 SSR Research Award winner. This is the highest honor for research at the Society for the Study of Reproduction.
Grants
Gustavo Aguirre, VMD, PhD, received a $3,761,312 grant from the NIH’s National Eye Institute (NEI) for Development of a Neogenin Based-Strategy to Prevent Photoreceptor Degeneration. The grant spans from December 18, 2019 to November 30, 2024. He also received an $2,316,910 R01 grant from the NEI for Models for Therapy of Hereditary Retinal Degeneration. The grant spans from December 18, 2019 to November 30, 2024.
Jorge Alvarez, PhD, received the 2019 Grant for Multiple Sclerosis Innovation in the amount of $408,163 from EMD Serono. His proposal will use a novel therapy to target B cells in the CNS and potentially treat progressive multiple sclerosis. The grant spans from February 1, 2019 to November 30, 2021.
Daniel Beiting, PhD, received a $30,000 grant from Penn’s Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics for a HighThroughput Screen to Identify Metabolic Modulators of Intestinal Innate Immune Signaling During Infection. The grant spans from February 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021.
William Beltran, DVM, PhD, received a $108,000 grant from the Foundation Fighting Blindness Canada for Development of a Neogenin Based-Strategy to Prevent Photoreceptor Degeneration. The grant spans from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021. He received an additional $250,000 grant from the foundation for Anti-Apoptotic Therapy for the Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa. The grant spans from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021. He also received a $516,281 grant from IVERIC bio for Efficacy Study with GMP Grade AAV2/5-RHO820-shRNA820 Prior to Onset of Retinal Degeneration in Mutant Canines. The grant spans from December 5, 2019 to December 31, 2020.
Rumela Chakrabarti, PhD, received a $792,000 American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society for DLL1 Mediated Notch Signaling in Tamoxifen Resistance of Breast Cancer. The grant spans from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2023. She also received a $1,215,000 NIH R01 grant for Deciphering the Function of DNp63 and MDSCs in Tumor Promotion and Metastasis of TNBCs. The grant spans from June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2024.
Sarah Colmer, VMD, received a 2019 ACVIM Resident Research Grant in the amount $9,466 from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM). The intent of this funding mechanism is to provide a stimulating research experience for ACVIM residents by working with experienced research-scientist mentors. The grant spans from January 1, 2020 to May 1, 2020. Her collaborators are Samuel Hurcombe, BSc, BVMS, Daniela Luethy, DVM, Michelle Abraham, BSc, BVMS, and Darko Stefanovski, PhD.
Ron Harty, PhD, received a one-year, $30,000 grant from Penn’s Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics for Ebola Virus VP40-Induced Ocular Pathology and Treatment. His collaborator is Dongeun Huh, PhD.
Christopher Hunter, PhD, received a $2,279,502 R01 grant from the NIH for Immunity to Cryptosporidium. The grant spans from December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2024. His collaborator is Boris Striepen, PhD.
Christopher Lengner, PhD, received a $575,000 grant from the Shipley Foundation for Phylogenetic Reconstruction of Intestinal Stem Cell Lineages Using Evolving Barcodes. The grant is aimed at building novel genetic evolving barcode systems to reconstruct cellular phylogenies by single cell sequencing in vivo. The grant spans from November 1, 2019 to October 31, 2021. He also received a $2,524,172 R01-HL148821 grant from the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for Identification and Preclinical Evaluation of Novel Therapeutic Approaches to Dyskeratosis Congenita. This will build on their prior work in collaboration with F. Brad Johnson at PSOM developing novel therapeutic strategies to address phenotypes associated with telomeropathies. The grant spans from July 1, 2019 to June 31, 2023. In addition to Drs. Lengner and Johnson, Penn Vet's Andrew Vaughan, PhD, is a co-investigator on this award. He also received a $2,236,606 grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust in collaboration with investigators from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a Crohn’s Disease Epithelial Stem Cell Atlas: Pediatric to Adult Continuum. This is part of the human cell atlas project, generating large-scale, patient-derived single cell atlas and organoid culture models to study the etiology of Crohn’s disease. The grant spans from December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2022. His collaborators are Kathyrn Hamilton, PhD, Kai Tan, PhD, and Judith Kelsen, MD (CHOP), and Meenakshi Bewtra (PSOM).
