Research Events
Each year, the Penn Vet research community comes together for two cornerstone events—the Research Retreat and Student Research Day—designed to showcase discovery, foster connection, and celebrate student and faculty scholarship.

Student Research Day
Abstract Submission Deadline: Monday, February 2, 2026
Registration Deadline: Friday, March 13, 2026
Friday, March 27, 2026
Time: 11:15 a.m.— 5:00 p.m. (tentative)
Location: Vernon and Shirley Hill Pavilion
KEYNOTE
The Class of 1966 Endowed Lecture
Aimee L. Edinger, VMD, PhD
About Dr. Edinger
Aimee L. Edinger, VMD, PhD, is a professor of developmental and cell biology in the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences at UC Irvine (UCI), with an adjunct appointment in pharmaceutical sciences. She received a BS in animal physiology from UC Davis and then completed her VMD/PhD at the University of Pennsylvania from 1992–1999. After a postdoctoral fellowship in Craig Thompson’s lab at Penn, she joined UCI in 2005. Dr. Edinger’s laboratory conducts translational cell biology research focused on altering endolysosomal trafficking to develop new treatments that overcome drug resistance in cancer, correct metabolic defects in obesity, restrict viral replication, and enhance the delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics. Her research has been supported by the NIH, Department of Defense, and numerous private foundations. She has served as a chartered member of the NIH Cancer Cell Biology Study Section and the American Cancer Society’s Cellular Growth Control Study Section. Dr. Edinger is an AAAS Fellow, a former UCI Chancellor’s Fellow, and a UCI Faculty Innovation Fellow. She is an inventor on seven patents and co-founded a company with her chemistry collaborator that secured multiple NIH Small Business Innovation Research grants as well as venture funding. She is also a committed teacher and mentor, recognized by the De Gallow UCI Professor of the Year Award, two Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, and the Carol Connor Mentoring Award. She currently serves as co-director of an NCI T32 program supporting interdisciplinary cancer research training.
About The Class of 1966 Endowed Lecture
In 1991, a gift from the class of 1966 established an endowed fund to support major lectures at the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Aimee L. Edinger, VMD, PhD
Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow
Developmental & Cell Biology
Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Event Contact
Phone: (215) 898-9793
Email: kkruger@upenn.edu
2026 Research Retreat
SAVE THE DATE
Friday, October 23, 2026
Time: 8:30 a.m.— 5:30 p.m. (tentative)
Location: Inn at Swarthmore, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Event Contact
Phone: (215) 898-9793
Email: kkruger@upenn.edu