Archive - June 2010

Despite that industry has long maintained bisphenol A—BPA—is safe at current levels, science continues to point to the many adverse effects linked to the ubiquitous, polycarbonate compound.

Dr. Benson’s Akingbemi’s abstract for the Endocrine Society’s Annual Meeting in San Diego was identified prior to the June 21 conference as newsworthy and singled out for media attention.  Dr. Akingbemi’s research is generating news worldwide.

BPA is found in nearly every consumer product and most canned foods. Read more here about Dr. Akingbemi’s research and the effects of the industrial chemical BPA. 

Three CVM faculty members were honored May 26 at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery.

John Kelliher, affiliate professor, and Ken Nusbaum and James Wright, professors in the Department of Pathobiology received the 2010 Research Excellence Award for developing and teaching two courses, “Strategic Public Health” and “Public Health from Zero.” The first course focused on issues of force protection and the second on developing basic public health systems in war or disaster areas. 

”Public Health from Zero” focused on health needs in Afghanistan, but the earthquake in Haiti occurred one day before the first class. Dr. Kelliher, a former state public health veterinarian who was an Army major and helicopter pilot in Vietnam, insisted on the use of immediately relevant course material. “The syllabus was changed over lunch and the course focused on health needs in Haiti, to the satisfaction of students and faculty alike,” said Dr. Nusbaum.

The students came from the Air Force, Navy, and Air Force Reserve. The course was part of their year-long training for the Master of Military Art and Science degree.  Officers brought experiences from numerous deployments to the classes, making each class interactive and contributory. Each student wrote three papers for the course, the last a long study submitted to a program-wide and national competition.

Professor Robert A. Norton of the Department of Poultry Science facilitated the College of Veterinary Medicine’s participation. Dr. Norton, who has worked with the veterinarians since 2000, has developed a program in open source intelligence and taught a course in agricultural terrorism with Dr. Nusbaum. 

“A lot of our great ideas for collaboration have failed for lack of funding,” said Dr. Nusbaum, “but Dr. Norton has persevered and extended his collaboration to us.”

United Pet has announced a recall of its Pro-Pet Adult Daily Vitamin products for dogs with a best-before date of June 2013 over a possible salmonella contamination. The move comes after the Cincinnati-based firm received a report involving a dog that became sick after ingesting the vitamins.

See AVMA's recalls and alerts page.

Owls to be Released into the Wild July 8 at Kiesel Park

The Southeastern Raptor Center, in collaboration with the City of Auburn Parks and Recreation Department, will release owls into the wild at Kiesel Park on July 8.

An educational program at 6:30 p.m. is followed by the owls release at 7 p.m. People are encouraged to bring a picnic and to enjoy the park at Kiesel while watching the unique event.

The majority of the birds to be released are barred and Eastern screech owls. “Most of these birds were healthy fledglings that were mistaken for orphans,” said Liz Crandall, veterinary technician with the Southeastern Raptor Center.

Crandall will talk about not removing young, healthy wildlife; a history of the birds being released; and raptors. Two red-tailed hawks, used for educational purposes, will also be on hand.

The mission of the center’s rehabilitation section is to rehabilitate injured, ill, or orphaned birds of prey.  Annually the Southeastern Raptor Center takes in between 200 and 275 birds of prey from across the Southeast. Birds are generally brought by members of the public, a network of southeastern rehabilitators and educational facilities, and state and federal agencies.

“Most of the birds come from within a 60-mile radius,” said Crandall.

Fledglings No More! Release of Owls into the Wild

• Thursday July 8
• Kiesel Park, 520 Chadwick Lane
• 6:30 p.m.

• Wednesday, July 7
• Greene Hall 160
• 3 p.m.
• Topics to include grade book and online testing.
• E-mail Karie Dalton daltoka@auburn.edu if you plan to attend.

CVM’s Information and Instructional Technology is preparing to upgrade to Windows 7 in the classrooms and conference rooms. IIT has installed Windows 7 in the Vaughan 2013 lab and in Overton lab as a test deployment. Please stop at one of these locations and give Windows 7 a test drive. If you experience any problems or have questions, contact IIT at 4-3713.

