crest_summer2010_final

CRESTINSIDE
the
Awards
highlight
Alumni
Weekend
The OVC Alumni
Association will
honour outstanding
OVC graduates June
19 during Alumni
Weekend.
Dr. Dennis
Meagher, DVM ’59, an
accomplished educa-
tor and surgeon at the
University of Califor-
nia-Davis, will receive
the OVC Distinguished
Alumnus Award. Dr.
Karen Dupont, DVM
’98, an Owen Sound,
Ont.-based practitio-
ner and community
leader, will receive
the Young Alumnus
Award. Dr. Mary
DeCaire, DVM ’76, the
current chair of the
OVC Pet Trust Fund
board of trustees, will
be presented with
the Alumni Volunteer
Award.
See page 14 for details.
S
Student veterinarians will
soon begin learning the ropes in large
animal medicine in new facilities.
With a $2.3-million investment
from the Ontario Ministry of Agri-
culture, Food and Rural Affairs
(OMAFRA), construction began this
spring on a new clinical skills build-
ing adjacent to Barn 37, the Univer-
sity of Guelph’s historic dairy barn.
Work also began on major renova-
tions funded by OVC to install 19 box
stalls for horses in wing C of the barn
and resurface the yard as the college
moves to upgrade and consolidate
housing for teaching animals, includ-
ing cows, horses, pigs and sheep.
“These projects are essential,” said
Dr. Kerry Lissemore, DVM ’84 and
D.V.Sc. ’88, associate dean academic.
“Once the work is finished, we’ll be
able to completely separate teaching
animals from hospital patients to
meet accreditation requirements as
well as standards set by the Canadian
Council on Animal Care. We’ll also
have new facilities where students will
develop critical hands-on skills with
farm and food animals in a safe learn-
ing environment.”
Upgrades to the barn, which OVC
shareswiththeOntarioAgriculturalCol-
lege, are also important from a heritage
perspective,preservingthelastfunction-
ing barn on the U of G campus.
Historic barn key to future plans
INSIDE
2 Message
From the
Dean
4 Partners
in Research
10 Partners in
Education
12 College
news
14 Alumni
News
THE CREST IS SPONSORED IN
PART BY FUNDING FROM THE
OVC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
REPORTING on its PEOPLE, EVENTS and PROGRAMS | SUMMER | 2010
continued on page 2
Cattle rest on the future site of the $2.3-million clinical skills building for large
animals that will be built adjacent to U of G’s historic dairy barn.
PHOTOBYJIMVANDUSEN

2 OVC CREST / SUMMER 2010
S
S o m e t i m e s I t h i n k life is all about
relationships. That’s certainly true at the Ontario
Veterinary College. And what’s interesting about
relationships is how they change over the years.
In the last few issues of The Crest, we’ve talked
about relationships with industry and how our
international ties have supported collaboration and
discovery. The relationship that OVC has with the
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Affairs (OMAFRA) is one that has evolved through
the years. Many of our current initiatives with
OMAFRA are highlighted in these pages.
Our relationship with OMAFRA is deepened
even further because we are working with alum-
ni who enrich our profession as they contribute
to the needs of the province and the challenges
facing industry. The breadth and depth of the
connection stretches from education to research
to innovation.
In February, the University of Guelph honoured
Dr. Bruce Wilkie and Dr. Pat Shewen of OVC for
their invention of a vaccine against the bacterium
that causes bovine peneumonic pasteurellosis. This
impressive discovery — one result of our OMA-
FRA partnership — resulted in patents that belong
to the University and have, in fact, benefitted U of
G for more than two decades.
Of course, OVC connections reach beyond
Ontario, throughout Canada, into the United
States and around the world. In June 2012, OVC
will host a regional conference of the American
Veterinary Medical History Society that will delve
into “Cross-Border Connections” and examine
the ties that make us a global society, certainly in
the field of veterinary medicine.
Our connections — our relationships — also
span generations and continents.
In 2011, our profession will honour the 250th
anniversary of the founding of the National
Veterinary School of Lyon, France. As with any
genealogy chart, it would be fascinating to trace
the beginnings of veterinary medicine in Canada
in 1862 back to Lyon. What an exalted family
tree that would make.
The lineage of the veterinary profession would
not be complete, of course, without the branch
that represents OVC. In music circles, it’s a sign of
veneration to trace the lineage of one’s instructors.
Perhaps we should produce our own family tree,
from Andrew Smith in 1862 to today.
The connections. The relationships. How
tremendous that they resonate through the gen-
erations.
Dean Elizabeth Stone
From the Dean
PHOTOBYMARTINSCHWALBE
continued from page 1
Investing in the
new clinical skills
building is just one
of the many ways
OMAFRA continues
to support learning
through the Veteri-
nary Clinical Educa-
tion Program. The
program provides
funding for extern-
ships, internships
and D.V.Sc. pro-
grams in the OVC
Health Sciences
Centre, stipends for
veterinarians return-
ing to OVC for the
master’s degree in
public health, as well
as salaries for faculty
and staff.
“This funding is
vital to our ability to
provide high-quality
veterinary clinical
education and for
protecting and
advancing public,
animal and environ-
mental health,” said
Lissemore.
OVC is remarkable for its lineage
and productive relationships

