cvm magazine summer 2015
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1CVM magazine
Cover Story:
Randall Terry’s Lasting LegacySolving Problems, Saving Lives
Singing the Praises of the TAU
Magazine for the College of Veterinary Medicine | Summer 2015
Where Compassion Meets Science
CVM
CVM MAGAZINE
EDITOR
Dave Green
DESIGNER
Angela Miller
DEAN
Dr. D. Paul Lunn
ASSOCIATE DEANS
Dr. Kate MeursResearch & Graduate Programs
Dr. Steven L. Marks Veterinary Medical Services
Dr. Keven FlammerAcademic Affairs
Dr. Dianne DunningAdvancement (Interim)
DEPARTMENT HEADS
Dr. Lizette HardieClinical Sciences
Dr. Chris McGahanMolecular and Biomedical
Sciences
Dr. Paula CrayPopulation Health and
Pathobiology
DIRECTORS
Allison CrouchNCVMF Executive Director
(Interim)
Dane JohnstonContinuing Education
& Outreach
April NorrisCommunications & Marketing
The CVM Magazine is published
by the Offi ce of Communications
& Marketing at NC State’s College
of Veterinary Medicine.
Find this issue online at
www.issuu.com/NCStateVetMed
(919) 513-6662
NC State University promotes equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination and harassment
based upon one’s age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, national origin,
race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation and veteran status.
5,000 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of 98¢ per copy.
HONOR A FRIEND, whether two-legged or four.
Memorialize a loved one. Thank a veterinarian or caretaker.Celebrate a birthday, anniversary or other milestone.
BRICKS AND PAVERS are available in the Walk of Honor.Bricks – Gift of $150 or more. (Three lines of text) Pavers – Gift of $500 or more (Eight lines of text)
HORSESHOES are available in the Gallop of Honor.Bronze – Gift of $250 or more Silver - $500 or more Gold - $1,000
For more information, please contact: 919-513-6660 | [email protected] | www.cvm.ncsu.edu/ncvmf
3CVM magazine
Contents
4 PERSPECTIVE
Dean Paul Lunn on the transforming significance of the gift from the R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation.
5 DISCOVERY
The hunt for genes that trigger bladder cancer in beagles and people/ What we are learning from paraplegic dogs/ Improving the odds on the #1 cause of death in the U.S./ Enhancing pain treatment for ferrets.
8THE LASTING LEGACY OF RANDALL B. TERRY, JR. A $16 million gift from the R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation for scholarship and research will help keep North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine on the cutting edge for years to come.
10SOLVING PROBLEMS, SAVING LIVESThe Veterinary Hospital annually treats more than 27,000 patients that are often seriously ill and require the best veterinary medicine can provide. Henry, Buster, and Alice are three such cases.
16SINGING PRAISES OF THE TEACHING ANIMAL UNIT“I feel the TAU is the CVM’s greatest asset. We practiced medicine as if we were working for a client whose only income source was their dairy cattle, beef cattle, swine, or poultry operation.”
20 ACCOLADES
Dorman elected AAAS Fellow/ Breen named Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor/ Thakur selected University Faculty Scholar/ Keene named Seaks Professor for Companion Animal Medicine/ Davidson receives Beal Award for distinguished service.
22 FRIENDS
Randolph Reid and Betty Minton share a love of animals—especially dogs. So when a beloved retriever was diagnosed with cancer and given a few months to live, they wanted him to receive the best possible healthcare.
4Summer 2015
WWe recently celebrated a
landmark $16 million pledge
from the R.B. Terry Charitable
Foundation to the College of
Veterinary Medicine. In addition to its
profound effect on everyone associated with the
College and our programs, this magnifi cent support
underscores a vital truth: we couldn’t do what we
do here at the CVM without the incredible vision
and generosity of our friends. I’m delighted to take
this opportunity to share with you more information
about the transformational impact this gift will have
in the years ahead -- not just at the CVM, but also
upon the greater North Carolina State community,
and the fi eld of veterinary medicine.
The R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation’s pledge
comes at a particularly vital time. With young
graduates facing unprecedented fi nancial challenges,
the Terry Charitable Foundation’s support will create a
very signifi cant new student scholarship endowment
– a vital resource for our new DVM trainees. These
funds help ensure that the best and brightest students
will continue to have access to the CVM’s high-quality
veterinary education. The gift also supports our
mission to prepare the world’s future veterinarians
to share their exceptional gifts within our local
communities and across the globe.
The R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation’s pledge will
also create endowments to recruit innovative new
faculty leaders and provide pump-priming funding for
groundbreaking research programs designed to translate
from the lab to the patient. The new discoveries that will
result won’t just impact animal health, but global food
security and human health, as well.
At the CVM, our past accomplishments, and our
ongoing commitment to educational excellence and
innovation has earned us high regard as one of the
leading colleges of veterinary medicine in the nation
and the world. However, we did not get here on our
own. While I never had the honor to meet Mr. Terry,
I’m grateful on a daily basis for his inspirational
commitment to the CVM and the fi eld of veterinary
medicine. His vision inspires everyone who works
at the CVM and everyone who is impacted by our
programs. The R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation
has created a permanent legacy of excellence, and
promises to achieve so much more in the future.
As we look forward to the challenges ahead, we
will continue to rely on our trusted supporters to help
us reach our goals. If you have already made a gift in
support of the College, I thank you. If you have not,
it is my great hope that you will choose to share in
our vision. Together, we can make the world a better
place -- starting right here at the NC State University
College of Veterinary Medicine.
D. Paul Lunn
Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine
Perspective
A Lasting Legacy
A clinical trial involving paraplegic dogs demonstrates that a “one-size fits all” approach is not ideal for treating spinal cord injuries. The study reports that canine paraplegics—even those with the same injury—are diverse, and treatment should be equally so. These findings may lead the way to personalized treatments for spinal cord injuries, and hopefully better outcomes for canine and potentially human patients.
