CVM News

Sep 24, 2025

‘One Health’ in action: Scott-Ritchey Center takes on global threat of rabies

When Dr. Doug Martin describes rabies as perhaps “the world’s oldest infectious disease,” he’s speaking in terms of millennia rather than centuries. “You can find depictions of it written on cave and pyramid walls,” said Martin, director of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Scott-Ritchey Research Center and a professor in the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology.

Aug 20, 2024

One Health, Infinite Possibilities: Scott-Ritchey Research Center

Perhaps no other area of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine embodies the One Health concept quite as effectively as the Scott-Ritchey Research Center, a state-of-the-art, interdepartmental and interdisciplinary molecular medicine research program focused on next-generation therapies to treat and even cure diseases in both humans and animals.

May 17, 2019

NIH administers first clinical trial treatment for GM1 created by Auburn, UMass

Milestone marks the first patient with GM1 gangliosidosis treated with gene therapy The first clinical trial of a gene therapy treatment created through a research alliance between Auburn University and the University of Massachusetts has been administered in a child at the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, in Bethesda, Maryland. The NIH clinical trial […]

Mar 12, 2019

College of Veterinary Medicine celebrates Brain Awareness Week

A vital alliance comprised of families affected by rare brain diseases, researchers searching for a cure and industry executives was highlighted during a Tuesday event at Auburn University. The panel event, “Building a Brighter Future for Rare Brain Disease Patients,” was held at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. There, five family […]

Feb 22, 2019

Auburn University senior is on a mission for a cure for GM1

When Auburn University senior Cassie Bebout was 6 years old, her 9-year-old brother Jake died from GM1, a rare genetic disease with no cure. Cassie’s life was changed forever. The senior molecular biology major, who will earn her bachelor’s degree in May, has devoted her college career to helping find a possible cure for the […]

Feb 12, 2018

Treatment for Devastating Neurodegenerative Disease Nears Reality with Human, Animal Research Team

An effective treatment for a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease may soon be in human clinical trials through pioneering advances in gene therapy and molecular medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine and in partnership with human medical researchers in the U.S. and across the globe. Researchers at the college’s Scott-Ritchey Research Center and UMass […]

Nov 29, 2017

Pioneering Research in Gene Therapy and Molecular Medicine

Genetic disorders and diseases caused by failure of mechanisms that regulate gene expression, or the processing of gene products, can have devastating effects on both humans and animals. Pioneering advances in gene therapy and molecular medicine at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), one of which is nearing human clinical trials, hold promise […]

Nov 28, 2017

AURIC Names 2018 Faculty and Student Research Grants Recipients

The Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer, or AURIC, has announced the recipients for its 2018 research grants programs for faculty and students. A total of two major grants; four seed grants; and 10 graduate fellowship grants were awarded for the 2018 academic year, announced AURIC director Dr. Bruce Smith. “These grants highlight the cutting-edge […]

Sep 12, 2017

College of Veterinary Medicine Honors Porter Heatherly with GM1 Fundraiser Sept. 16

Porter’s Fund event, a Cure for GM1, will pay tribute to Alabama’s first known case of the rare genetic disease, and raise funds to support testing a cure led by scientists at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. Tickets are available for the annual fundraiser for the Scott-Ritchey Research Center, which will be held […]

Jul 18, 2017

Promising Therapy for Fatal Genetic Diseases in Children nears Human Clinical Trials

Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, UMass Medical School to test gene therapy treatment for Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases Researchers at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine and UMass Medical School are nearing human clinical trials on a genetic therapy for two rare neurological diseases that are fatal to children. The scientists are seeking approval […]

May 15, 2017

VetMed Student Recipient of 2017 Outstanding International Graduate Student Award

Abdul Mohin Sajib, a student in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Biomedical Sciences graduate program, is a 2017 recipient of Auburn University’s Outstanding International Graduate Student Award. Sajib is mentored by Dr. Bruce Smith, a professor in the Department of Pathobiology and director of the Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer (AURIC). He has worked […]

Dec 16, 2016

VetMed Research: Hope for Families with GM1

It is what no parent wants to hear: “Your child is dying. There is no cure.” Ryan and Jenny Bragg of Hoover are the most recent parents to hear that when a physician told them their two-and-a-half ye ar old daughter, Clara, has GM1 gangliosidosis. “It was Aug. 11 and the diagnosis came out of […]

Sep 19, 2016

Researchers Working Toward Clinical Trial in Treatment of Fatal Disease

A potential cure for the fatal disease GM1 gangliosidosis, which is nearing clinical trials next year, could one day also be used to treat more commonly known diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson. Dr. Doug Martin, a research scientist at the Scott-Ritchey Research Center at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, says the gene therapy […]

Sep 13, 2016

Eufaula Veterinarian Kicks Off #CureGM1 to Support AU Research; Porter Heatherly

A Eufaula veterinary family is helping to kick off a social media campaign — #CureGM1 — to inform the public about a fatal disease and raise money to support research for a cure at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Jim ’83 and Anne ’80 Gardner, who own Gardner Animal Hospital in Eufaula, learned through […]

Feb 17, 2016

Feline Diabetes Researcher to Present Findings at Boshell Research Day Feb. 26

Dr. Emily Graff doesn’t think about cats the same way as most people. Although she sees them as loving companions, Dr. Graff understands that cats can be a gateway to better understanding diabetes. A post-doctoral fellow at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Graff heads a research project to understand obesity and diabetes […]

Nov 2, 2015

College of Veterinary Medicine Researchers Seek Breakthrough in Cancer Treatment

Dr. Bruce Smith’s guiding philosophy in the work he does is simple: he wants his patients to die with their cancer, not from cancer. And while curing cancer is not right around the corner, what researchers at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine want is to help their veterinary patients live longer, with hope […]

May 28, 2015

AURIC Announces Academic-Biotech Collaboration

Researchers from Auburn University’s Research Initiative in Cancer (AURIC), and Nuovo Biologics LLC, of Davie, Fla., have announced a partnership to develop new therapies for cancer. Initially targeting canine malignant melanoma, or skin cancer, a deadly tumor that affects many dogs, the team will be testing Nuovo’s innovative anti-cancer peptide drug MMX™ for its ability […]

Mar 5, 2015

Auburn Using Social Media to Fund GM1 Research

The College of Veterinary Medicine and Auburn University Foundation are using social media to raise funds for GM1 research and give hope to families like the Heatherlys, whose son, Porter, has GM1. Read more to learn about the research, Porter, and how you can give hope.

Mar 5, 2015

Collaborative Agreement Announced to Enhance Development of GM1 Treatment

The College of Veterinary Medicine has partnered with the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Lysogene to fight GM1-gangliosidosis. Read more to learn about this important research that is seeking a cure for this disease, which is always fatal to those afflicted.