INTHENEWS
T
SUMMER 2010 / OVC CREST 3
REPORTING on its PEOPLE, EVENTS and PROGRAMS | SUMMER | 2010 FERTILIZATION
RESEARCH
DRAWS
ATTENTION
Research by Prof.
Allan King, B.Sc.
’73 and M.Sc. ’75,
on improving in-vitro
fertilization success by
adding thyroid hormone
gained national atten-
tion in the Globe and
Mail as well as regional
TV news coverage on
CTV Southwestern
Ontario.
With PhD student
Fazl Ashkar, M.Sc. ’09,
King discovered that
adding the synthetic
hormone to bovine eggs
after fertilization boosts
the number of viable
embryos by 30 per cent.
They also found the hor-
mone-treated embryos
were more advanced
in morphology and cell
number and had fewer
damaged cells than
embryos developed
without the hormone.
This research has impli-
cations for the success
rates of human in-vitro
fertilization because
embryo development is
similar in both.
T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f G u e l p h paid
tribute to a pair of OVC researchers whose inven-
tion of an effective vaccine against shipping fever
has been one of the most successful innovations
to result from the University’s longstanding rela-
tionship with the Ontario Ministry of Agricul-
ture, Food and Rural Affairs.
A dinner was held Feb. 2 to honour the achieve-
mentofDrs.BruceWilkie,DVM’65,andPatShewen,
DVM ’75 and M.Sc. ’79, Pathobiology, who devel-
oped a process that created the Presponse vaccine
against the bacterium that causes bovine pneumon-
ic pasteurellosis, a major cause of sickness, death
and economic losses in the cattle industry.
Thepatentsfromtheirdiscovery,whichbelongto
U of G and have benefitted the University for more
than two decades, expire over the next few years.
“We were fortunate to be able to build on a long
historyof research on thisorganism,on thisdisease,
on this campus,” said Shewen, who began studying
bovine pneumonia as a PhD student in 1979.
The disease was a major focus of research at
OVC in the 1960s under the late Dr. Reg Thom-
son, DVM ’59 and H.D.Sc. ’94, the department
head who would go on to become founding dean
of the Atlantic Veterinary College. A vaccine had
been widely used for decades, but scientists were
suspicious that it wasn’t working.
“There was field evidence to support those
doubts dating back to the 1930s, but people in the
industry didn’t want to look,” said Wilkie, univer-
sity professor emeritus since 2006. By using chal-
lenge models developed at OVC, Wilkie and then
M.Sc. student Susan Friend, DVM ’72 and M.Sc.
’75, showed that not only did the existing vaccine
not work, but vaccinated cattle were more likely
to get sick than those not vaccinated.
Unlike previous efforts focused on the primary
viral infection that weakened the cattle and made
them prone to developing pneumonia, Shewen and
Wilkie targeted the pasteurella bacteria that caused
the secondary, and often fatal, infection. Eventually,
theyfoundacommercialpartnerinLangfordLabo-
ratories, a Guelph-based pharmaceutical company
started by OVC professors Chas Povey and Mike
Wilson. The company and the commercial rights to
Presponsehavesincechangedhandsafewtimesand
now belong to Boehringer Ingelheim.
Since Presponse first went on the market
in 1987, all subsequent pasteurella (now Man-
nheimia) vaccines have been modelled on the
one developed by Wilkie and Shewen.
“At the time, we owned the field,” said Wilkie.
“This was a completely new paradigm, built on a
foundation of long-term, fundamental research.
Our experience shows that you really can take an
idea from the lab bench to practical application
in the field and be commercially successful.”
Bruce Wilkie and Pat Shewen
Patently brilliant research
PHOTOBYBARRYGUNN

O
Ontario is in a stronger position to
address the many challenges ahead in animal,
human and environmental health thanks to the
partnership agreement between the University of
Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
“It’s been a real success story,” said Dr. Tom
Baker, DVM ’73 and M.Sc. ’87, director of OMA-
FRA’s animal health and welfare branch.
The partnership officially dates to the formation
of the University in 1964, but OVC ties go back to
1908 when the provincial government acquired the
collegefromfounderAndrewSmithandmadeOVC
an institution of the department of agriculture.
More than a century later, the relation-
ship continues to evolve. In 2008, the partners
renewed and improved the agreement, providing
a $300-million strategic investment over five years
in U of G programs in agri-food, environmental
sustainability, and animal and human health.
“In addition to the financial commitment,
we’ve made real progress in terms of creating a
system that allows for meaningful collaborations,”
said Baker. “It gives more rigour to the process.
We are able to work together to identify the things
that need to get done, and they get done.”
Baker was recently appointed Ontario’s dep-
uty chief veterinarian and works closely with
Dr. Deb Stark, DVM ’82, the chief veterinarian
for Ontario, as well as many other OVC gradu-
ates. In a career that has taken him from mixed-
animal practice to food inspection at the federal
level, followed by 20 years with OMAFRA, Baker
considers himself fortunate to have been able to
maintain close ties with his alma mater.
He is “director champion” of the emergency
management research theme funded by the
OMAFRA partnership. Baker also works close-
ly with Dr. Grant Maxie, GD ’70 and PhD ’73,
of the University’s Animal Health Laboratory
to develop the Animal Health Strategic Invest-
ment (AHSI) program. AHSI supports OVC and
U of G research in developing tests for emerging
pathogens, enhancing animal health surveillance
and improving emergency and business-conti-
nuity planning.
Ontario was much better prepared for last
year’s H1N1 pandemic than it otherwise might
have been thanks to the initiatives implemented
under the agreement, he said.
Baker has also enjoyed working with stu-
dents over the years and points to the Veterinary
Clinical Education Program as a key strength in
OMAFRA’s long-term relationship with OVC.
“Our aim is to develop a closer alignment to
better address public policy needs, challenges
facing our animal industry, and the goals of the
college in veterinary education,” he said.
Partners in Research
PHOTOBYBARRYGUNN
OVC BUILDING
OPENS
THIS FALL
Faculty and staff in
the Department of
Pathobiology and the
Animal Health Labora-
tory (AHL) will be busy
this summer getting
ready to move into their
new home.
Construction of the
$70-million facility is in
its ﬁnal phase. The proj-
ect, along with the OVC
Health Sciences Centre’s
large animal isolation
unit that opened for
business last fall, is sup-
ported by funding from
the federal and provin-
cial governments.
“We’re fortunate
in this province to
have these centres of
excellence in animal,
human and environ-
mental health,” said
Tom Baker, director
of OMAFRA's
animal health and
welfare branch. He
represented the ministry
at ground-breaking
ceremonies for both
facilities.
“The new building
reﬂects the importance
of the work that goes
on at OVC and AHL. It’s
going to be a major step
forward for Ontario and
for Canada.”
ONTARIO, OVC GROWING
STRONGER TOGETHER
Tom Baker has enjoyed a close-up view of OVC’s
evolving partnership with OMAFRA.