Natasha Olby, professor of neurology, along with a team of postdoctoral students, conducted a clinical trial involving the drug 4-AP and a derivative of the drug called t-butyl, which was developed by co-author Daniel Smith and the Center for Paralysis Research at Purdue University. 4-AP has been tested on humans for spinal cord injury, and is currently in use as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. T-butyl, the derivative, has not been tested clinically on humans. Both drugs work by helping damaged nerves transmit signals.
Dr. Olby and her team recruited 19 paraplegic dogs for the trial. The dogs suffered similar spinal cord injuries and had been injured long enough to rule out hope of unaided recovery. All dogs were treated with a placebo and both drugs, each for a two-week block of time assigned randomly, to first determine whether the drugs were effective, and then see whether or not there was a difference in efficacy between the two medications. The testing was conducted in a blind trial.
The researchers found there was little difference in efficacy between the drugs, as both produced a significant improvement in stepping when compared to placebo. However, the difference in levels of response from the dogs in the trial ranged from no improvement to being able to take unassisted steps on a treadmill.
“The question quickly went from ‘Do the drugs work?’ to ‘Why aren’t they having similar effects across the board?’” Olby says. “And there are many possible factors to consider – some of the dogs may not have any axons left for the drug to act on, or it may depend upon how long they’ve been paralyzed or even whether or not they have a genetic predisposition to respond to this treatment.”
While Olby is pleased with the progress of the dogs who showed improvement during the trial, she is now focused on determining how best to identify patients that will respond best to the treatment. “There is no doubt that either or both of these medications can have an amazing effect on the right patient – but now we have to do the work of finding out what conditions make a patient the right one. If we can do that, we may save both patients and owners a lot of unnecessary frustration.”
Olby’s findings appear online in the journal PLOS One. Other contributors to the work include veterinary postdoctoral students Ji-Hey Lim and Audrey Muguet-Chanoit, as well as Eric Laber, NC State assistant professor of statistics.
Neurology Study May Lead to Better Outcomes for Paraplegic Dogs
Dr. Natasha Olby (left) and veterinary technician Kim Williams work with a dog at the NC State Veterinary Health and Wellness Gait Laboratory. Photo by Marc Hall.
5CVM magazine
Discovery
Beagles aren’t just one of America’s most popular dog breeds. According to new research from North Carolina State University’s Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research (CCMTR) they’re also key to new findings about the chromosomal changes associated with urothelial carcinoma, or bladder cancer. These findings could lead to better diagnostic tests for both canine and human patients.
Urothelial carcinoma is the most common form of bladder cancer in both canines and humans, and certain breeds of dogs—beagles, shelties, and several varieties of terriers—are more prone to the disease than others. More than 40,000 new cases of bladder cancer are estimated to occur in the canine population each year (there are approximately 74,000 new cases per year in humans). Since symptoms often mimic those of routine bladder infections and benign lesions, the disease is difficult to catch early.
Adding to the difficulty of diagnosing the disease is the fact that there is some evidence that performing biopsies on suspicious masses in dogs can lead to spread of the disease and make the cancer harder to treat.
“Bladder cancer is relatively treatable and median survival with standard of care therapy is generally around seven months, though about 20 percent of dogs can live for over a year,” says Matthew Breen, professor of genomics in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Biomedical Sciences and senior author of a CCMTR paper describing the research. “A confirmed diagnosis generally needs a biopsy specimen, but obtaining these
may cause the cancer to disperse across the bladder. What we need is an accurate means of diagnosis with a specimen that is both noninvasive and easy to collect, such as a sample of free-catch urine.”
Dr. Breen and a team of researchers decided to look at the genomes of the canine tumors to identify a signature that would identify these cancers. Susan Shapiro, a DVM/Ph.D. student in comparative biomedical sciences and the paper’s lead author, evaluated a series of canine specimens, isolated DNA samples from dogs with bladder cancer, and looked for genetic similarities.
“We found that in all cases of urothelial carcinoma we evaluated there was an aberrant number of copies of three particular canine chromosomes: 13, 19, and 36,” Shapiro says. “Dogs with bladder cancer would either gain extra copies of chromosomes 13 or 36, or lose one or both copies of chromosome 19.
“These were really exciting findings for us, since all patients showed at least one of these chromosome changes and most commonly a combination of the three,” Shapiro adds. “I’m really optimistic that these findings can help us create a reliable
diagnostic test to help clinicians catch tumors before they become aggressive and serve as a screening test for predisposed breeds.”
Breen decided to take the information one step further and determine the value of the canine data for advancing what is known about human bladder cancer. Collaborating with a group at the University of Utah led by pediatric oncologist Joshua Schiffman, the team mapped the canine genome to that of humans.
“We are able to take the genetic information from the dog and rearrange it so that it maps exactly to the human genome,” Breen says. “We then look at where the canine ‘trouble spots’ are on the human genome, and it helps us narrow down the search for genes that may play a role in cancer.” With input from Schiffman’s lab, Breen and his team found a gene located on human chromosome 8 called PABPC1 that looks very promising for both dogs and humans.
“The fact that we know with almost 100 percent certainty what to look for chromosomally in canine bladder cancer means that we are now are well on the way to developing a highly effective and noninvasive assay for early detection of canine bladder tumors” Breen says. “And the identification of PABPC1 as associated with bladder cancer in both dogs and humans may help us with early detection and better treatment options for those patients as well.”
The results appear in Chromosome
Research (doi:10.1007/s10577-015-9471-y).
Funding was provided by the Skippy Frank
Fund for Life Sciences and Translational
Research/ Rockefeller Philanthropy
Advisors, the National Institutes of Health,
and the NC State University-CVM Cancer
Genomics Fund.
—Tracey Peake
Beagles Help Researchers Study Genes Associated with Bladder Cancer
6Summer 2014
“We then look at where the canine ‘trouble spots’
are on the human genome, and it helps us narrow down the search for
genes that may play a role in cancer.”
Beagle research may aid human patients.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ke Cheng and researchers in his laboratory in the NC State Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research hope to change that statistic.