Jennifer Mahoney, DVM, received a $75,242 grant from the American Kennel Club for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. The grant spans from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022. Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD, received a $500,000 grant from the V Foundation for Unraveling Mechanisms of Resistance to Checkpoint Inhibition in Canine Urothelial Carcinoma. The grant spans from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2021. She also received a $767,629 U54 grant from the NIH for Rationale Design of Universal CAR-T Cells. The grant spans from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2024. She also received a $595,950 U54 grant from the NIH for Engineering the Next Generation of T Cells. The grant spans from September 25, 2019 to August 31, 2024.
Kyla Ortved, DVM, PhD, received a $22,468 grant from the Grayson Jockey Research Foundation for Robotic CT for Assessing of Bone Morphology. The grant spans from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2021.
Cynthia Otto, DVM, PhD, received a $47,300 grant from the US Department of Agriculture for Canine Detection of Spotted Lantern Fly Egg Masses. The grant spans from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2020. She is affiliated with the Penn Vet Working Dog Center. She also received a $500,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for operational support for FEMA and law enforcement missions. The grant spans from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
Enrico Radaelli, DVM, PhD, received a $17,018 grant from the Department of Defense/Children’s Research Institute for Development of Therapeutic Strategies for NF1-Associated Optic Pathway Glioma. The grant spans from September 30, 2019 to September 29, 2021. He also received a $30,917 grant from the University Research
Foundation for Dissecting the Role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Ferroptosis in the Pathogenesis of Impaired Spermatogenesis in Parl-deficient Mice. The grant spans from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021.
Shelley Rankin, PhD, received a $38,000 grant from the US Food and Drug Administration for Companion Animal and Animal Food Diagnostic Sample Analysis. The grant spans from June 15, 2019 to May 31,2023. She also received a $28,125 grant from Pets Too for Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Colonization. The grant spans from September 5, 2019 to August 31, 2020. She also received a $49,558 grant from the University Research Foundation for Community Population Prevalence of Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in Dogs and Cats. The grant spans from March 1, 2020 to February 18, 2021.
Laurel Redding, VMD, PhD, received a $39,463 grant from the McCabe Fellowship for the Role of Pets as a Reservoir for Clostridioides Difficile. The grant spans from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. She also received a $15,810 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (USDA) for Understanding and Addressing Consumer Concerns Related to the Use of Antimicrobials on Dairy Farms. The grant spans from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. She also received a $15,576.62 grant from the USDA for the Effects of Colonization with Clostridioides Difficile on the Fecal Microbiome of Dairy Calves. The grant spans from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. She also received a $16,467 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for Clostridium Difficile on Dairy Farms and Farm Workers. The grant spans from January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
Phillip Scott, PhD, received a $626,175 R01 grant from the NIH for Host and Parasite Factors Promoting Disease and Treatment Failure in Leishmania Braziliensis Patients. The grant spans from December 1, 2019 and November 30, 2023.
James Serpell, PhD, received a three-year, $1,136,569 grant from the Battelle Memorial Institute for Phenotypic Characterization of Performance-Related Traits in Explosives Detection Dogs. His collaborator is Cynthia Otto, DVM, PhD.
Boris Striepen, PhD, received a $2,337,100 grant from the NIH for Immunity to Cryptosporidium: New Application to Understand the Basis of Immunity in Cryptosporidiosis Combining Molecular Studies with Immunology and a New Natural Mouse Model of Infection. The grant spans from 2019 to 2024. His collaborator is Christopher Hunter, BSc, PhD.
Charles Vite, DVM, PhD, received a $68,182 grant from the ARA Parseghian Med. Research Foundation for Improving Extracerebellar NPC1 Disease Using Intravenous 2-Hydroxypropyl Beta-Cyclodextrin. The grant spans from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
Jeremy Wang, PhD, MD, received a $1,037,500 grant from the NIH for Genetic Control of Retrotransposon Mobilization in the Mouse Germline. The grant spans from August 2019 through June 2024.
Brittany Watson, VMD, PhD, received a $49,300 grant from the ASPCA for Establishing a Penn Vet Collaboration for Studies in Accessible, High-Quality Clinical Medicine with a Research Project Examining Metronidazole Treatment in Dogs with Diarrhea. The grant spans from November 1, 2019 to October 31, 2020.