L
L a s t y e a r ’ s H 1 N 1 p a n d e m i c
showed that even mild outbreaks can have a
profound impact on human and animal health,
agriculture and the economy. It also brought into
focus the importance of the emergency manage-
ment research program, one of seven research
themes under the University’s partnership with
the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
“I don’t know of any other institution in Cana-
da that has a similar research program dedicated
to dealing with agri-food emergencies, which
brings great opportunities but also some challeng-
es,” said program director Dr. David Kelton, DVM
’84, M.Sc. ’89 and PhD ’95, Population Medicine.
The goal is to provide a proactive, co-ordinat-
ed and multidisciplinary approach to managing
outbreaks of infectious and zoonotic diseases
such as swine and avian influenza, as well as
other threats to food safety and public health.
OMAFRA provides about $500,000 a year for
research on a wide variety of topics.
“The two major areas of activity in the short
term will be in disease modelling and surveil-
lance systems and surveillance capacity,” Kelton
said. The work involves OVC and several U of G
departments, including Food, Agriculture and
Resource Economics; Mathematics and Statistics;
and Food Science. “Some of the collaborations
are really exciting.”
Research funded by the program in the
Department of Population Medicine includes
a number of projects on disease surveillance in
swine led by Drs. Cate Dewey, DVM ’79, M.Sc.
’88 and PhD ’92; Robert Friendship, DVM ’77
and M.Sc. ’84; and Zvonimir Poljak, M.Sc. ’02
and PhD ’06. Dr. Olaf Berke is using spatial anal-
ysis and statistics to examine clusters of emerg-
ing zoonotic diseases. Dr. Andria Jones, DVM
’00 and PhD ’06, is conducting attitudinal stud-
ies of producers’ perceptions of food-borne and
zoonotic diseases associated with sheep and goat
dairy farms and products.
“One of the rewarding things about this process
is that it has given us the opportunity to engage
some researchers who may not have been involved
in OMAFRA-supported research before,” Kelton
said. “I think that’s a tremendous advantage.”
RESEARCH
PARTNERS
LAUNCH
TRUST
OVC is partnering
with the Ontario
Association of Bovine
Practitioners (OABP),
alumni and stakehold-
ers in government and
industry to create a
new endowed fund
in support of training
veterinarians for rural
practice. The Bovine
Education Trust was
ofﬁcially launched in
April at the spring meet-
ing of OABP and the
Ontario Agri-Business
Association.
It is supported by a
$25,000 start-up grant
from the Ontario Minis-
try of Agriculture, Food
and Rural Affairs.
“This generous
one-time support will
help us launch the
fund which will enable
students to undertake
experiential learning
away from Guelph,
including courses,
scientiﬁc conferences
and competitions,” said
Dr. Kerry Lissemore,
associate dean
academic.
For more informa-
tion, contact him at
519-824-4120, Ext.
54423, or klissemo@
uoguelph.ca.
MANAGING DISEASE OUTBREAKS
PHOTOBYJIMVANDUSEN

L
OVC researchers like Todd Duffield are providing innovative solutions to problems facing the dairy industry.
MANAGING PAIN IMPROVES
THE BOTTOM LINE
DAIRY
RESEARCH
ON TAP
OVC graduate
students took top
honours at the inau-
gural North American
Conference on Precision
Dairy Management held
in Toronto in March.
Janet Higginson,
B.Sc. ’03 and M.Sc. ’09,
a PhD candidate in the
Department of Popula-
tion Medicine, received
the AﬁMilk Young
Scientist Award for her
presentation “Validation
of a New Pedometry
System for Behavioural
Research and Lame-
ness Detection in Dairy
Cattle.” Her
colleague and PhD
candidate Cindy Todd,
B.Sc.(Agr.) ’04 and
M.Sc. ’08, was the
runner-up for “Effects
of Free-Access Feed-
ing and Milk Replacer
Acidiﬁcation on Calf
Performance and De-
velopment of Digestive
Anatomy.”
The awards are given
to encourage excellence
in dairy research. The
conference highlighted
technologies such as ro-
botic milking equipment
and sensor-based tools
to improve cow health,
welfare and productivity.
U of G is a founding
partner for the
dairy management
conference.
PHOTOBYBARRYGUNN
L o o k i n g a f t e r t h e h e a l t h and
welfare of dairy herds is both an ethical and an
economic concern for farmers, according to Dr.
Todd Duffield, DVM ’90 and D.V.Sc. ’97, Popu-
lation Medicine.
Duffield has been investigating the use of medi-
cation to manage pain in cows with calving difficul-
ties—anywherefrom10to50percentofdairycows
havepainfuldeliveriesthatrequirehumaninterven-
tion — and those recovering from procedures such
as LDA (left displaced abomasum) surgery.
“There is lots of attention paid to pain man-
agement in companion animals, but until recent-
ly we haven’t really looked at it in food animals,”
Duffield said. “We have to be proactive and gen-
erate good science around these questions.”
The research examined the effects of pain
medication on behaviour, food intake and milk
production. The studies were carried out at the
Elora/Ponsonby research stations and in the field
with help from Drs. Ray Reynen, DVM ’87, at the
Listowel Veterinary Clinic; Wayne Shewfelt, DVM
’77, of Tavistock Veterinarians; and Reg Clinton,
DVM ’00, of the Kirkton Veterinary Clinic.
“The goal is to design management practices
that reduce illness at times of high stress when
the cattle are most vulnerable to disease,” said
Duffield, who is acting co-ordinator of the dairy
research program while Dr. Ken Leslie, DVM ’74
and M.Sc. ’81, is on a one-year sabbatical.
The group includes Dr. Stephen LeBlanc, DVM
’97 and D.V.Sc. ’01, who is investigating the use
of pedometers — motion-sensing and recording
devices — to monitor activity in dairy herds and
detect when cows are going into heat. Failure to
accurately detect estrus and mistiming breeding
costs the industry millions of dollars each year.
LeBlanc and Leslie are also studying pedom-
etry as a tool for identifying behaviours associ-
ated with sickness, lameness and calving.