Dr. Cheng, an associate professor of regenerative medicine in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, is investigating what could become new treatment options for people suffering from cardiac disease.
In research published in Nature Communications, Cheng and his colleagues reported that a targeted nanoparticle may help heart attack patients regenerate healthy heart tissue without using donated or processed stem cells. This new nanomedicine could also alleviate some of the difficulties involved with stem cell therapy, including treatment delays and invasive procedures.
The particle, a “magnetic bi-functional cell engager” called MagBICE, consists of an iron platform with two different antibodies attached. These antibodies have different functions – one locates a patient’s own stem cells after a heart attack, and the other grabs injured tissue, allowing MagBICE to act as a matchmaker between injury and repair crew. The iron platform makes MagBICE
magnetically active, allowing physicians to direct the particles to the heart with an external magnetic field. The iron platform also enables magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The research team tested MagBICE in rats and found that the particle was effective in redirecting stem cells in the blood to the injured heart. Additionally, MagBICE was easier and faster to administer than current stem cell therapy products.
“MagBICE optimizes and amplifies the body’s own repair process, which means we don’t have to worry about patient rejection of donated stem cells, or delay treatment while a patient’s stem cells are being processed, purified and prepared,” Cheng says. “The drug can be offered to patients immediately after blood vessels to the damaged areas are reopened and can be given intravenously, which isn’t possible with stem cell therapy.”
Stem cell therapy remains a promising option for repairing heart tissue damaged by heart attack, according to Cheng. However, the main obstacle to cardiac
stem cell therapy also happens to be pretty difficult to correct or work around—and that’s the fact that the heart is constantly in motion.
“Cell retention is always problematic when you do cell transplantation, but in the heart it is particularly difficult,” says Cheng. “The heart’s pumping can wash cells out of the organ and they’ll either disappear or end up in other organs – where they are essentially wasted.”
Researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine are advancing the understanding of how best to treat pain in pet ferrets.
Ferrets have been domesticated for more than 2,000 years, long before house cats. A member of the mustelid family, which also includes otters, mink, badgers, and weasels, ferrets are inquisitive, affectionate, and playful—and an increasingly popular pet in American homes.
The popularity of the animal means more ferret owners are bringing their pets to veterinary practices for checkups and, when necessary, diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions.
Some of these treatments will mean prescribing a medication to ease post-procedure pain or discomfort. Until now, the only analgesic drug evaluated and licensed in the U.S. to treat pain in ferrets has been epidural morphine. Meanwhile, the nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) meloxicam has been studied in humans, birds, horses, sheep, rabbits, and rodents and is
commonly used to treat pain in dogs and cats. Further, meloxicam is available in an injectable and oral form.
The researchers studied meloxicam in nine male and female ferrets. Among the discoveries: the correct meloxicam dose may be similar to that needed for cats and dogs while male and female ferrets may have slightly different requirements. The detailed results are in the Journal of
Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. CVM researchers included: Sathya K. Chinnadurai, post-
doctoral resident in Department of Clinical Sciences; Kristen Messenger, lecturer in anesthesiology in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences; Mark Papich, professor in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences; and Craig Harms, associate professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences. Drs. Chinnadurai, Papich, and Harms are also members of the CVM Environmental Medicine Consortium.
Healing Damaged Hearts
Research Study Enhances Pain Treatment for Ferrets
7CVM magazine
Illus
trat
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by A
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Mac
Gre
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8Summer 2015
A new $16 million gift from the R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation will keep NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine on the cutting edge for years to come — by providing generous support for its student, faculty and research endowments.
The college is ranked third in the nation (U.S. News & World Report, 2015), a remarkable achievement given it only graduated its first students in 1985. That success is thanks in large part to the extraordinary private support the college receives from alumni and friends like the late Randall B. Terry, Jr.
A co-publisher of the High Point Enterprise, Terry first became involved with the College of Veterinary Medicine in 1998 when one of his nine beloved golden retrievers, Nike, fell ill. The
superb care Nike received at NC State prompted Terry to join and later preside over the North Carolina Veterinary Medicine Foundation (NCVMF). In the final years of his life, he was devoted to the betterment of veterinary medicine.
“I think his association with us was obviously through his love of animals,” said Dr. Oscar Fletcher, professor in poultry health management and member of the foundation’s board. “That just demonstrates the power of the human-animal bond.”
In his lifetime, Terry chaired a campaign that raised $10 million for veterinary student education at NC State. He gave more than $4 million himself in challenge grants and student scholarships. Following his death in 2004, the Terry Foundation pledged an initial $20 million to help build the Randall B. Terry, Jr. Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center, which opened in 2011.
More than twice the size of NC State’s original veterinary teaching hospital, the Terry
The Lasting Legacy of Randall B. Terry, Jr. Photographs by Marc Hall
9CVM magazine
Center is among the most advanced of its kind in the country. It realizes Terry’s vision of an outstanding environment where talented faculty and students can work at the forefront of veterinary medicine. And it combines with the college’s other extensive referral and emergency services to provide care for all those who need it.
“Like so many places at NC State, we’re providing a service to people,” says Fletcher. “In the Terry Center, we’ve got clients who are bringing their animals because they have a need, and we’ve got students learning how to apply the art and science of veterinary medicine to solving those problems.”
Those students are the chief recipients of the Terry Foundation’s latest gift: Half of the $16 million pledged will go toward supporting and training the next generation of veterinary leaders. This will more than double the college’s student scholarship endowment, ensuring that the top prospects in the nation can learn and thrive at NC State.
“Every student that graduates, that doesn’t have to pay back debt — that’s success,” said Susan Ward, member of NC State’s Board of Trustees and former NCVMF president. “Every new thing they try here, every problem they solve, that’s success. That’s how I measure it.”
The Terry Foundation’s new gift supports the college’s innovation and problem-solving, too. It includes a $3 million investment in research support and $5 million dedicated to attracting and retaining leading faculty in the field.
