WCVM graduate student Aline Costa de Freitas received second prize (microbiology and toxicology) for her research poster. Photo: Dr. Janet Hill.
WCVM graduate student Aline Costa de Freitas received second prize (microbiology and toxicology) for her research poster. Photo: Dr. Janet Hill.

Grad students shine at poster day

What exactly do graduate students at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) investigate in their research programs?

The WCVM's annual Graduate Student Poster Days provided the perfect opportunity to view the diverse and innovative topics that are being studied.

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 11 and 12.

As part of the event, judges Drs. John Harding, Jaswant Singh, Susantha Gomis and Elisabeth Snead reviewed all of the posters and selected the top three in three categories.

The winning students were presented with a citation and a cash prize – $200 for first place, $150 for second place and $100 for an honourable mention. The following students received recognition for their efforts in the three categories:

Microbiology and Toxicology

    • Rui Zhang, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, received first prize for her poster, "Zhangfei/CREBZF arrests the growth of osteosarcoma cells by displacing Mdm2 and stabilizing p53." Supervisor: Dr. Vikram Misra.

    • Aline Costa de Freitas, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, received second prize for her poster, "Characterization of atypical Bifidobacterium-dominated human vaginal microbiota." Supervisor: Dr. Janet Hill.

    • Shanika Kurukulasuriya, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Pathology, received an honourable mention for her poster, "Immunosuppressive effects of variant strain of IBDV NC171 in commercial broiler chickens." Supervisor: Dr. Susantha Gomis.


Physiology — Reproduction – Pathology

    • Asha Perera, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Pathology, earned first prize for her poster, "Evaluation of feather corticosterone as an integrated measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in lesser scaup (Aythya affinis)." Co-supervisors: Drs. Catharine Soos and Karen Machin.

    • Manuel Palomino, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, received second prize for his poster, "Effect of a low dose of eCG on superovulation and embryo collection in wood bison during the breeding season." Supervisor: Dr. Gregg Adams.

    • Alisha, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, received an honourable mention for her poster, "Comparison of slow freezing and vitrification techniques for cryopreservation of in vitro produced bovine embryos." Co-supervisors: Drs. Muhammad Anzar and Jaswant Singh.


Immunology

    • Rylan Bridge, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, received first prize for his poster, "Dual and opposing role of the cellular autophagy pathway in human monocyte survival." Co-supervisors: Drs. Marko Kryworuchko and Suresh Tikoo.

    • Stacy Anderson, a graduate student in the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, earned second prize for her poster, "Lipopolysaccharide delays apoptosis of equine neutrophils in vitro."  Supervisor: Dr. Baljit Singh.

    • Margaret Scuderi, a resident in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, received an honourable mention for her poster, "Outcome based on treatment protocol in patients with primary canine immune-mediated thrombocytopenia: 58 cases (2000-2013)." Supervisor: Dr. Elisabeth Snead.
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