F
M.Sc. student Tanya Baby retrieves frozen embryo and semen samples from a liquid nitrogen tank.
FROM TEST TUBES TO ANIMALS
RESEARCH
GIVE NATURE
A HAND
Dr. Pawel
Bartlewski,
Biomedical Sciences,
is using advanced imag-
ing to non-invasively
monitor ovarian and
testicular function
in ewes and rams to
improve the success rate
of artiﬁcial insemination
and embryo transfer.
His team is using ultra-
sound to monitor ewes’
responses to super-
ovulation, in which
fertility drugs stimulate
the production and
release of a larger-than-
normal number of eggs.
Unlike the cattle
industry, where
technology-assisted
breeding has a long
and successful history,
existing techniques have
proven difﬁcult and
cumbersome in sheep
and some other species.
Bartlewski’s project has
led to 10 peer-reviewed
publications and more
than a dozen appear-
ances at conferences
and symposia, including
talks to researchers in
human medicine.
“The support from
OMFRA has provided
some great opportuni-
ties. It’s been a very
productive time,” said
Bartlewski.
PHOTOBYBARRYGUNN
F r o m a r t i f i c i a l i n s e m i n a t i o n
in dairy cattle to light-controlled induction of lay-
ing hens, University of Guelph researchers are lead-
ers in the field of reproductive technology. With
support from the OMAFRA-U of G sustainable
production systems research program, scientists in
OVC’s Department of Biomedical Sciences tackle
fundamental questions that affect all species.
“As scientists studying reproduction, we all face
variations of the same problems but we were look-
ing at them from different perspectives — differ-
ent systems, different biologies — but still trying
to answer the same sorts of questions,” says Prof.
Allan King, B.Sc. ’73 and M.Sc. ’75, Biomedical
Sciences. He and Prof. Gregoy Bedecarrats, Ani-
mal and Poultry Science, co-ordinate the work of
12 researchers investigating reproduction in fish,
poultry, sheep, cattle and pigs.
“It was a bold idea to support this team approach
andachievesomesynergiesbecausewehadtradition-
ally divided up the work according to species,” says
King,“butwe’vehadanumberofsuccesses,takingdis-
coveriesfromthelabbenchtocommercialfieldtrials,
improvingtechnologiesandoptimizingtechniques.”
The group includes:
• University professor emeritus John Leatherland,
who uses microarray technology to determine the
most effective methods of handling farmed brood
stock and the impact of stressors on the expression
of growth hormones to help fish grow larger, faster;
• Prof. Jim Petrik, whose basic research on ovarian
health, function and responsiveness has led to the
discovery of a protein that may help in detecting
ovarian cancer in the early stages of the disease;
• Prof. Ann Hahnel is transplanting germ cells (pre-
cursors to sperm cells) from one male to another in
livestock, which may lead to applications in human
medicine to protect the future fertility of young
boys undergoing cancer treatment.
continued on page 8

O
O n ta r i o ’ s p o u lt r y a n d e g g pro-
duction is worth $1.6 billion a year — 35 per
cent of Canada’s total production — and the
U of G partnership with the Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)
plays a key role in the industry’s success story.
“We have a number of high-calibre interna-
tionally known researchers studying poultry
health, infectious disease and problems of pro-
duction,” says pathobiology professor Dr. Eva
Nagy, principal investigator in a four-year multi-
disciplinary poultry health and welfare project
that wrapped up this spring.
The project brought together 12 researchers
plus graduate students and technicians from the
Department of Pathobiology, the Animal Health
Laboratory and OMAFRA.
Nagy’s work focuses on avian viruses such as
fowl adenovirus and avian influenza virus. She is
studying their pathogenesis at the molecular level
and working toward improved diagnosis and bet-
ter vaccines to protect against them.
Other investigators include:
• Prof. John Barta, Pathobiology, who is develop-
ing a vaccine that provides protection against the
coccidia parasite but doesn’t leave medicinal resi-
dues or have the growth-inhibiting side effects of
existing vaccines;
• Dr. John Prescott, Pathobiology, who is using
gene sequencing to determine how Clostridium
perfringens causes necrotic enteritis in poultry
and working toward an effective vaccine;
• Dr. Shayan Sharif, PhD ’99, Pathobiology, who
is studying immune responses to Marek’s disease
and avian influenza viruses;
• Dr. Bruce Hunter and Dr. Pat Turner, DVM ’92
and D.V.Sc. ’97, Pathobiology, who are working
with OMAFRA’s Al Dam to test various combi-
nations of gases for humane euthanasia of large
numbers of birds in outbreak situations; and
• Dr. Davor Ojkic, PhD ’02, and Dr. Durda Slavic,
M.Sc. ’00 and PhD ’05, of the Animal Health Lab,
who are working on enhanced surveillance and
control of infectious diseases in poultry such as
avian influenza and hepatitis.
“Everybody here is world-class in their own
right, which creates opportunities for collabora-
tion that don’t exist anywhere else,” says Nagy.
STRATEGIC
INVESTMENT
PHOTOBYBARRYGUNN
In addition to the base
funding provided
through the U of G-
OMAFRA partnership
agreement, the 2008
Ontario budget included
$10 million over ﬁve
years for the Animal
Health Strategic Invest-
ment (AHSI) project
with the Animal Health
Laboratory.
OVC researchers
supported by AHSI
include Profs. Andrew
Peregrine (resistance to
de-worming agents in
sheep); Claire Jardine
(disease surveillance
of wildlife on Ontario
farms); John Prescott
(diagnosing Chlostridi-
um perfringens in pigs
and cattle); Michele
Guerin, DVM ’93, M.Sc.
’04 and PhD ’07, (sur-
veillance for viral and
bacterial pathogens in
broiler chickens); Paula
Menzies, DVM ’78,
(risk factors associated
with disposing of sheep
carcasses infected with
the Cysticercus ovis
worm); and David
Kelton, DVM ’84,
M.Sc. ’89 and PhD ’95,
(integrating milk test,
cattle inventory and
GIS data into the AHL’s
surveillance capacity).
GUELPH, OMAFRA PROTECT
POULTRY HEALTH AND WELFARE
Eva Nagy
REPRODUCTION CONTINUED
Other researchers involved in reproductive
studies were Dr. Jon LaMarre, DVM ’86 and PhD
’91, Biomedical Sciences; Prof. Walter Johnson,
Population Medicine (now retired); Prof. Dean
Betts, PhD ’01, (now at the University of Western
Ontario); Dr. Anne Croy, DVM ’69, and Chan-
dra Tayade (both now at Queen’s University); and
Prof. Mary Buhr, Animal and Poultry Science
(now at the University of Saskatchewan).
Their work has long-term benefits for agricul-
ture, consumers and the health of many species.