“Talented people are in demand all over the world, so they can go anywhere,” said Fletcher. “Private support helps us keep them in North Carolina. Endowed chairs, additional grant support — they give us a competitive edge.”
The Terry Foundation has also pledged to match other private donations and state funds raised, potentially doubling the gift’s impact. That, too, is in keeping with the legacy of Randall B. Terry, Jr.
“Randall always said he liked to use money to make money,” said Ward. “He’d say, ‘Let’s use it as a challenge gift, a matching challenge.’ We’d use that to attract other donors who would want to join his efforts.”
Thanks to those efforts, NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine now enjoys national pre-eminence and provides world-class care to more than 27,000 patients each year. With the continued support of the Terry Foundation and other friends, the college’s mission is bolder and more ambitious than ever.
“Private support provides us with the critical funding to do groundbreaking research,” said Chancellor Randy Woodson. “We are educating the next generation of veterinary health professionals and improving lives. It’s the investments that private support provides that allow NC State to think and do.”
The Terry Foundation’s new
gift supports the college’s
innovation and problem-solving,
too. It includes a $3 million
investment in research support
and $5 million dedicated to
attracting and retaining leading
faculty in the field.
Solving Problems, Saving Lives The Veterinary Hospital at NC State University is major referral center for veterinarians from throughout the Southeast. Board certified specialists annually diagnose and treat more than 27,000 patients who are often seriously ill and require the best that veterinary medicine offers. The patient case load also allows for instruction of the next generation of veterinarians and the opportunity for clinical trials that advance animal health and well-being.
By Whitney L.J. Howell
Photo by Lisa Speet
10Summer 2015
11CVM magazine
Henry, a Hanovarian horse, was fast. Galloping was always
one of his favorite things. Charging down a trail at speed, he
never missed an opportunity to let loose with a playful buck.
Until one day, he started to hurt. Initially, Henry tried to ignore
the pain to keep running in the field and competing in Hunter/
Jumper shows with his owner. As time passed, the pain grew. He
stopped running, and almost any exercise in the field or the show
ring caused discomfort. No matter what he did, he couldn’t shake
the problem, and his doctors were stumped.
The puzzle pieces finally started to come together when
Henry’s owners, the Thompsons, brought him to North Carolina
State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Despite his
uncertain future as a show horse, the Thompsons wanted him to
receive the best care possible.
“Henry has a great personality—he just loves people,” says
Julia Thompson. “He’s the sweetest thing, like the son I never
had. Seeing Henry in so much pain was very
distressing for my daughter because no one
could figure out what was wrong with him. She
was very attached to him.”
As a horse with undiagnosed head-shaking,
Henry needed a veterinarian experienced with
difficult-to-solve cases and a clinic with advanced
technologies and varied expertise unavailable
elsewhere.
Initially, his owners and primary care
veterinarian speculated Henry’s head-shaking
appeared because he wasn’t accustomed to the
gnats in his new environment. Bred in arid New
Mexico, he’d never encountered the insects so common in humid
Charleston, South Carolina. But when the behavior continued
to the point where he couldn’t hold a bit, everyone searched for
another reason.
Head-shaking in horses isn’t uncommon, according to Callie
Fogle, clinical associate professor of equine surgery at NC State’s
Veterinary Hospital. It’s thought to be similar to the severe
headaches and uncomfortable tingling sensations experienced
by humans with trigeminal neuralgia. The pain and tingling in
the head of the horse, however, manifests itself through head-
shaking, particularly during physical exertion. It can be extremely
debilitating.
“This can be a really terrible thing in a horse,” says Dr. Fogle.
“Some can’t eat, they can’t function, and most horses can’t
be ridden because of the bobbing and shaking of their head
the whole time. Some cases can be so uncomfortable that it is
difficult for them to live normally.”
Fogle discovered Henry’s problem during a preliminary
conversation with his trainer. When she opened Henry’s mouth,
she saw it—a mass invading his lower right jaw, pushing his
teeth out of alignment.
“His trainer was shocked,” Fogle says. “She’s very thorough
and attentive, and even she hadn’t seen this. That’s how quickly
this tumor had grown, and she was convinced that was the
source of Henry’s head-shaking.”
Fogle wasn’t convinced because head-shaking root causes
can be elusive and a mandibular, or lower jaw, problem causing
head shaking hadn’t been described before. Quick X-rays revealed
an abnormal growth of new bone in Henry’s jaw, radiating from
its center like a sunburst. Tests of a small sample of the growth
revealed that it was aggressive cancer, and the pathologist classified
it as a tumor of dental origin. The tests also revealed another
significant problem—Henry also had a bacterial infection in his jaw.
But the team needed more information. They
did a short-acting nerve block of the jaw and
took Henry out for exercise, to ensure the mass
was the problem spot. With this area of his jaw
desensitized, Henry was able to hold a bit and
had no head-shaking. Tumor-induced pain was
most likely the culprit behind the head-shaking,
which meant to treat Henry’s head-shaking,
she’d have to remove a significant portion of the
rostral, or front portion, of his mandible.
“In a horse, that’s not something to be taken
lightly because they need their teeth for grazing
and grasping things,” says Fogle. “It affects
them. We had to make sure we took enough of the jaw to get the
entire tumor, but no more than absolutely necessary.”
To get a better idea of the tumor’s exact location and size,
they anesthetized Henry and performed a CT scan with 3D
reconstruction images, an advanced imaging procedure not
available in the majority of equine veterinary clinics.
Fogle removed the whole right side of Henry’s rostral
mandible, including his canine and all incisor teeth on that side.
She was able to preserve enough of his jaw bone, though, so
that he didn’t need a prosthetic device or any stabilizing metal
implants. Henry was also given antibiotics to treat the bacterial
infection within his jaw.
Now, more than a year-and-a-half after surgery, Henry’s back
to his old activities and doing well according to the Thompsons.
“He’s like Prince Charming—still a loving, wonderful and kind
spirit, full of personality,” she said. “He’s doing much better and
his demeanor never changed. He just exudes charm.”
