College of Veterinary Medicine

Merck-Merial Vet Scholar Program

Merck-Merial Veterinary Scholar Program

Student Projects, Summer, 2007:

Stacy Brendtro; Faculty advisor: Kathy R. Magnusson. The effects of intracerebroventricular injections of NMDA receptor antagonist on spatial reference memory performance in young and old mice.
Megan Christie; Faculty advisors: Dr. Anna Firshman and Dr. Christopher Cebra. Physiologic studies of insulin resistance in camelids: Glucose-dependent arginine stimulation test for characterization of islet function.
Christopher Levine; Faculty advisors: Dr. Ling Jin and Dr. Christiane V. Löhr. Pathogenesis of a new fatal alpha-herpesvirus isolated from an outbreak in Alaskan rabbits.
Rachel Luksic; Faculty Advisor: Dr. Debra L. Hickman. Characterization of body condition score as a method of assessing health status in rats.
Amy E. Poisel; Faculty advisor: Dr. Michael L. Kent. From anecdote to evidence: Commercial disinfectants and Cryptosporidium parvum inactivation.
Danielle Schaefer; Faculty advisor Dr. Christiane V. Löhr. Characterization of (micro)anatomic anomalies of placentas from idiopathic camelid abortions.

Student Projects, Summer, 2006:

Daniel Lewer; Faculty advisor: Drs. John Mata, Scott Gustafson, and Christiane Löhr. Quantitative analysis of cyclooxygenase-1 and 2 expression within the synovium and effects of preoperative use of COX-2 inhibitors associated with canine cranial cruciate damage
Elizabeth Burns; Faculty advisor: Dr. Chris Cebra. Sensitivity of sucrose McMaster’s dilution technique and Stoll’s flotation technique at different time points for different concentrations of camelid parasite ova and oocysts
Matthew Goetz; Faculty advisor: Dr. Kathy Magnuson. Effects of antagonizing epsilon2 subunit containing NMDA receptors in the insular and orbital cortex of C57BL mice
Monica Grimes; Faculty advisor: Dr. Michelle Kutzler. Determination of testicular blood flow in llamas using vascular casting and Doppler color flow ultrasonography
Jaye Hartman; Faculty advisor: Dr. Jean Hall. Effects of dietary (N-3) fatty acid supplementation on allergen-induced airway inflammation in mice
Jeanne Martin; Faculty advisor: Drs. Beth Valentine and Chris Cebra. Characterization of Lymphoma in 19 Camelids by immunohistochemistry for lymphocyte markers

Student Projects, Summer, 2005:

Brianna Beechler: Faculty advisor: Dr. Craig Mosley. Pharmacokinetics of propofol in gopher snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus)
Kate Earl: Faculty co-advisors: Drs. Christiane Löhr and Barry Cooper. Characterization and classification of cutaneous feline dermal spindle cell tumors using immunohistochemical staining and polymerase chain reaction for papillomavirus late gene sequences
Rosanne Gilbert: Faculty co-advisors: Drs. Michelle Kutzler and Karyn Bird. Determination of platelet aggregation factors in llamas
Adam Klomp: Faculty advisor: Dr. Manoj Pastey. Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against the hemagglutinin of H5 and H7 subtypes of avian influenza virus.
Lea Schroeder: Faculty co-advisors: Drs. Michelle Kutzler and Karyn Bird. Determination of normal coagulation times in llamas
Daniel Vandermay: Faculty advisor: Dr. Luiz Bermudez. Screening Mycobacterium avium subsp, paratuberculosis transposon library for genes involved in the invasion of bovine intestinal epithelial cells
Matthew Wesley: Faculty advisor: Drs. Jill Parker. Effects of different collection methods, storage techniques, and blood contamination on the molecular and rheologic properties of equine synovial joint fluid

Student Projects, Summer, 2003:

Kirsten Eaton: Use of constant rate infusion of ketamine in alpacas for analgesia as demonstrated by reduced MAC values (Dr. John Schlipf)
Jennifer Edmonds: Investigative study on the use of Biorelease P LA 150 (R) and Biorelease P LA 30 D (R) to regulate estrous cycle and ovulation in the mare (Dr. Michelle Kutzler)
Dana Hoyt: The use of neutrophil chemoattractant activity in bronchoalveloar lavage fluid (BALF) as a quantitative parameter to distinguish recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) horses from normal horses (Dr. Jean Hall and Dr. John Schlipf)
Autumn Rankin: Effects of hyaluronic acid treatment on the mechanical properties of joint fluid in horses (Dr. Jill Parker)
Lisa Schlimmer: Fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome in laying hens: An investigation into the role of dietary fatty acids (Dr. Gita Cherian)
Jaime Ueda: Effects of long-acting exogenous insulin on glucose clearance in alpacas (Dr. Chris Cebra)
Clarissa Zuver: Evaluation of leukotriene (LT) B4 and B5 production by calcium ionophore stimulated neutrophils from airways and whole blood of normal horses and horses diagnosed with recurrent airway obstruction (Dr. Jean Hall and Dr. John Schlipf)

Student Projects, Summer, 2002:

Hope Gard: The presence of ubiquitin in polysaccharide storage myopathy of horses (Dr. Beth Valentine)
Rebecca Jester: Effects of feed restriction on energy metabolism and factors affecting the development of hepatic lipidosis in llamas (Dr. Chris Cebra and Dr. Sue Tornquist)
Donald LeHoullier: Feasibility of photodynamic therapy for treatment of equine sarcoid (Dr. Scott Gustafson)
Jennifer Simpson: Electrocardiogram as a tool to investigate the etiology of diet-related metabolic diseases in birds (Dr. Gita Cherian)

Student Projects, Summer, 2001:

Lynn Healy: Captive pygmy rabbit nutrition (Dr. Bechert)
Kelly White: Investigations into photodynamic therapy for equine sarcoids (Dr. Gustafson)
Sara Wilson: Monitoring environmental stress in wild hippos through molecular analysis of stress-activated proteins (Dr. Bechert)
Xenia Zawadzkas: Comparison of cardiovascular and respiratory effects of desflurane and isoflurane anesthesia in horses (Dr. Grubb)
Denise Wilson: Stabilizing cardiac arrythmias and sudden death syndrome in broiler chickens through diet (Dr. Cherian)