T
T h e a n i m a l - h e a l t h r e s e a r c h
i n f r a s t r u c t u r e that has grown out
of the partnership with the Ontario Ministry
of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMA-
FRA) enhances the profitability of the agricul-
tural sector, which is vital for the provincial
economy, says Dr. Robert Friendship, DVM
’77 and M.Sc. ’84, Population Medicine. He
explains that OMAFRA-supported research on
sustainable production systems makes it possible
to look at the issues facing agriculture from a
variety of perspectives, including animal health
and nutrition, infectious disease, animal welfare
and behaviour, food safety and environmental
impacts.
“It’s unique in Canada to have such a heavy
concentration of veterinary health researchers
working hand-in-hand with an animal-science
group that’s more focused on production aspects
like nutrition and growth,” says Friendship, who
just wrapped up a four-year “healthy pigs and
safe pork” project involving 16 U of G scientists.
“Guelph is the premier spot for doing this kind
of research in Canada.”
He said studying disease on pig farms is a
complex challenge and requires diverse exper-
tise to investigate the interactions of infectious
organisms with their hosts, the environment
and farm management techniques, as well as
the genetic components of innate immunity and
resistance to infection.
The research has generated 100 papers in
peer-reviewed publications, with contributions
from Drs. Cate Dewey, DVM ’79, M.Sc. ’88 and
PhD ’92; Zvonimir Poljak, M.Sc. ’02 and PhD
’06; and Scott McEwen, DVM ’81 and D.V.Sc. ’85;
all in the Department of Population Medicine,
as well as Profs. Patrick Boerlin, M.Sc. ’98, Tony
Hayes and Janet MacInnes in Pathobiology and
university professors emeriti Dr. Carlton Gyles,
DVM ’64, M.Sc. ’66 and PhD ’68, and Dr. Bruce
Wilkie, DVM ’65. The group also included for-
mer OVC professors Suzanne Millman, B.Sc.
(Agr.) ’90 and PhD ’00; Dongwan Yoo and Dr.
Andrew Brooks, DVM ’96 and PhD ’03.
“Our work has provided veterinarians in
Ontario with a much better idea of how some of
these diseases spread and what measures can be
taken to control or eradicate them,” says Friend-
ship. “Likewise, by identifying small genetic
defects that cause damage to the innate immune
system, we will ultimately be able to selectively
breed for healthier, more disease-resistant ani-
mals and rely less on antibiotics.”
RESEARCH
SARGEANT’S
NEW ROLE
SERVES THE
PROFESSION
Dr. Jan Sargeant,
DVM ’86, M.Sc.
’92 and PhD ’96,
director of the Centre
for Public Health and
Zoonoses, has been
elected president of
the Association for
Veterinary Epidemiology
and Preventive Medicine
(AVEPM). The appoint-
ment was announced
at AVEPM’s Schwabe
Symposium, part of the
Conference of Research
Workers in Animal
Diseases held Dec. 6 to
8 in Chicago. Sargeant
will serve as AVEPM
president until fall 2011.
The association
promotes veterinary epi-
demiology and preven-
tive medicine through
education. Its members,
drawn from across
Canada and the U.S. as
well as other countries,
are active in teaching,
research, administration
and service in a wide
range of disciplines
from biostatistics to
zoonoses.
HEALTHY ANIMALS MEAN
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Robert Friendship has just wrapped up a four-
year swine health project involving 16 U of G
researchers.
PHOTOBYMARTINSCHWALBE

P
P r a c t i c a l e x p e r i e n c e g a i n e d
outside the classroom not only opens doors for
student veterinarians, but it also opens their eyes
to a world of career possibilities.
The Veterinary Clinical Education Program
helps students develop the clinical skills they
need to succeed by providing funding toward
externships, where students spend eight weeks
in a mixed-animal practice during the summer
between their third and fourth years.
“I was relatively confident that I wanted to
enter a mixed practice after graduation,” says Dr.
Alanna Schad, DVM ’09. “But after my extern-
ship, I was convinced that I wanted to spend a
large amount of time working with dairy cattle
and dairy producers.”
Schad and classmate Dr. Ashleigh Braith-
waite, DVM ’09, did their externship at the
Rural Veterinary Centre in Maffra, Australia, a
small farming community in the state of Victo-
ria. Affiliated with the University of Melbourne's
Veterinary School, the centre specializes in dairy
cattle medicine and production.
Schad says she learned a lot about the Austra-
lian dairy industry, which is much different from
Ontario’s because of the lack of a quota system,
the large herd sizes and the fact that the cattle are
on pasture year-round.
“I also got to practise skills that are funda-
mental to dairy practice no matter where you
are,” she says.
Schad says she spent days on end honing her
pregnancy palpation skills and got to help with
several surgeries to correct left displacement of
the abomasum, as well as caesarean sections and
enucleations.
“I also got to spend a lot of time dealing with
hoof problems and hoof trimming, and I helped
out with blood and fecal collections from large
herds involved in a Johne’s vaccination trial. This
is a very hot topic in Ontario’s dairy industry at
the present time.”
After returning to Canada and finishing her
fourth year, Schad joined Yates Veterinary Hos-
pital in Woodstock, Ont., operated by brothers
Glen and Gord Yates, both DVM ’76. Schad
works with companion animals and cattle as well
as other ruminants.
“I think the eight weeks at the Maffra practice
truly allowed me to experience life as a bovine
practitioner and to realize that this was a direc-
tion I wanted my career to take.”
Partners in Education
PHOTOCOURTESYALANNASCHAD
EQUINE PILOT
PROJECT
LAUNCHED
Anew rotation in
equine primary
health care will be
offered to fourth-year
DVM students this fall in
a pilot project supported
by the Veterinary Clini-
cal Education Program.
The one-week rota-
tion will give students
practical experience in
areas such as dentistry,
lameness evalua-
tion, radiography and
ultrasound, pregnancy
detection and colic
workup.
“Our fourth-year
students get a lot of
exposure to specialty
services in their hospital
rotations, but they may
not get a chance to do
some of the basic things
entry-level veterinarians
should be able to do
when they graduate and
go to work in a mixed
practice,” says clinical
studies professor Dr.
Joanne Hewson, DVM
’96 and PhD ’04.
“This isn’t intended
to replace any of the ro-
tations. It’s intended to
round out the curricu-
lum and give students
more opportunities in
equine primary care.”
STUDENTS HONE CLINICAL
SKILLS IN THE FIELD
Alanna Schad collects blood samples for a Johne’s
disease vaccination trial during her externship at
the Maffra Veterinary Centre in Australia.

