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Research


Penn Vet’s Shelter Medicine Program trains future shelter veterinarians in research initiatives through the Rosenthal Penn Vet Shelter Medicine Student Research Fellowship, collaborating with faculty members across campus to conduct studies to further the field of shelter medicine and community engagement, and via evaluation of education programs and initiatives at the school. In addition to the Rosenthal Penn Vet Shelter Medicine Student Research Fellowship, other mentored student projects opportunities include independent studies, the PetSmart Charities summer research student program, dual degree students, Animal Welfare & Behavior (AWB) students, and the NIH/BI summer research student program.

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By developing research initiatives around these topics, we are able to directly help animals in our community and also create recommendations, protocols, and strategies that directly improve animal welfare and treatment across the field. Shelter medicine’s research examines not only treatment protocols, but its focus is broad and deep, including studies of best practices in shelters, teaching techniques, impact evaluation, animal welfare assessment, and guidelines development.

Research components of the program have included primary post-doctoral research studies, collaborative projects with other faculty and organizations, and direct student mentorship with guidance in the area of research development, planning, execution, and publication.


  • Research publications listed below:

    1.    Edgerton, E. B., McCrea, A. R., Berry, C. T., Kwok, J. Y., Thompson, L. K., Watson, B., Fuller, E. M., Nolan, T. J., Lok, J. B., & Povelones, M. (2020). Activation of Mosquito Immunity Blocks the Development of Transmission-Stage Filarial Nematodes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(7), 3711–3717. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1909369117

    2.    Perley, K, Burns, C. C., Maguire, C., Shen, V., Joffe, E., Stefanovski, D., Redding, L., Germanis, L., Drobatz, K. J., & Watson, B. (2020). Retrospective Evaluation of Outpatient Canine Parvovirus Treatment in a Shelter‐Based Low‐Cost Urban Clinic. Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care, 30(2), 202–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/vec.12941

    3.    Burns, C. C., Redding, L. E., & Watson, B. (2020). The Effects of Frequency and Duration of Handling on the Development of Feline Upper Respiratory Infections in a Shelter Setting. Animals, 10(10), 1828. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101828

    4.    Stavisky, J., Watson, B., Dean, R., Merritt, B. L., van der Leij, R. W. J. R., & Serlin, R. (2020). Development of International Learning Outcomes for Shelter Medicine in Veterinary Education: A Delphi Approach. Journal of veterinary medical education, e20200027. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme-2020-0027

    5.    Reinhard, C. L., McCobb, E., Stefanovski, D., & Sharp, C. R. (2020). A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of Famciclovir in Shelter Cats with Naturally Occurring Upper Respiratory Tract Disease. Animals: an open access journal from MDPI, 10(9), 1448. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10091448

    6.    Powell, L., Reinhard, C. L., Serpell, J., & Watson, B. (2021). Workplace Relations and Opportunities for Career Development Impact the Retention of Veterinarians in Shelter Medicine. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8, 732105. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.732105

    7.    Powell, L., Reinhard, C. L., Serpell, J., & Watson, B. (2021). A Survey of Veterinary Student and Veterinarian Perceptions of Shelter Medicine Employment. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, e20210112. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme-2021-0112

    8.    Powell, L., Reinhard, C., Satriale, D., Morris, M., Serpell, J., & Watson, B. (2021). Characterizing Unsuccessful Animal Adoptions: Age and Breed Predict the Likelihood of Return, Reasons for Return and Post-Return Outcomes. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 8018. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87649-2

    9.    Powell, L., Stefanovski, D., Siracusa, C., & Serpell, J. (2021). Owner Personality, Owner-Dog Attachment, and Canine Demographics Influence Treatment Outcomes in Canine Behavioral Medicine Cases. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7, 630931. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.630931

    10.    Powell, L., Duffy, D. L., Kruger, K. A., Watson, B., & Serpell, J. A. (2021). Relinquishing Owners Underestimate Their Dog's Behavioral Problems: Deception or Lack of Knowledge? Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8, 734973. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.734973

