Poster day showcases WCVM research
What exactly do graduate students at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) investigate in their research programs?
By Myrna MacDonald
Based on the research displayed during the WCVM's annual Graduate Student Poster Days, the college's graduate students are studying a wide range of topics — everything from initiatives in clinical and basic sciences to translational research and comparative medicine projects.
More than 30 graduate students from the WCVM's five departments participated in the two-day event that took place in the veterinary college on March 13 and 14. As part of the event, a team of three judges — Drs. Susantha Gomis, John Harding and Jaswant Singh — reviewed all of the research posters and selected the top two in three different categories.
First-place winners received $200 each while second-place recipients each earned $100 cheques. The prize money was generously supplied by Pfizer Animal Health, Merial Canada and the WCVM's Research Office. The following students received recognition for their efforts in the three categories:
Basic Science
Para-clinical Sciences
More than 30 graduate students from the WCVM's five departments participated in the two-day event that took place in the veterinary college on March 13 and 14. As part of the event, a team of three judges — Drs. Susantha Gomis, John Harding and Jaswant Singh — reviewed all of the research posters and selected the top two in three different categories.
First-place winners received $200 each while second-place recipients each earned $100 cheques. The prize money was generously supplied by Pfizer Animal Health, Merial Canada and the WCVM's Research Office. The following students received recognition for their efforts in the three categories:
Basic Science
- Nora Denk, a graduate student in the Departments of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, received first prize for her poster, "Development and characterization of a murine retinal explant tissue culture system as an in vitro model for ocular gene therapy." Supervisor: Dr. Bruce Grahn.
- Rui Zhang, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, received second prize for her poster, "Molecular mechanism for the Zhangfei-mediated suppression of osteosarcoma cells." Supervisor: Dr. Vikram Misra.
- Jennifer Adolphe, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, received first place for her poster, "Obesity is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes and insulin resistance in dogs." Supervisor: Dr. Lynn Weber.
- Miriam Cervantes, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, also received first place for her poster, "A new approach to assess ovarian structures in live rabbits: surgical translocation and ultrasound biomicroscopy." Supervisor: Dr. Gregg Adams.
Para-clinical Sciences
- Janna Schurer, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, received first place for her poster, "Parasitic zoonoses and veterinary public health in northern Saskatchewan." Supervisor: Dr. Emily Jenkins.
- Jennifer Town, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, received second place for her poster, "Profiling the microbial consortium of anaerobic digesters processing agricultural waste." Supervisor: Dr. Tim Dumonceaux.