W
Wh e n s h e d e c i d e d to return to OVC
for graduate studies, Dr. Maureen Anderson,
DVM ’03 and D.V.Sc. ’08, had no idea it would
lead to an emerging and important new area of
research.
“I really wanted to do the residency in large-
animal medicine, so that’s what attracted me to the
D.V.Sc. program,” says Anderson, who’s now doing
a PhD in the Department of Pathobiology.
One of the goals of U of G’s partnership with
the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs is to promote graduate training
with funding in programs such as the three-year
D.V.Sc. During her residency, Anderson worked
with Dr. Scott Weese, DVM ’96 and D.V.Sc. ’00,
whose work on methicillin-resistant Staphylococ-
cus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile has
received wide recognition.
For her PhD, Anderson is investigating hand-
hygiene compliance in veterinary clinics with the
support of a three-year PhD fellowship from the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
“If you’d told me when I graduated from vet
school that I’d be doing this kind of research, I
wouldn’t have believed it,” she says. “But it’s been
very interesting and stimulating work. I’ve got
the best of both worlds: I’m still involved with a
hospital, staying in touch with the clinical side,
plus I get to do the research as well.”
Anderson says handwashing is one of the
most effective ways to avoid getting sick and
spreading illness, but it’s also frequently ignored
— even in hospitals, where studies have shown
that physicians are often the worst offenders. She
wants to know how veterinarians are doing.
By placing cameras to monitor activity in
busy treatment areas of participating clinics,
and having clinic staff answer survey questions,
Anderson’s study will provide baseline data about
hand-hygiene compliance. It will also evaluate
the impact of clinic layout and educational inter-
ventions on handwashing.
“In veterinary clinics and in homes, millions of
people are in close contact with animals every day,
but they might not consider the risks of infection,
despite evidence that pathogens such as MRSA
and C. difficile may be zoonotic,” she says.
“We want to find out how well clinicians and
technicians are doing and compare it with how
well they think they’re doing. Our ultimate goal
is to improve hand hygiene in veterinary clinics
for the health of the people and the animals. If
compliance is good, we want to learn about the
contributing factors so we can keep it that way.
If compliance is poor, we’ll work with them to
improve the situation.”
EDUCATION
OMAFRA
FUNDS PUBLIC
HEALTH
POSITION
AU of G graduate
returns to join
the faculty of OVC this
summer as the college
continues to strengthen
the master of public
health program.
Karen Morrison,
M.Sc. ’95 and PhD ’06,
has been appointed
to a four-year position
supported by funding
from the Veterinary
Clinical Education
Program. She was most
recently a professor
in Trent University’s
environmental and
resource studies
program. At OVC, she
will play a key role in
developing a course on
ecosystem approaches
to health.
“Guelph is already
a hub for ecohealth
research, and this is a
great opportunity to
stimulate more of this
kind of work in Ontario
and Canada,” says
Morrison.
GRADUATE STUDENTS BENEFIT
FROM OMAFRA PARTNERSHIP
OMAFRA’s support for D.V.Sc. programs has made
a difference in the lives of graduate students such
as Maureen Anderson, who is continuing her
research as a PhD candidate.
PHOTOBYBARRYGUNN

College News
T
New era begins
this summer
T h e o p e n i n g o f the OVC Hill’s Pet
Nutrition Primary Healthcare Centre in June
marks the beginning of an exciting new era for
the veterinary profession, says the college’s new
director of primary health care.
Dr. Shane Bateman, D.V.Sc. ’98, was named to
the position in January. The centre will open June
8, and the first group of DVM students will begin
their rotations in primary health care July 26.
“This is the future of the profession,” says Bate-
man.“Theprimaryhealth-careprogramwillhelpus
doabetterjobofpreparingstudentveterinariansfor
thechallengesthey’llfaceaspractitioners,employees
and business partners in their communities.”
A graduate of the Western College of Veterinary
Medicine in Saskatoon, Bateman spent two years
in practice before coming to OVC in 1993 for an
internship in small-animal medicine, followed by
a D.V.Sc. in emergency and critical care. He returns
to Guelph after more than a decade at Ohio State
University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Bateman says he’s looking forward to the chal-
lenge of being involved in a pioneering effort to
help create a new model for veterinary education.
“This program is one of the most exciting
things to happen in the profession in many years.
In many ways, this is a return to our roots.”
The Hill’s Pet Nutrition Primary Healthcare
Centre is a key part of the overall redevelopment
of OVC and the creation of the OVC Health Sci-
ences Centre. It is supported by a $5-million,
10-year commitment from Hill’s Pet Nutrition
and $9.5 million invested by the Ontario Min-
istry of Training, Colleges and Universities in
OVC redevelopment.
For more information, or to provide input
into the program, alumni are encouraged to
contact Bateman at 519-824-4120, Ext. 54583
or sbateman@uoguelph.ca.
All the human, veterinary and biomedical
anatomy courses taught at the University
of Guelph are now under one roof. The human
anatomy program moved from the Powell Building
to refurbished space in the main OVC building.
Construction took about four months to
complete, beginning last September with the de-
molition of classroom, laboratory and ofﬁce space,
some of which dated to the 1940s.
“The project management team led by John
Robson did a wonderful job of turning what was under-
utilized space into a fully-functional facility,” said Prof.
Neil MacLusky, chair of the Department of Biomedical
Sciences. “It also creates tremendous opportunities
for future collaboration between our department,
OVC, and the College of Biological Science.”
Comparative anatomy under one roof
PHOTOBYBARRYGUNN
MINI-VET
SCHOOL A
HOT TICKET
OVC’s inaugural
Mini-Vet School
was a rousing success.
The sold-out event,
organized as a fundrais-
er for the Global Vets
program, gave pet own-
ers, animal lovers and
aspiring veterinarians
a glimpse of what it’s
like to be a veterinarian.
The program took place
over four consecutive
Thursdays, with classes
taught by OVC faculty
members.
“It was an honour
to be invited by the
students to participate,”
said Dr. Cate Dewey,
chair of the Department
of Population Medi-
cine. “It is just another
measure of community
spirit and pride in our
profession and showing
what we have to offer
society.”
All proceeds from
the Mini-Vet School will
help provide Global Vets
members with opportu-
nities to study veterinary
medicine overseas. This
summer, students will
be working in Africa,
Asia, Southeast Asia and
South America.

