Penn Vet | News Stories

Dr. Virginia Reef to Unravel Cardiovascular Complexities During AAEP’s 2018 Milne Lecture

Acclaimed equine cardiologist and ultrasonography pioneer Virginia B. Reef, DVM, DACVIM, DACVSMR, will help practitioners determine the significance of murmurs and arrhythmias and the resulting ramifications for their treatment and management when she delivers the Frank J. Milne State-of-the-Art Lecture on Monday, Dec. 3 at the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ 64th Annual Convention in San Francisco, Calif.

Physical Rehab Helps "Rock Star" Ranger Walk Again

One day, your young dog is wagging and running around; the next, he’s barely able to move. Cory Laslocky lived through this nightmare a few months ago.

Want to reduce emissions? Start in the gut of a cow.

As concern about climate change rises, researchers are working to develop innovative strategies to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

The Penndemic, a fictional scenario, presented to 81 Penn students, constituted the launch of an infectious disease outbreak simulation exercise.

Staging the plague

A child with a swollen armpit and high fever dies in Washington, D.C. The cause is found to be Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes plague. Two days later, a 35-year-old man goes to a Philadelphia-area hospital with similar symptoms and is later confirmed to also have the plague. If you’re a public-health professional, what questions do you have? What do you need to know in order to protect your community?

Swine Production Facilities at New Bolton Center

Penn Vet Swine Group Discusses Global Challenges Arising from China’s African Swine Fever Outbreak

In China, a country that is home to more than half of the world’s swine population, the spread of deadly infectious disease - such as the current African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak - can carry tremendous implications for food supply and pricing across the globe.

Penn Vet, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists will lead a team in developing a stem cell-based approach to treat blindness in dogs.

Multidisciplinary team to develop stem cell-based approaches to restore vision

A team from the University of Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are launching a project to develop new strategies for treating vision disorders using cells implanted in the retina.

Making a Difference for Triple-negative Breast Cancer Patients

Immune cells involved in triple-negative breast cancer could offer future therapeutic target

About 15 percent of breast cancers are classified as triple-negative, lacking receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and Her2. These cancers do not respond to targeted hormonal therapies, and they tend to be particularly aggressive, often resisting systemic chemotherapy and metastasizing to other tissues.

Penn Vet, Penn Medicine, and CHOP to Host Fifth Annual Microbiome Symposium Featuring New York Times Columnist and Science Writer Carl Zimmer

Microbes are a critical component of human health. Scientists recognize that an imbalance in our bodies’ vast community of life-sustaining microbes can lead to heart disease, diabetes, auto-immune disease, and cancer. Methods for studying microbes have greatly improved in recent years. Researchers now understand the tremendous potential in managing microbe populations that can lead to positive, healthy outcomes.

Cutting-edge science moves to the clinic to help ‘our furry friends’ fight cancer

Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine has long been a scientific and clinical powerhouse. But the launch of an initiative last year is further bolstering those strengths in the areas of cancer research and care.

Penn Vet’s Nicola Mason Receives NIH Research Award to Target Therapies for Autoimmune Disease in Dogs

Nicola J. Mason, BVetMed, PhD, associate professor of Medicine and Pathobiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Vet), and Aimee S. Payne, MD, PhD, the Albert M. Kligman Associate Professor of Dermatology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have received the prestigious NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award.

Surviving the Storms

Since Hurricane Katrina, displaced pets and their families have captured the attention of animal lovers everywhere. Some of the most heart-wrenching stories are of people separated from their four-legged family members. Penn Vet’s Dr. Sue McDonnell and Dr. Carlo Siracusa talked to Knowledge@Wharton SiriusXM Business Radio about how animals respond to weather emergencies and what owners, caretakers, and concerned citizens can do to keep them safe.

Ventilating with mixture of helium and oxygen improves outcomes for horses in surgery

A horse in general surgery is an awkward sight. For the best access, the animals may be placed on their sides or even their backs, a position that puts considerable pressure on their internal organs, often leading to partial lung collapse. In spite of using oxygen-rich ventilation, blood oxygen levels can fall to dangerous levels during lengthy procedures.

Laminitis — a crippling equine disease

Dr. van Eps’ research goal is to identify the key pathophysiological events that lead to different forms of laminitis in order to develop clinically applicable means of preventing this crippling equine disease.

New Bolton Center Experts to Explore Innovations in Imaging, Neurology at October First Tuesday Lecture

From planning advanced orthopedic surgeries to guiding successful cardiac procedures, Penn Vet’s robotics-controlled standing computed tomography (CT) system has propelled clinical diagnosis and treatment for many large animal patients who have walked through New Bolton Center’s hospital doors.

New Penn Vet Lecture Series Brings Companion Animal Expertise to New Bolton Center Community

Starting this October, the expertise of Penn Vet’s Ryan Hospital comes to New Bolton Center in a new series that connects the surrounding pet-loving community with the latest breakthroughs and techniques for small and companion animals.

A Pain in the Paddock

Stephanie Rzeplinski grew up around horses in rural Pennsylvania. Since age 4, she’s ridden and cared for the animals daily—so when her 13-year-old gelding, Robbie, fell ill, she immediately noticed something was wrong.

Cat-tastrophe

At only two months old, Bridget the kitten has had a lot of close calls. She was thrown from a stranger’s car off the South Street bridge in Philadelphia—where she landed, miraculously unharmed—and was rescued by her current foster owner, Ariel Smith, who named her after the ordeal. After a few weeks in the relative safety of Smith’s apartment, though, Bridget ran headfirst into yet another death-defying situation.

Knockdown and replace: A gene therapy twofer to treat blindness

The last year has seen milestones in the gene therapy field, with FDA approvals to treat cancer and an inherited blinding disorder. New findings from a team led by University of Pennsylvania vision scientists, who have taken gene therapies into clinical trials in the past, are proving successful, this time treating a form of retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that progressively robs people of their night and peripheral vision before blindness develops.

Connect with Leading Equine Clinicians at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center during the 2018-2019 First Tuesday Lecture Series

From innovative surgical imaging to advancements in laminitis research and care, hear from Penn Vet’s leading equine care experts at the 2018-2019 First Tuesday Lecture series hosted by New Bolton Center located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Penn Vet Teams with Merck Animal Health to Educate Young Swine Veterinarians

Swine University participants, representing seven countries from across the globe, were involved in a training program that included lecture, interactive lab, and both small and large group activities. Facilitated by the foremost experts in swine health, the curriculum included a mix of practical and theoretical exercises on swine management, communication skills, economic analyses, and an in-depth review of diagnosis and treatment of respiratory and reproductive diseases.

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