    11.    Powell, L., Houlihan, C., Stone, M., Gitlin, I., Ji, X., Reinhard, C. L., & Watson, B. (2021). Animal Shelters' Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Survey of 14 Shelters in the Northeastern United States. Animals: an open access journal from MDPI, 11(9), 2669. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092669

    12.    Stillo, T., Norgard, R. J., Stefanovski, D., Siracusa, C., Reinhard, C. L., & Watson, B. (2021). The Effects of Solliquin Administration on the Activity and Fecal Cortisol Production of Shelter Dogs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 45, 10-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2021.05.001

    13.    Brown, C. R., Garrett, L. D., Gilles, W. K., Houlihan, K. E., McCobb, E., Pailler, S., Putnam, H., Scarlett, J. L., Treglia, L., Watson, B., & Wietsma, H. T. (2021). Spectrum of Care: More than Treatment Options. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 259(7), 712–717. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.259.7.712

    14.    Powell, L., Reinhard, C. L., Satriale, D., Morris, M., Serpell, J., & Watson, B. (2022). The Impact of Returning a Pet to the Shelter on Future Animal Adoptions. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1109. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05101-5

    15.    Powell, L., Lee, B., Reinhard, C. L., Morris, M., Satriale, D., Serpell, J., & Watson, B. (2022). Returning a Shelter Dog: The Role of Owner Expectations and Dog Behavior. Animals: an open access journal from MDPI, 12(9), 1053. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12091053

    16.    Reinhard, C. L., Powell, L., & Watson, B. (2022). A Retrospective Analysis of Pre-/Post-Test Scores of Students Participating in Online Asynchronous Shelter Surgery Coursework. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, 49(1), 102–108. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme-2020-0074

    17.    Powell, L., Walsh, M., Reinhard, C. L., Jankowski, K., & Watson, B. (2022). One Health Clinic Promotes Veterinarian-Client Trust Among Underserved Pet Owners and Provides Learning Opportunities for Veterinary Students. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 260(8), 931–939. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.21.06.0274

    18.    Mitchell, D. J., Reinhard, C. L., Cole, S. D., Stefanovski, D., & Watson, B. (2022). Seroprevalence of Toxoplasmosis among Shelter-Housed Felines in a Philadelphia Suburb. Animals, 12(16), 2012. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12162012

    19.    Chee S, Rivera R, Huntley AA, Lundahl L, Bocage C, Holt D, Watson B, Lipman T. (2022).
    A Veterinary and Nursing Collaboration to Increase Access to Healthcare. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v12n3p84

    20.    Powell, L., Lavender, T. M., Reinhard, C. L., & Watson, B. (2022). Pet Owners’ Perceptions of COVID-19, Zoonotic Disease, and Veterinary Medicine: The Impact of Demographic Characteristics. Veterinary Sciences, 9(5), 195. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9050195

    21.    Lundahl, L., Powell, L., Reinhard, C. L., Healey, E., & Watson, B. (2022). A Pilot Study Examining the Experience of Veterinary Telehealth in an Underserved Population Through a University Program Integrating Veterinary Students. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 9, 871928. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.871928

    22.    Jafarian, S., Akpek, E., Reinhard, C. L., & Watson, B. (2022). A Qualitative Analysis of Clinical Year Veterinary Student Journal Entries for a Shelter Medicine Rotation. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 9, 858419. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.858419

    23.    Lilly, M. L., Watson, B., & Siracusa, C. (2022). Behavior Education and Intervention Program at a Small Shelter I. Effect on Behavior Knowledge and Safety. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science: JAAWS, 25(3), 195–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2021.2012681

    24.    McCobb, E., Crawford, P. C., Harrold, M. L., Levy, J. K., Perkins, A., Reinhard, C. L., & Watson, B. (2022). Shelter Medicine Sustainability from an academic perspective: Challenges and issues. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.3138/jvme-2022-0080

    25.    Powell L, Watson B, Serpell J. Understanding feline feelings: An investigation of cat owners’ perceptions of problematic cat behaviors. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 2023; 266:106025.