F COLLEGENEWS
HONOURING
ACHIEVEMENT
Graduate students,
faculty and staff
were recognized for
their academic achieve-
ments and community
contributions on March
31. Approximately 70
awards were presented
for excellence in a wide
range of areas from
clinical skills to research,
as well as faculty and
staff honours, includ-
ing the Pfizer Faculty
Research Awards.
This year’s Pfizer
award was presented
to Prof. Jim Petrik, Bio-
medical Sciences. The
award goes to a faculty
member recognized by
his or her peers as an
outstanding researcher.
Student awards
included Dr. F. Schofield
Memorial Scholarships
from the Korean-
Canadian Association
to Scott Walsh, Eric
Pringle and Marlene
Paibomesai; and Morris-
Rowe Scholarships for
Research in Cancer to
Michelle Oblak, DVM
’08, for clinical care and
Craig Campbell for
cancer biology.
F o r D r . To m G i b s o n , DVM ’95 and
D.V.Sc. ’05, nearly every day is the same: Get
on the bike and ride. Ride outside — even
when it’s the middle of winter. Ride inside —
for hours at a time.
Cycling is a labour of love as he prepares for
his part in the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride
2010,a7,200-kilometrefundraisingridethathelps
children and their families cope with cancer.
“It’s a cause that means a lot to me,” says
Gibson, a companion-animal surgeon in the
Department of Clinical Studies.
The fund provides support for childhood
cancer survivors after treatment, through long-
term educational programs.
“And the best part is that the foundation
that supports the ride — the Coast to Coast
Against Cancer Foundation — directs 100 per
cent of the donations to the cause,” he says.
Funds raised go toward a number of ini-
tiatives, including pediatric cancer research,
family support and wellness programs, and
collaborations among cancer scientists, agen-
cies and charities.
At press time, Gibson had raised more than
$50,000 through the Guelph Inside Ride event
held March 7 in U of G’s science complex atrium
and another $10,000 on his national ride website.
More than 40 teams of six riders each took part
in the Guelph Inside Ride, with each rider spin-
ning on a stationary bike for 10 minutes.
“I’m just so overwhelmed and gratified by
the support of everyone who has stepped up to
support this great cause,” he says.
Gibson’s ride across Canada from Vancou-
ver to Halifax will take place over 15 days from
Sept. 9 to 23. For more information or to make
a donation, go to www.snkcr.com/tomgibson.
Wheels of life
Saddle up for Equi-Challenge 2010
PHOTOCOURTESYTOMGIBSON
R i d i n g o n t h e s u c c e s s of last year’s
inaugural event, organizers of Equi-Challenge
2010 are gearing up for a return engagement
Aug. 26.
Held at the Aziz family’s Iron Horse Farm in
2009, the event raised $58,000 for the proposed
OVC Equine Sports Medicine and Reproduc-
tion Centre. Although the venue has changed
this year to Halton Place, the unique format
remains the same, with top riders from Olym-
pic sports, racing, western and polo “changing
hats” for a great cause. That means you’ll see
jockeys jumping hurdles, drivers playing polo,
show jumpers barrel racing and more.
For information or tickets, visit www.
equichallenge.ca.

OVC Alumni News
PET TRUST
HOSTS
AREA VETS
About 70
veterinarians
from across the region
visited U of G in March
for the 2010 OVC Pet
Trust Fund Practitioners
Forum.
The forum featured
OVC researchers
speaking on topics
ranging from cancer
treatment to veterinar-
ian/client communica-
tions. The formula was
a hit with practitioners.
“I like the mini-
talks,” said Dr. Yvonne
Worthy, DVM ’92.
“You get a lot of practi-
cal information in a very
short period of time
— information that you
can take back and use in
your own clinic.”
“We’re pleased
to present this event
as a thank you to our
supporting clinics and
to help practitioners
stay on top of the
latest developments
in companion-animal
medicine,” said Dr.
Mary DeCaire, DVM
’76, chair of the Pet
Trust Fund board of
trustees.
The forum was also
sponsored by Lifelearn
Inc., WorldSource
Securities, Medi-Cal/
Royal Canin Veterinary
Diets and Gateway Pet
Memorial Services.
OVCAA announces award recipients
Distinguished Alumnus Award — Dr.
Dennis Meagher, DVM ’59, spent several years in
a large animal mixed practice in Manitoba before
completing graduate studies at Colorado State Uni-
versity. He joined the faculty at UC-Davis in 1969
and served for many years as chief of the school’s
equine surgery service and associate director of its
large animal clinic. He retired in 1994.
Known as a pragmatic “meat-and-potatoes”
clinician and surgeon, Meagher had a transform-
ing influence on the lives of many veterinary
students, residents and interns, many of whom
went on to become leaders in their field. He has
had a far-reaching impact on advancing equine
surgery and intensive care, and played a key role
in helping UC-Davis raise $350 million for new
facilities. He is also a passionate advocate for the
safety and welfare of racehorses.
Young Alumnus Award — Dr. Karen
Dupont, DVM ’98, has demonstrated her profes-
sional dedication as a coach practitioner in the
communications modules of OVC’s Art of Vet-
erinary Medicine course. She also helps adults in
her community upgrade their literacy skills and
provides veterinary care in remote First Nations
communities from Northern Ontario to Arizona.
In 2004, she was instrumental in launching
the Grey-Bruce Veterinary Association’s Cat Lake
First Nations Project. For five years, Dupont led
a group of volunteers on an annual trek to the
community — about an hour’s plane ride north of
Sioux Lookout — where they would spend a week
doing surgery, vaccinations, parasite control and
school presentations on pet health and welfare.
Alumni Volunteer Award — Dr. Mary
DeCaire, DVM’76, practiced ranch medicine in
Alberta for five years before returning to Ontario
in 1981 to establish a practice in the Muskoka
region. She has been active with the Georgian
Bay Veterinary Association and the OSPCA,
where she was instrumental in developing a juve-
nile spay and neuter program.
She is also president of the local Children’s Aid
Society and contributes to the St. John’s Ambulance
dog visitation program, which brings dogs into
human hospitals to boost the morale of patients.
She has served on the Pet Trust Fund board since
2005 and, as chair, plays a lead role in a fundraising
campaign that has so far raised more than $8 mil-
lion for the OVC Animal Cancer Centre.
Dennis Meagher Karen Dupont Mary DeCaire