Henry: the Pain Puzzled His Doctors
3-D reconstruction of Henry’s Comput-erized Tomography (CT) scan shows tumor site and endotracheal tube.
Initially, Lisa Bass from Greenville, South Carolina, wasn’t keen that her son brought Buster home
from college. Her house was already crowded with a 13-year-old Labrador Retriever and an
18-year-old Schnauzer. She couldn’t see where a 12-week-old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy—
a toddler-sized dog—would fit. But after one summer, Buster won her over.
Buster: Pulmonic StenosisPhoto by Jeff Hammond
12Summer 2015
13CVM magazine
“We fell in love with him,” says Bass.” He makes you smile. He’s such a little cut-up. When he looks at you, it’s not with the eyes of a dog, but a person. He’s constantly playful—he’s the light of our lives.”
That’s why Bass was
so surprised when her
veterinarian heard a heart
murmur during Buster’s
one-year check-up. After an
echocardiogram (a cardiac
ultrasound exam), Buster’s
diagnosis was clear. He
had pulmonic stenosis—a
congenital defect of the
valve between the heart’s
right ventricle and the main
artery that carries blood
to the lungs (pulmonary
artery). This defect thickens
and narrows the valve,
forcing the heart to work
harder to pump blood
across it. Dogs with severe
pulmonic stenosis often live
shorter than normal lives,
and they can develop heart
failure or arrhythmias at a
relatively young age.
Even through Buster
was not showing clinical
signs of his heart defect,
he had a poor prognosis for a normal life. Buster’s pulmonic
stenosis was severe, causing a pressure difference between the
right ventricle and pulmonary artery of over 100mmHg (there is
normally no difference). The best option, Bass’s veterinarian said,
was an interventional procedure called balloon valvuloplasty, and
he referred Buster to the Hannah Heart Center of the Veterinary
Hospital at NC State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine—
the only veterinary heart center in North or South Carolina that
performs the procedure.
Balloon valvuloplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that
is done under general anesthesia in the cardiac catheterization
laboratory. A catheter is introduced through a needle stick in
either the jugular vein in the neck or the femoral vein in the groin.
Under fluoroscopic (x-ray) guidance, a high pressure balloon
is carefully placed across the defective valve. Once positioned,
the balloon is inflated to expand the valve area, relieving the
obstruction to blood flow across the valve. At NC State, the
procedure is permanently effective in returning the valve to near-
normal function more than 90% of the time.
Buster’s outcome, according to Dr. Teresa DeFrancesco,
section chief for cardiology,
dermatology, and oncology at
the Veterinary Hospital, was
outstanding.
Buster’s peak pressure
gradient fell to 44mmHg.
“Buster now has only mild
residual stenosis, and his
lifespan should no longer be
significantly shortened by
his heart defect. He still has a
heart murmur, but we’ve gone
from a severely affected dog to
one mildly affected.”
The Bass family sees no
change in Buster’s behavior—
and that’s just what they
wanted.
“From our perspective,
Buster has stayed the same,”
says Bass. “He never gave
us any indication that he was
sick, and now that he’s back
home and being Buster, you’d
never know he’d been sick. It’s
amazing that his energy level
is the same. He lights up a
room with his expressions. If I
had to do it all over again, there’s no question I’d bring Buster to
N.C. State.”
Buster, who probably would have died as a young adult, now
has the potential for a normal lifespan thanks to his veterinarian
who detected the problem during his annual checkup.
“Sometimes when dogs are older, the affected tissues are
tougher, and more difficult to dilate,” says DeFrancesco. “This
means our ability to help may be reduced. We like to see patients
with this defect as soon as possible. Puppies presenting with
loud murmurs (grade 3/6 and above) should be evaluated by a
veterinary cardiologist as soon as possible.”
Buster’s balloon valvuloplasty procedure involved a wire being threaded from the right jugular vein into the right heart and looped out into the pulmonary artery. The balloon shown here is almost completed inflated. The waist on the balloon is at the level of the stenotic or narrowed pulmonic valve. The balloon will be completely inflated opening up the valve.
14Summer 2015
It’s said there’s often one hen to rule the roost.
In the case of Alec Bergin, a 13-year-old boy from Moore
County, that hen is Alice, a rare breed Phoenix chicken. Ever since
Alice joined the Bergin family with three other Phoenix hens, Alec
has hand-fed her treats and watched her assume a leading-lady
role, hatching and mothering her share of 12 chicks.
“This is Alec’s own flock, and he takes care of them,” says
Jennifer Bergin, Alec’s mother. “He’s responsible for feeding and
watering them. He goes outside and spends 20 minutes every
day just watching them to make sure they’re acting normally. If
anything’s wrong, he can catch it early on.”
And that’s exactly what Alec did one evening. Instead of
running for her treat like normal, Alice stayed on her nest.
She only half-heartedly pecked at the niblet, and after looking
her over, Alec and his mother noticed her distended belly
and discovered her back end was covered in feces. Their first
assumption: she couldn’t lay her eggs.
Taking Alice to the community veterinarian wasn’t an option—
chickens aren’t everyday pets. To get this family hen the proper
care, Bergin brought her to the NC State Veterinary Hospital and
put her in Jeff Applegate’s hands.
“When Alice came in, she was very lethargic and exhibited
the distended belly or coelom so we started with a physical
exam, completed blood work, and proceeded to complete an
emergency ultrasound in concert with the Radiology Service,”
says Dr. Applegate, a clinical veterinarian specializing in
companion exotic animal medicine.
“The ultrasound revealed significant fluid and abnormal tissue in and around the reproductive tract,”
Applegate continues. “There shouldn’t have been any free fluid in her belly. Of the more routine birds that
Alice:Diagnosed with Uterine Cancer
Alec Bergin and Alice. Reproductive disease is common in chickens, and it’s analogous to uterine disease in humans and other mammals. Photo by Jeff Hammond.
we treat as pets, the abdomen or more appropriately referred to as
a coelom can be described as a central column of organs like the
heart, liver, and intestines, with the remaining space occupied by the
surrounding air sacs and lungs. ”
Reproductive disease is common in chickens, and it’s analogous
to uterine disease in humans and other mammals. The ultrasound
showed Alice had free coelomic fluid and abnormal tissue in her
oviduct, the tunnel in which an egg forms and by which it leaves the
hen’s body. The diagnosis was oviductal adenocarcinoma—Alice
had uterine cancer. The treatment: a salpingohysterectomy, the
avian equivalent to spay.