    26.    Ackerman R, Watson B, Serpell J, Reinhard CL, Powell L. Understanding the motivations of foster caregivers at animal shelters. Animals. 2023;13(17):2694.

WaterShed Initiative

Through the WaterShed Initiative supported by the Arnall Family Foundation, the program worked with Dr. Lauren Powell as a postdoctoral researcher from 2020-2023. She completed her doctoral dissertation at the University of Sydney School of Public Health where she focused on the impacts of human-dog interactions on mental well-being. As the Penn Vet Shelter Medicine Program postdoctoral researcher, her research efforts were multi-factorial, including  quality of life assessments in the shelter and teaching in the shelter medicine field.


Rosenthal Penn Vet Shelter Medicine Student Research Fellowship

The Penn Vet Shelter Medicine Program developed the endowed Rosenthal Shelter Medicine Fellowship Program. This program provides scholarship support and research funding for two students per veterinary class to engage in a three-year training program in shelter medicine, also allowing for peer-learning.  Students take all shelter electives while developing, executing, evaluating, and submitting for publication a research project that directly helps shelter animals. There are regularly scheduled “lab” meetings and journal clubs (discussion of peer-reviewed literature). 

The first fellow, Charlotte Burns (V’19), was a PetSmart Charities Scholarship winner and was supported through the Ambassador Program to present her work at the 2018 ABVP Symposium. Her paper on an outpatient parvovirus treatment paper was accepted for publication through JVECCS.

Other previous and current fellow project topics include:

  • Solliquin efficacy in the shelter (Tabitha Stillo V’20)
  • Incidence of Toxoplasmosis in the shelter (Dani Mitchell V’20)
  • The impact for clients and providers in a one-health clinic (Meriel Walsh V’21)
  • Cost-benefit analysis of upper respiratory treatment options (Tianna Chin V’21)
  • Profile of exotic animal intake in the Philadelphia region (Anna Shirosky V’22)
  • Impact of at-home visits for clients and providers through Pets for Life (Lauren Lundahl V’22)
  • Survey to examine animal attitudes on free-roaming animals in the US and India (Reshmi Sensharma V’23)
  • Pet Owners’ Perceptions of COVID-19, Zoonotic Disease, and Veterinary Medicine (Tyler Lavender V 24)
  • Determining and understanding physical and behavioral characteristics that long-term shelter dogs share (Gabriela Landazuri-Saltos V’24)
  • Supporting the human-animal bond among homeless and housing insecure pet owners in the US (Zelda Blowers V’24)
  • Incidence of Clostridioides difficile, SARS-CoV-2, and intestinal parasites in Philadelphia area shelters (Kaelea Composto V’25 and Hannah Baukert V’25)
  • Evaluating stress biomarkers in shelter dogs (Holly Yost V’26 and Katie Graham V’26)

Collaborative Research Activities   

Collaborative projects are critical to the efforts of the Penn Vet Shelter Medicine and Community Engagement Program
Meet Our Penn Vet Research and Program Partners

Penn Vet, Dr. Daniel Beiting
 Dr. Stephen Cole. Penn Vet 
  • Dr. Stephen Cole
  • Toxoplasmosis in the shelter
  • Enteropathogens in shelter animals
  • Disinfectants in the shelter
 
Dr. David Holt
  • Dr. David Holt
  • Clinical trials in infrared imaging and lung cancer surgery, as well as with canine mammary tumors
  • One Health Clinics
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 Lauren Powell
Michael Povelones, PhD
 Dr. Laurel Redding, Penn Vet New Bolton Center   
Dr. James Serpell, Penn Vet
Dr. Carlo Siracusa, Penn Vet
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