ALUMNINEWS
Wi l d h o r s e s m ay conjure up images
of nature’s power and beauty, but they can also
be a destructive force in sensitive ecosystems.
In spring 2008, a group of volunteers that
included Dr. Jennifer Bando, DVM ’01, trav-
elled to Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands off
Alaska to castrate the wild descendants of
horses brought to the island by humans. The
herd, which started from a handful of horses
left on the remote island a decade before, had
grown to 18 animals. They were damaging
riparian areas of salmon streams and creating
trails that were eroding the delicate tundra,
threatening the island’s ecosystem.
“Although the climate is harsh, the lack of
natural predators and abundant grazing provided
conditions for the herd to grow,” says Bando, who
was invited to take part in the project sponsored
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends
of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges.
The latter is an independent non-profit
organization dedicated to promoting the con-
servation of the natural resources of the Alaska
National Wildlife Refuges, which span some
76.8 million acres throughout Alaska.
Planning for the project began in 2007.
The isolation of the horses made relocation
impractical, and because of public opinion,
euthanasia was not an option, she says.
So in May 2008, the team members waded
throughstreams,hikedacrosstundraandworked
in less than ideal conditions. They humanely
anesthetized and captured five stallions using a
pole syringe or dart gun. After being castrated,
the animals were post-operatively monitored and
recovered uneventfully from the procedure.
Because foals may have been conceived
before the castrations took place, there was
potential for a follow-up visit, says Bando.
“But only one foal was born in the spring,
and it was a filly. The project was a great suc-
cess and was well-received by the locals as a
major contribution to the preservation of
Unalaska’s pristine environment.”
CLASS
REUNIONS
PLANNED
Anumber of class re-
unions are planned
for Alumni Weekend
June 18 to 20. This
year’s reunions and the
class organizers are:
60th: OVC ’50,
Dr. Reg Chappel
55th: OVC ’55,
Dr. Bill Vivian
50th: OVC ’60,
Dr. Ron Darling
40th: OVC ’70,
Dr. Avery Gillick
35th: OVC ’75,
Dr. Roger Thomson
30th: OVC ’80,
Dr. Karol Mathews
Awards honouring
individual and class
accomplishments will
be presented at the
OVCAA annual general
meeting, June 19 at
8:30 a.m. in the Lifetime
Learning Centre. Other
Alumni Weekend events
include the President’s
Luncheon celebrating
50th-anniversary classes
and campus bus tours,
including tours of the
new OVC Hills Pet Nutri-
tion Primary Healthcare
Centre.
Registration is
required. For more
information, contact
OVC’s alumni advance-
ment manager, Sonia
Mancini, at 519-824-
4120, Ext. 54454, or
mancinis@uoguelph.ca.
When horses run wild
From left: Wildlife volunteers Tom Ballard, Sara Longson, Sharon Baur,
Jennifer Bando and Jeff Hancock
PHOTOBYBRIANDIXON

the CREST
Summer 2010,
Number 11
Published for the
interest of OVC alumni,
friends and members
of the veterinary
profession.
The Crest
Editorial Board
Catherine Bianco
Barry Gunn
Carol Ann Higgins
Elizabeth Lowenger
Sonia Mancini
Elizabeth Stone
Stephen Woeller
ISSN 0843-5634
Articles in The Crest do
not necessarily reﬂect
the view of the editorial
board. We encourage
you to send comments
and story suggestions to:
Barry Gunn
OVC Communications
Ontario Veterinary
College
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON, Canada
N1G 2W1
Phone:
519-824-4120,
Ext. 54414
E-mail:
bagunn@
uoguelph.ca
Writing/Editing
Barry Gunn
Mary Dickieson
Teresa Pitman
College News
COMINGUP
COMING
EVENTS
• June 8
Grand opening of
the Hill’s Pet Nutrition
Primary Healthcare
Centre, 10 a.m.,
west side of the OVC
complex
• June 18 to 20
Alumni Weekend. For
details, contact Sonia
Mancini at mancinis@
uoguelph.ca
• June 19
OVCAA annual gen-
eral meeting, 8:30
a.m., OVC Lifetime
Learning Centre
• July 7 to 10
Canadian Veterinary
Medical Association
Convention, Calgary
• July 18 to 21
International Pig
Veterinary Society
Congress, Vancouver
• Aug. 26
Equi-Challenge,
Halton Place, Halton
Hills, Ont.
• Sept. 25
Homecoming
She’s planning a big party
Ta r a O ’ B r i e n h a s b e e n appointed the project manager of OVC’s
150th-
anniversary celebrations. In the three-year position, she will work
closely with the OVC 150th
steering committee and all members of the Uni-
versity of Guelph community to manage activities around the celebration,
including recruiting and managing a large number of volunteers.
“I’m very excited to be involved in helping the college celebrate 150 years
of veterinary medicine in Canada,” says O’Brien, a former research program
co-coordinator for the U of G School of Engineering.
She brings to the position outstanding project management skills and
experience in managing special events, volunteers, students, interns and
large research teams.
“I look forward to working with alumni and other members of the OVC
community to help Canadians celebrate this important milestone in the
nation’s history,” she says.
To get involved, contact O’Brien at 519-824-4120, Ext. 54402, or email
tlobrien@uoguelph.ca.
PHOTOBYBARRYGUNN

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