Once the Bergins green-lighted surgery, understanding Alice
would never again lay eggs, Applegate assembled a team from the
Exotic Animal Medicine Service to combine their skills during Alice’s
operation. Pooling talents from multiple specialties is a benefit the
NC State University Veterinary Hospital offers patients according to
Applegate. In cases like this, many collaborating hospital services
may include specialists from emergency and critical care, radiology,
anesthesia, and surgery.
The surgery—an invasive procedure with the surgeons removing
Alice’s diseased oviduct through a small L-shaped incision behind
her left leg—was a success with few complications and a moderate
amount of bleeding.
After two weeks recuperating in the Bergin’s master bathroom,
Alice moved back outside and assumed her leadership position.
“She’s living with friends and doesn’t look any different from the
other hens,” Bergin says. “She’s a valued member of our family as
much as the cats and dogs are.”
Surgeon’s NotesThe decision to pursue an avian
salpingohysterectomy is often considered a
last resort due to risks associated with avian
anesthesia and surgery.
Veterinarians who specialize in avian medicine
tend to be comfortable with these types of
procedures but that by no means eliminates the
risks. Effort taken prior to surgery ensure that the
patient is as stable as possible for anesthesia.
These efforts include conducting a thorough
physical exam, blood work, and imaging such
as radiographs (X-rays) and/or ultrasound to
characterize the current disease process as
thoroughly as possible and to rule out any other
underlying diseases. In Alice’s case, she was also
administered a medication by injection weeks prior
to the surgery to help reduce any reproductive
activity and decrease bleeding during surgery.
Avian patients that undergo surgery at NC State
through the Exotic Animal Medicine Service are
managed with the most advanced techniques
possible. Each patient is intubated with a tube in
their airway to manage breathing, an intravenous
catheter is placed in a vein for fluid support, and
they are monitored with a variety of equipment
including an ECG to monitor heart rate and
rhythm, a pulse oximeter to monitor the oxygen
in the blood, a capnograph to monitor exhaled
carbon dioxide, and equipment for temperature
and blood pressure monitoring.
Specialized surgical instrumentation are employed
such as custom made forceps, radiosurgery
and lenses worn by the surgeon to magnify the
surgical field. Following surgery, avian patients
are hospitalized in one of a variety hospital wards
each specializing in a different level of care, from
general hospital to the intensive care unit.
This ultrasound showed Alice had fluid in her abdomen and soft tissue enlargement of the oviduct (“avian uterus”). The diagnosis was oviductal adenocarcinoma, a type of malignant cancer.
15CVM magazine
16Summer 2015
Singing the Praises of the Teaching Animal Unit Photography by Wendy Savage
A few steps from course lectures in the South Theater
is an 80-acre educational jewel that is meaningful to
veterinary students and appreciative graduates of the
NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
The Teaching Animal Unit, or TAU as it is most
commonly called, is a unique attribute among North
American veterinary programs in that NC State has the
only college of veterinary medicine with an on-site,
commercial teaching and working farm.
Representing the most modern of farm management
practices, the TAU houses six major livestock groups—
beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, swine, poultry (chickens
in spring and turkeys in the fall), and small ruminants
(goats and sheep)—and operates as a small scale
production farm to provide quality training for veterinary
students.
The TAU and its animals provide the foundation for
six core courses taught to all students in each semester
of the first three years of the four-year DVM curriculum.
Alumni—most of whom do not go into farm animal
practice—consistently rate the program’s didactic
teaching opportunities and 155 annual hands-on, live-
animal laboratories as one of the best experiences the
CVM offers.
I FEEL THE TAU IS THE NC STATE CVM’S GREATEST ASSET. We practiced medicine as if we were working for a future
client whose only source of income was their dairy cattle, beef cattle,
swine, or poultry operation. I was lucky to be offered a job to work
nights and weekends at the TAU. This not only gave me invaluable
experience with farm operations, but a new respect for how much
work everyone puts in on a day to day basis. My current practice
consists of 60% large animal and 40% small animal general practice.
—DR. JAMES MCCREA, CLASS OF 2011
17CVM magazine
Singing the Praises of the Teaching Animal Unit Photography by Wendy Savage
The mission of the Teaching Animal Unit:
provide veterinary students with high-quality,
relevant live-animal experiences and
training focusing on modern management,
husbandry, disease prevention, and
treatment strategies for the major North
Carolina agricultural animal groups.
MANY OF THE STUDENTS THAT GO THROUGH THE PROGRAM will go on to work in facets of the veterinary profession
that have nothing to do with production animal medicine, but as
our society continues to become more removed from the farm, it is
crucial that we educate the general public about what is being done
on farms and why. I believe that as animal health professionals we
should be the ones leading the charge to educate consumers on
where their food comes from.
—LUKE MARTIN, CLASS OF 2016
18Summer 2015
THE TAU HAS BEEN A GREAT RESOURCE FOR CVM STUDENTS. We
are very fortunate to walk out the back door and work with all of the major
livestock species. For students who do not have a farm animal background,
the TAU is especially vital to their understanding of proper livestock
production.
——PATRICK BRINSON, CLASS OF 2015
THE TAU IS A SAFE, CONSTRUCTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT where the students are able to practice animal
handling and routine medical procedures. I have learned how to feed and take care of a range of animal species, as well as be
part of some of the management and veterinary decisions for them. The TAU is also a place of employment for me, as I’m one
of the group of students from each DVM class hired to help with farm activity. There is no better view than stepping out of the
milking parlor to a bright sunrise over a dairy pasture on a cool, crisp, and quiet morning.
