The aim of the Georgia Veterinary Scholars Research Program (GVSP) at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine (UGA-CVM) is to immerse academically talented veterinary students from across the US in cutting edge research, inspiring them toward careers in biomedical research, and fostering in them deeper understanding of the goals and needs for veterinary research. Critical to this aim is the GVSP's commitment to broad, inclusive recruitment of students and careful pairing with strong, cross-disciplinary mentors who are not only capable of providing a thorough exposure to the principles underlying the conduct of research, but who also provide a scientific environment that instills a sense of community. The expansion of biotechnology frontiers requires research veterinarians who are well-trained organismal biologists. Such individuals are also key players in the disciplines of comparative medicine, public health, and food safety. Furthermore, veterinarians have the breadth of knowledge to have major impacts on the study of emerging and reemerging zoonotic diseases that are spurred by burgeoning societal and climate changes. Nevertheless, veterinary students are often not aware of career opportunities in research and in many cases do not recognize the role of veterinarians in many of these exciting areas. Clearly, for the promises of """"""""One Health"""""""" and translational medicine to be realized in healthier people and animals, we will need more veterinarians engaged in research. The GVSP strives to showcase the excitement and wonder of a research career to future veterinarians to inspire them to choose research as their profession. The renewal of our training grant will help with this important goal. UGA-CVM has the programmatic and administrative structure necessary, built on the experience of the past 16 years, to successfully achieve the proposed training of six veterinary students. During the 12-week program the students are welcomed into the discipline and camaraderie of the scientific community and challenged to think differently. Fundamental skills are conveyed through seminars on the ethics and conduct of research, animal welfare, and communication skills as well as an informal journal club at the homes of faculty, team building and leadership exercises. The central experience is full time hypothesis-based research with a mentor of the student's choosing, culminating in written and oral presentations at the university and national levels. The PI is the director of all the Summer Programs at UGA-CVM and is supported in the GVSP by 24 mentors from five different colleges and 11 different departments. The GVSP is designed to capture the imagination of future veterinarians at a formative time to inspire them to develop into independent investigators.

Public Health Relevance

There has developed a great need in contemporary society for veterinarians trained in the methodology of basic research. Unfortunately, veterinary students are often not aware of the career possibilities in these areas of need. The expansion of biotechnology frontiers requires contributions by veterinary scientists capable of evaluating whole animal health issues while being expert, or at least conversant, with the rapidly evolving technologies. We believe our proposed training grant (competitive renewal) Georgia Veterinary Scholar Summer Research Program will make veterinary students more aware of and likely to pursue careers in research. Such veterinary research scientists will then be particularly well equipped to identify unique features of various animal models of human disease, to advance studies in translational medicine and animal health, to navigate the interface of animal and ecological health, and to be leaders in public health.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)
Type
NRSA Short -Term Research Training (T35)
Project #
5T35OD010433-08
Application #
8642220
Study Section
Comparative Medicine Review Committee (RIRG)
Program Officer
Moro, Manuel H
Project Start
2006-04-01
Project End
2017-03-31
Budget Start
2014-04-01
Budget End
2015-03-31
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Georgia
Department
Veterinary Sciences
Type
Schools of Veterinary Medicine
DUNS #
City
Athens
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30602
Hortua Triana, Miryam A; Márquez-Nogueras, Karla M; Chang, Le et al. (2018) Tagging of Weakly Expressed Toxoplasma gondii Calcium-Related Genes with High-Affinity Tags. J Eukaryot Microbiol 65:709-721
Volokhov, Dmitriy V; Hwang, Jusun; Chizhikov, Vladimir E et al. (2017) Prevalence, Genotype Richness, and Coinfection Patterns of Hemotropic Mycoplasmas in Raccoons (Procyon lotor) on Environmentally Protected and Urbanized Barrier Islands. Appl Environ Microbiol 83:
Krishna, Saritha; Lin, Zhoumeng; de La Serre, Claire B et al. (2016) Time-dependent behavioral, neurochemical, and metabolic dysregulation in female C57BL/6 mice caused by chronic high-fat diet intake. Physiol Behav 157:196-208
Jara, Amanda L; Hanson, Jarod M; Gabbard, Jon D et al. (2016) Comparison of Microchip Transponder and Noncontact Infrared Thermometry with Rectal Thermometry in Domestic Swine (Sus scrofa domestica). J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci 55:588-93
Miller, Colette N; Morton, Heidi P; Cooney, Paula T et al. (2014) Acute exposure to high-fat diets increases hepatic expression of genes related to cell repair and remodeling in female rats. Nutr Res 34:85-93
Barton, M H; Paske, E; Norton, N et al. (2014) Efficacy of cyclo-oxygenase inhibition by two commercially available firocoxib products in horses. Equine Vet J 46:72-5
Ulrich, Paul N; Lander, Noelia; Kurup, Samarchith P et al. (2014) The acidocalcisome vacuolar transporter chaperone 4 catalyzes the synthesis of polyphosphate in insect-stages of Trypanosoma brucei and T. cruzi. J Eukaryot Microbiol 61:155-65
Miller, Colette N; Della-Fera, Mary Anne; Baile, Clifton A (2013) The Mediation of Hepatic Lipogenesis Through Estrogens. Postdoc J 1:27-38