Penn Vet | News Stories

Penn Team Characterizes the Underlying Cause of a Form of Macular Degeneration

Best disease causes blindness , named for Friedrich Best, who characterized the disease in 1905, Best disease, also known as vitelliform macular dystrophy, affects children and young adults and can cause severe declines in central vision as patients age. The disease is one in a group of conditions known as bestrophinopathies, all linked to mutations in the BEST1 gene. This gene is expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium, or RPE, a layer of cells that undergirds and nourishes photoreceptor cells, the rods and cones responsible for vision.

Dr. Andrew van Eps to Discuss Prevention and Treatment of Laminitis During Free First Tuesday Lecture

Laminitis, the number-two killer of horses after colic, continues to have an enormous impact on equine welfare, in wide and varied circumstances. Dr. Andrew van Eps, Associate Professor of Equine Musculoskeletal Research, will discuss different approaches for successful prevention and treatment of laminitis, as part of the First Tuesday Lecture series.

Look to Lactate to Help Predict Ill Cats’ Prognoses, Penn Vet Study Says

Many factors go into evaluating the prognosis of a critically ill animal, usually involving a combination of objective metrics, such as blood pressure or blood oxygenation, and more subjective clinical signs, such as alertness or lethargy.

Penn Vet’s Dr. David Galligan and Dr. Raymond Sweeney Named to Endowed Professorships at New Bolton Center

Penn Vet’s Dr. David Galligan, VMD, MBA, and Dr. Raymond Sweeney, VMD, have been named to the Marilyn M. Simpson Professorship and the Mark Whittier and Lila Griswold Allam Professorship, respectively. Candidates for endowed professorships are selected for their expertise, research, and high regard in the academic community.

Penn Vet’s Mary Beth Callan, VMD, Earns Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching

Penn Vet’s Mary Beth Callan, Professor of Medicine, has earned the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Dr. Callan is one of eight faculty members at Penn to receive the award this spring.

Penn Vet Establishes the Ralph L. Brinster President’s Distinguished Professorship in Honor of National Medal of Science Laureate

Through the generosity of Henrietta Alexander, Penn Vet will establish the Ralph L. Brinster President’s Distinguished Professorship in honor of Dr. Ralph Brinster, renowned faculty member, scientist, and National Medal of Science laureate. The Professorship will allow Penn Vet to recruit a faculty member who will contribute to the preeminence of the School and University.

Penn Vet Announces Winners of 2017 Student Inspiration Awards

Molly Klores, Brianna Parsons, Corey Spies, and Talia Wong received Penn Vet’s prestigious Student Inspiration Awards for 2017. Launched in 2008, the award is presented annually to Penn Vet students who demonstrate the potential to significantly advance the frontiers of veterinary medicine and expand the profession’s impact on the wellbeing of animals and society. A photo of the winners can be found here (from l-r: Corey Spies, Brianna Parsons, Talia Wong, and Molly Klores).

Mathematical Models Lend Penn Vet Professor Insights Into Diabetes

The model also identified a potential mechanism for glucose effectiveness. Stefanovski was among those who collaborated with Francis Collins, now director of the NIH, to find risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. Among the genetic variations that increased susceptibility were mutations in glucokinase.

Drs. Brittany Watson and Chelsea Reinhard get ready to take Shelter Medicine to Philly neighborhoods with their new mobile unit.

New Penn Vet Mobile Clinic to Serve the Community and Area Shelters

Penn Vet has successfully raised $1.5 million to launch its Mobile Unit Initiative, thanks to support from foundations including the Bernice Barbour Foundation, PetSmart Charities, and the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, as well as generous individual donors. Run by Penn Vet’s Shelter Medicine Program, the initiative will provide advanced care for animals in shelters and underserved areas in the Philadelphia region, as well as opportunities for community engagement.

Swine Production Facilities at New Bolton Center

Penn Vet expertise serves and supports Pennsylvania farmers

When Bob Ruth of Clemens Food Group set up two swine farms in Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s, one of the first things he did was call Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Michael Mison Named Director and Chief Medical Officer of Penn Vet’s Ryan Hospital

The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) announces the appointment of Dr. Michael Mison, DVM, to Ryan Hospital Director and Chief Medical Officer. Mison also will continue in his role as Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery.

Penn Vet Announces First Student Accepted into Special VMD-MBA Program

Melanie Kirshenbaum of Westchester County, NY, is the first student accepted into the new VMD-MBA degree program at Penn Vet’s Center for Animal Health and Productivity (CAHP) and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Penn Vet Team Identifies New Therapeutic Targets for the Tropical Disease Leishmaniasis

Each year, about 2 million people contract leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of a sand fly. The cutaneous form of the disease results in disfiguring skin ulcers that may take months or years to heal and in rare cases can become metastatic, causing major tissue damage.

Equine Field Service Team to Discuss Tricky Cases from the Field During Free First Tuesday Lecture

New Bolton Center’s Equine Field Service experts, Drs. Liz Arbittier, Ashley Boyle, Jennifer Linton, and Meagan Smith, will each share details of complex cases from the field, highlighting their various specialties, as part of the First Tuesday Lecture series.

T Cells Support Long-lived Antibody-producing Cells, Penn-led Team Finds

If you’ve ever wondered how a vaccine given decades ago can still protect against infection, you have your plasma cells to thank. Plasma cells are long-lived B cells that reside in the bone marrow and churn out antibodies against previously encountered vaccines or pathogens.

Penn Vet Study Shows How Solid Tumors Resist Immunotherapy

Immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer treatment, offering hope to those whose malignancies have stubbornly survived other existing treatments. Yet solid tumor cancers are often resistant to these approaches.

Working Dog Center adds full-time law enforcement trainer

Bob Dougherty, who served for three decades as a police K9 officer for Cheltenham Township, recently joined the Penn Vet Working Dog Center as a full-time law enforcement trainer to enhance the Center’s teaching resources for police dogs and their handlers.

Penn Vet Research Identifies New Target for Taming Ebola

Viruses and their hosts are in a eternal game of one-upmanship. If a host cell evolves a way to stop a virus from spreading, the virus will look for a new path. And so on and so forth.

Epigenetic Change Ties Mitochondrial Dysfunction to Tumor Progression

In a new report published in the journal Cell Discovery, a team led by researchers in the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has identified a mechanism by which mitochondria can drive changes in nuclear gene expression that are associated with tumor progression. The epigenetic process is carried out by a protein that is triggered in response to mitochondrial oxidative or metabolic stress. When this interaction was blocked by chemical compounds, the team was able to reduce cancer gene expression.

Equine Laminitis Expert Dr. Andrew van Eps Joins New Bolton Center Faculty

Renowned for his research on equine laminitis, Dr. Andrew van Eps joined the faculty of Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center in December as Associate Professor of Equine Musculoskeletal Research.

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