——JESSICA SMITH, CLASS OF 2016
ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS ABOUT TAU is that it provides the
opportunity to students, who may
have never stepped foot on a farm, to
get connected to agriculture and food
animals. Being able to work on a farm
through school has kept my goals in
clear site. I believe the TAU does more
than teach us about food animals, it
teaches us how to be bold, patient, and
think practically, which will allow us to
be better veterinarians in the future.
—SARAH DUNNIGAN, CLASS OF 2016
19CVM magazine
THE ORIENTATION OF THE FARM, so close to the educational building,
affords students the ability to work with food animal species almost from day
one. I was able to treat cows, participate in dystocias of multiple species, and
palpate many horses—all within walking distance of class. The TAU provides
students with a complete scope of the husbandry and care of each species. The
managers of each area do an amazing job planning farm operations around both
best industry practices and student schedules to maximize student exposure
to all aspects of the farm. TAU lends support to many courses throughout the
curriculum, which allows the school to have such a well-rounded educational
experience. Every school should strive to have such a facility.
—DR. DOUGLAS RAY, CLASS OF 2009
20Summer 2015
Elected AAAS FellowDavid Dorman, a professor of
toxicology in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the world’s most important scientific societies and publisher of the journal Science.
AAAS elevates members to the rank of Fellow for their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. Dr. Dorman is being recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of toxicology, particularly research investigating the nasal and neurotoxicity of environmental chemicals.
Dorman’s research has addressed contemporary issues concerned with environmental and occupational hazards of exposure to a range of agents such as methanol, hydrogen sulfide, and Middle East sand dust. The toxicology professor is an internationally recognized authority in metal neurotoxicity, particularly for his studies on manganese. This work has helped guide federal authorities, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in formulating risk assessment decisions on permissible levels of manganese in the atmosphere. Most recently, he investigated olfaction and cognition in dogs, especially dogs used for the detection of improvised explosive devices.
Dorman has also made substantial contributions to the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences and has served as a member of the National Toxicology Program Board of Scientific Counselors. He is a recipient of the Society of Toxicology’s
Achievement Award, which is given to an early career individual, who has made
significant contributions to toxicology.
Founded in 1848, the AAAS is the world’s largest scientific society with 261 affiliated societies and academies of science serving 10 million individuals. The AAAS began awarding the distinction of Fellow in 1874.
Fletcher Distinguished Professor Matthew Breen, a professor of
genomics in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, has been named the Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor in Comparative Oncology Genetics.
A member of a team that decoded the canine genome in 2005, Dr. Breen is recognized internationally for his research into molecular cytogenetics—the study of the structure and function of cells and chromosomes—and the comparative medicine application to canine and human cancers.
Breen’s accomplishments include publishing in more than 160 peer-reviewed journals and having his research receive more than 4,400 citations. His investigations are supported by
government, corporate, and foundation sources and he is frequently requested to serve on important science panels and boards.
Approved by the North Carolina State Board of Trustees, the $1 million Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professorship is made possible through a financial arrangement by which $666,000 provided by the R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation will be matched by $334,000 from the Distinguished Professor Endowment Trust Fund managed by the University of North Carolina General Administration.
The endowed professorship is named for Terry Foundation board member Oscar Fletcher, the second dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine who remains on the faculty of the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology. Fletcher was a friend of philanthropist Randall B. Terry, Jr. who served as chairman of the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Foundation. Mr. Terry died in 2004.
NC State University Faculty Scholar
Sid Thakur, an associate professor of molecular epidemiology in the Department of Population, Health and Pathobiology, is a recipient of the North Carolina State University’s University Faculty Scholars honor for 2014-15.
NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson announced the award which recognizes top early- and mid-career faculty members and is part of the university’s strategic
Accolades
David Dorman is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Oscar J. Fletcher (left) and Matthew Breen at ceremony announcing the Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor in Comparative Oncology Genetics.
Faculty Scholar funds will support Sid Thakur’s research into antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens.
21CVM magazine
initiative to invest in and retain top faculty.
As a Faculty Scholar, Dr. Thakur will receive $10,000 in donated funds for each of the next five years. The funds will be used, in part, to support his research into the complex chain of events that lead to the development of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens that affect the health of both animals and humans.
Faculty members eligible for the award include assistant professors who have been reappointed for a second term, associate professors, and full professors within the first three years of appointment. Nominees are evaluated based on evidence of their significant achievements in scholarship, teaching and/or service appropriate to their rank and discipline.
Thakur also heads the Emerging, Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases research core in the NC State Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research. The core, which integrates basic and clinical research, involves initiatives of more than 45 collaborating scientists from three different NC State colleges and researchers from the University of North Carolina and Duke University. Core focus areas include molecular pathogenesis, antibiotic resistance, microbial diversity, pathogen detection, therapeutics and vaccines, and the effects of the environment on infectious disease.
Seaks Professor for Companion Animal Medicine
Bruce Keene, a professor of cardiology in the Department of Clinical Sciences, has been named the Jane Lewis Seaks Distinguished Professor for Companion Animal Medicine.
Dr. Keene is a pioneer in interventional cardiology, metabolic treatment of cardiac
disease, and clinical trial design. He has served as the principal investigator or co-investigator in numerous studies funded by foundation, industry, and federal awards while maintaining a heavy rotation schedule in the Veterinary Hospital’s Cardiology Service. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the Duke Department of Pediatrics.
The Jane Lewis Seaks distinguished professorship was established in 2008 by Dr. Terry G. Seaks—a Professor Emeritus of Economics and member of the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Foundation Board of Directors—to honor Jane Lewis Seaks, his wife of 38 years, and in recognition of the care their family pets received at the Veterinary Hospital.
The $1 million endowed
professorship is made
possible through a financial
arrangement in which a
donation of appreciated
securities by Terry and
Jane Seaks is matched by
an unrestricted gift from the R.B. Terry
Charitable Foundation and the University
of North Carolina General Administration
through its Distinguished Professor
Endowment Trust Fund.
