PATHOBIOLOGIST - Ontario Veterinary College

Dear Colleagues

Mixed reviews from the groundhogs today but spring is coming! sometime.

Dr. Brandon Lillie has agreed to be Assistant Chair until Sept. 2016, when he will begin study leave.

Thanks Andrew Peregrine for serving for the last 5 months. Many positive changes are taking place at the University and I hope that I have seen the last of budget cuts as Chair.

I will continue to rely on your input and contributions as we adapt and strive to maintain our high standards in research and teaching. Cheers John

June 2015 Department of Pathobiology Monthly Newsletter FEBRUARY 2016

PATHOBIOLOGIST

Congratulations

Dr. Byram Bridle received $12,265 from the Pet Trust Foundation for a project entitled "Construction and validation of viral-vectored vaccines to induce robust tumour-specific T cell responses in dogs with oral melanomas".

Dr. Darren Wood and Dr. Geoff Wood have received $28,653 from Pet Trust Foundation for their project entitled “Correlation between plasma and tumour cell microRNA in dogs with multicentric lymphoma”. The award will support DVSc student Karlee Craig’s project.

NEWS and MEDIA

One of the featured breakout sessions at the 2016 Dairy Strong Conference was given by Dr. Bonnie Mallard where attendees took a look into High Immune Response Tech-nology and Breeding Selection. >> more

Dr. Peregrine is urging shepherds against routine deworming as new dewormer offers new hope in resistance battle. Ontario Farmer >> January Publication.

Dr. Peregrine is just starting a two-year study with one of his graduate students to try to discover how widespread the fox tapeworm is among wild animal populations in south-ern Ontario. Guelph Mercury Articles >> Jan 19 | Jan 20

Dr. Andrew Peregrine, Dr. Claire Jardine, and master’s student Jonathon Kotwa are in-vestigating Echinococcus multilocularis. Known as the fox tapeworm, it’s found in the in-testines of foxes and coyotes, and also affects small rodents such as voles and mice. >> OVC Bulletin >> University of Guelph News Release

Lab Aims to Make Chickens Healthier to Improve Food Safety. The chicken eggs in Prof. Shayan Sharif’s lab look like ordinary eggs, but they’re not. >> more

Frozen fecal transplantation is effective at providing relief to Clostridium difficile (C. diff) patients, according to a new study co-authored by Prof. Scott Weese. >> more

The annual OVC Elf Auction is a student-run initiative to raise money in support of DVM class funds and charities. The 2015 edition of the Elf Auction was in benefit of the Guelph Humane Society and Painted Rock Animal Farm and Sanctuary. A new item up for auc-tion was organized by Drs. Byram Bridle and Andrew Peregrine; it was an opportunity for students to play alongside faculty members in an ice hockey game. The inaugural Elf Auction game was played in the evening of Tuesday, January 5 and was a tremendous success.

The faculty members and students had a fabulous time playing the game and then converged afterwards at a local Tim Horton’s restaurant to socialize while enjoying litres of hot chocolate and dozens of doughnuts.

Elf Auction benefitting the Guelph Humane Society and Painted Rock Animal Farm & Sanctuary

ABOVE: Elf Auction Hockey Participants. Among faculty who sponsored the game were Pathobiology members Bridle (10th from the left, standing), Peregrine (4th from the right, standing) and Dr. John Barta (far right, kneeling).

Worms and Germs Blog Resources for pet owners

Ontario Animal Health Network Top animal health links Jan. 18 - 24

Equine Guelph Eye-opener – Equine Guelph Behaviour and Safety eWorkshop

B4uGetaPet Tips for bringing your cat home

February Events

Pathobiology Seminars

Seminars will take place at 11:30 am in PAHL room 1810 unless otherwise noted.

Feb 5 Tarek Bismar “Identification of Novel Molecu-lar Markers in Prostate Cancer with Potential Clinical Implication” Affiliation: Prostate Cancer

Centre, Calgary. Hosted by Byram Bridle

Feb 19 Devon Metcalf “Infectious Disease Challenges in Acute Care Hospitals: An Infection Control Perspective” Affiliation: Guelph General Hospital.

Hosted by Scott Weese/Byram Bridle

Feb 26 MacKenzie Slifierz “Risk Factors for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Pig Herds” Affiliation: Pathobiology. Hosted by Scott Weese

OVC and UofG Events

Feb 4 Phase 1 Masterplan Update Drop in anytime 1707 (cafeteria) 10 am– 2 pm

Feb 4 Phase 1 Masterplan Update Drop in anytime 1707 (cafeteria) 10 am– 2 pm

Mar 3 Dr. Tyler Flockhart “The Welfare of Animals without Owners” PAHL 1800 12:30-1:30 pm

For more news and events go to the OVC BULLETIN

PHRN Monthly Seminars

Jan 12 - 12:30-1:30 PM Animal Biosciences Room 141 Mr. Tim Nelson (CEO, Livestock Research Innova-tion Corporation and PHRN advisory board mem-ber) “Cross Sectoral/Cross Disciplinary Research: Reality or Dream?”