In June university e-mail account users received a message with the subject, "Dear mail.auburn.edu Account User," referencing an upgrade in the campus e-mail system. The message was not valid and users were later instructed not respond to the message, to not click on the link it contained, to delete the message. As a reminder, Auburn University and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) or other university information technology staff will never ask for passwords or other sensitive information via e-mail. If you responded to the e-mail you are urged to change your password. If you have concerns or need assistance, contact the OIT help desk at 844-4944 or helpdesk@auburn.edu.

Healthy Tigers is the Auburn University employee wellness program. Wellness is the process of becoming aware of healthy choices and applying that knowledge to create a more successful and balanced lifestyle.

2010 Healthy Tigers Wellness Initiative

The Auburn University Dept. of Payroll and Employee Benefits announced a new healthcare benefit, the 2010 Healthy Tigers Initiative, for employees who subscribe to the Auburn University health insurance plan. Participating in health and wellness screenings can result in a $25 per month credit on premiums ($300 a year).

Employees are able to schedule appointments online through the Healthy Tigers website or by calling the Auburn University Pharmaceutical Care Center at 844-4099. Clinics are currently being scheduled for locations across main campus, with two clinics already held at the CVM. Or, have your doctor submit a Healthcare Provider Screening Form to verify discount eligibility.

All screenings and follow-up care (including submission of the healthcare provider screening form) must be completed before November 30, 2010, for the employee to receive the discount starting January 1, 2011. Read more about the program here http://www.auburn.edu/administration/business_office/payroll/healthytigers/initiative.html.

The Department of Communication Disorders in the College of Liberal Arts is hosting the 5th Annual Hearing Aid Open House in 1199 Haley Center on Wednesday through Friday, July 14-16th. This is an opportunity for the community to experience state-of-the-art hearing instrument technology. Hearing instruments that can be connected to cell phones, televisions, and iPods through Bluetooth technology will be demonstrated. If you are experiencing difficulty hearing and would like to attend this special event, call the Auburn University Speech and Hearing Clinic by July 9 to schedule an appointment, 334-844-9600. 

• Wednesday, July 14 – Thursday, July 16
• 1199 Haley Center
• Call 844-9600 by July 9 for appointments.

New CVM employees who attended the June 2 orientation session are David Reber, animal care orderly, Department of Clinical Sciences; Dr. Chad Foradori, assistant professor, Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacolocy; Dr. Thomas Passler, assistant professor, Department of Clinical Sciences; Brian Thompson, animal care attendant, Department of Clinical Sciences; Hunter Peak, development officer, Administration; and Preston Hancock, ag tech, Department of Clinical Sciences.  

The College of Veterinary Medicine partnered with University Outreach and its Office of Professional and Continuing Education to present its first-ever academic Veterinary Summer Camp for youths in June. A junior veterinary summer camp focused on activities for fifth through seventh graders, while the senior veterinary camp included eighth through tenth grades.

• Deepa Bedi, a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Valery Petrenko's laboratory, who received the Plasma Chem prize for best poster ($500) at the conference Particles 2010 held in Buena Vista, Florida, May 22-25. Deepa’s poster was "Targeted Delivery of siRNA into Cancer Cells via Phage Fusion Proteins."
• Vic Walker in his new position as manager of client services in the Department of Clinical Sciences. 
• Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology on 100% participation in the 2010 Faculty Staff Campaign! Overall the College of Veterinary Medicine boasted 47.35% participation for 2010. CVM’s team captains did a fantastic job.

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Arlene Green's new granddaughter, Fallon Green, 6 lbs, 3 oz., and 19 inches long. Mother, father, and grandma are doing fine! Arlene is a veterinary accounts assistant in the Small Animal Teaching Hospital.

to Debbie Watkins (Clinical Sciences) and her family upon the death of her father, Fred Jones, on July 1.

Did you get married, have a baby, win a teaching award, receive a grant for a study, publish your work in a professional journal, or, do you have immediate family serving in the U.S. Military? @the CVM is a monthly e-newsletter for faculty and staff and we would like to hear from you!  Please send information to Tara.Lanier@auburn.edu, 105 Greene Hall.

The college has launched a Fan Page on Facebook. Search for "Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine."

You must be a Facebook user to view our page. To post CVM news, upcoming events, honorary awards, grant awards, etc. (with photographs), please send your information to Tara.Lanier@auburn.edu.