Keene is the second recipient of this
distinguished professorship following
colleague Clarke Atkins.
Beal Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service
Gigi Davidson, Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services, is the recipient of the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention’s highest honor, the Beal Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service.
The award is given once every five years and is presented at the USP Convention Membership Meeting. Davidson was chosen for her contributions in developing compounding standards for
human and veterinary patients during a critical period in public health. She is the fifth person to receive the Beal Award and the first woman and the first veterinary pharmacist to be honored.
Davidson served as chair of the USP Compounding Expert Committee and played a major leadership role in USP’s response to public health crises involving contaminated compounded preparations. During her tenure, Davidson was engaged in multiple expert committees, advisory panels and industry forums and oversaw
the development of an excess of 30 new compounded preparation monographs.
Davidson, who represents the USP on the 14-member U.S. Food and Drug Administration Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, spearheaded the development of the “USP on Compounding: A Guide for the Compounding Practitioner.”
At a special ceremony during the USP Convention Meeting, Davidson received a crystal sculpture representing USP’s spirit of voluntarism, an honorary lifetime membership to the USP Convention, and a $10,000 cash award which Davidson has directed be donated to the veterinary pharmacy residency program at the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dean Paul Lunn (far left) Jane Lewis Seaks Distinguished Professor Dr. Bruce Keene, benefactor Terry G. Seaks, and Professor Emeritus Dr. Clarke Atkins, previous Seaks Professor.
Beal Distinguished Award recipient Gigi Davidson.
22Summer 2015
Randolph Reid and Betty Minton
share a love of animals—
especially dogs. So when a
beloved retriever was diagnosed
with cancer and given a few
months to live, the couple wanted
to ensure he would receive the
best possible healthcare.
They found that care, and much more, at the
NC State College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Their
experiences there led the retired Clayton couple to
make a generous bequest that will benefi t the college.
“You’ve got to plan,” Randolph said. “That’s what
Chancellor (Randy) Woodson is working on, building
the foundation
for the future. It’s
important to support
the university today,
but you have to think
15, 20, 25 years down
the road, too.”
The couple’s
relationship with
CVM began over
the 1997 New Year’s
Eve holiday, when
their 12-year-old fl at
coat retriever, Buck,
grew ill. Still working
as an executive in the homebuilding industry at the
time, Randolph had recently become friends with
CVM oncologist Dr. Sylvester Price while building him
a house. Buck soon became a CVM cancer patient.
Excellent care helped him beat the odds and enjoy a
good quality of life for nearly three more years.
“That’s really what it’s about—helping animals is
also helping people,” Randolph said. “When Buck
got sick, I was overseeing 120 employees and we
built 400 houses a year. But I worried about him. The
vet school staff was great and really took a load of
anxiety off us.”
“They do so many wonderful things here (at
CVM),” Betty said. “They’ve been so good to our
dogs; they’re so compassionate.” The couple views
the college—which U.S. News & World Report
has ranked third in the nation among colleges of
veterinary medicine—as a jewel in NC State’s crown
and an invaluable regional resource.
A couple of years after Buck’s diagnosis, Randolph
began chatting even more regularly with CVM
volunteers during visits there with another dog, Molly,
who was undergoing hip treatment. That experience
inspired him to become a volunteer greeter himself.
He enjoys aiding clients who have brought their
animals to CVM from across the region or out of
state: “I see what this place means to people. Animals
are part of their families.”
A willingness “to do anything, even cleaning
up the dog walk area,” he joked, helped lead to his
service as chair of the North Carolina Veterinary
Medical Foundation that supports CVM. “I’m an ECU
pirate in every sense of the word—except when it
comes to the NC State vet school,” said Randolph, a
proud 1973 East Carolina graduate.
Through Randolph’s board role, the couple
grew more knowledgeable about, and appreciative
of, CVM’s cutting-edge research and innovative
education. Randolph speaks enthusiastically, for
example, about the college’s linear accelerator—a
sort of ultra-sophisticated X-ray machine that can
revolutionize cancer treatment. The ripple effects of
such technology include an increased ability to attract
top faculty, he said, and private giving is important to
boost that level of effort.
In 2012 the couple used appreciated stock to
establish the Molly and Felix Team Work Research
Fund—an endowment named in memory of Molly
and a third dog who was a CVM patient—to provide
grants for CVM clinicians engaged in collaborative
work across departments and even colleges.
They are excited about studies happening at
CVM in fi elds including translational regenerative
medicine, one of NC State’s interdisciplinary focus
areas. “There’s important research going on here that
can impact human health, as well,” said Betty, who
is an alumna of NC State’s College of Humanities and
Social Sciences (CHASS) and of Meredith College.
“We feel like you work hard all your life. You want
some of your money to make a real difference,”
Randolph said. “It’s hard for me to imagine what
veterinary medicine might be like in 30 years, but we
hope to contribute so that this college can maintain
its position as a world leader.”
Lisa Coston Hall is with the NC State Offi ce of
Development Communications and Donor Relations.
For the Love of Animals By Lisa Coston Hall
Friends
Randolph Reid and Betty Minton and a few friends.
LEAVE A LASTING LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.
A bequest is a unique way to have a lasting impact on the people and organizations that mean the most to you while retaining control of your assets during your lifetime. The North Carolina Veterinary Medical Foundation can be named a beneficiary of your will, trust, retirement plan or financial accounts. Your bequest may be made in several ways: a dollar amount, a percentage of your estate, or a specific asset.
To learn more about the benefits of making a charitable bequest, call the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Foundation today at 919-513-6660 or visit: www.cvm.ncsu.edu/ncvmf
NC State UniversityCollege of Veterinary MedicinePO Box 8401Raleigh, NC 27695
919.513.6660www.cvm.ncsu.edu
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PERMIT NO. 2353
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SAVE THE DATE!
20th AnnualNorth Carolina Veterinary ConferenceNovember 6 – 8, 2015 • Raleigh Convention Center
http://ncveterinaryconference.com