Other Events

Feb 5 Leave for Change Panel Shares Experiences of a Lifetime 12-1pm University Centre, Rm 103 >> more

Feb 6 Polar Plunge for Special Olympics Ontario Johnston Green, University of Guelph, 1-4 pm >> more Mar 2-5 Ontario Association of Veteri-nary Technicians Conference International Plaza Hotel and Confer-ence Centre, Toronto >> more

Feb 9, 26, Mar 11, 24 and April 8 Rural History Roundtable Speaker Series for Winter 2016 hosted by the History Department >> more

Upcoming Events May 16-17 OVC Cafeteria 3-6:30 pm Industry Day

May 16-17 The Canadian Association of Veterinary

Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine will be hosting our annual conference (CAVEPM 2016 – Thinking Outside the Epidemiological Toolbox) at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph. >> more

May 17 The 9th annual Institute for Comparative

Cancer Investigations Research Symposium LLC 1714

OVC Student Teaching Equipment Fund

GRAD STUDENT CORNER

GRADUATE SEMINARS:

Feb 24 DVSc Qualifying Exam - Rebecca Egan PAHL Room 4838 at 1 pm

UP COMING DUE DATES

Feb 18 Winter Convocation at 1 pm War Memorial Hall >> schedule College of Social and Applied Human Sciences Ontario Veterinary College

Mar 7 S16 Registration will OPEN on WebAdvisor Mar 11 Last Day to Drop One Semester Courses 40th class day

Mar 11 Apply for Summer 2016 Convocation Last day to apply on WebAdvisor to graduate at Summer 2016 Convocation Mar 23 University of Guelph’s 4th annual 3MinuteThesis Competition >> more Mar 29 S16 Registration will CLOSE but will reopen on April 1 May 11 Summer 2016 Convocation Due Date Last day to submit approved thesis and last day to submit a hard copy application to graduate (with a late fee)

REGISTRATION REMINDERS

Registration is in two parts:

Part One: Register into UNIV*7510 Full-Time or UNIV*7520 Part-time and UNIV*7500 - Research and Writing and your courses.

Part Two: Your Graduate Settlement if your are on PayRoll Deduction or they hold an Award/Scholarship. To Avoid a late fee do this before ap-prox. May 1, 2016 - the date has not been posed on Student Financial Services at this time.

If you are paying your own tuition, you will have more time. Make sure that you do this early to avoid any late fees of approx. $100.00

REMINDERS

Graduate students wanting to finish in W16, must have your paper work into the Graduate Program Assistant, Donna Kangas at least eight weeks ahead of the defence.

Graduate students in their second semester: Please make sure that you submit your Advisory Committee form and Graduate Degree form to avoid not being able to register for S16.

Graduate Student Evaluations were due to Donna Kangas, Graduate Program Assistant by Tuesday January 19th, 2016. If you have not submitted your forms, please do so as soon as possible. READ YOUR UoG Email DAILY: This is how the Department of Pathobiology and other Departments of the University of Guelph contacts you.

MAILBOX: Pick up your mail on a daily or weekly bases. If you are not here, please make arrange-ments to have your mail picked up for you.

HEALTH AND SAFETY INFORMATION

The OVC Student Teaching Equipment Fund (SEF) is now soliciting proposals for the dis-bursement of monies collected in the fall of 2015. Each year DVM students voluntarily contribute $50 to this fund. Typically, a total of approximately $25,000 is available each year. >> more details

The fund is intended for the purchase of equipment that directly improves the quality of learning available for students at OVC. The equipment must be referable to a specific DVM course or courses. Accessibility of the equipment purchased by the SEF should be mentioned in suitable course materials.

The CDC has issued a Level 2 Alert for people travelling to Central and South America, Mexico, Puer-to Rico and the Caribbean:

A new mosquito-bourne virus, Zika virus, has been circulating in some of these countries, and while infection causes minimal disease in adults, there is risk for transmission to unborn children

if pregnant mothers are infected, causing fetal birth defects.

Recommendations are for pregnant women to consider postponing travel to any area where Zika virus transmission is ongoing, or at a mini-mum to use enhanced protection against mos-quito bites. Check the CDC site above, or discuss with your family doctor. >> Travel Health Notices