CVM Faculty, Staff and Student Accolades

Congratulations to Nicole Nichols, PhD, an assistant professor in the CVM’s Department of Biomedical Sciences and one of the fall 2019 recipients of a Dr. Richard Wallace Faculty Incentive Grant. She received the award for her proposal to study, “The role of adenosine 2A and serotonin 2 receptors in breathing over the course of respiratory motor neuron loss.”

The Mizzou Alumni Association supports the development of faculty through its Dr. Richard Wallace Faculty Incentive Grants program. Since its launch in 1994, the alumni association has provided start-up funds of about $650,000 to more than 300 faculty members for the initiation of research or professional development projects.

Nichols’ research focuses on understanding how plasticity can be enhanced in models of motor neuron death to restore breathing.

Rajiv R. Mohan, MSc, PhD, FARVO, University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Ruth M. Kraeuchi Missouri Endowed Chair Professor of Ophthalmology and a professor of ophthalmology and molecular medicine, was invited to give a presentation at the 17^th Annual International Congress of  Drug Discovery Science and Technology held Nov. 15-17, in Nanjing, China. The theme of the conference was “The Disruptive, Integrate, Innovation and Development.”

Mohan delivered his lecture, “Gene Therapy for Treating Corneal Scar and Blindness,” as part of the new biotherapy discoveries series of presentations.

Kayla Banks, DVM, an ophthalmology resident in the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, was awarded the best veterinary ophthalmology review manuscript at the recent American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists Conference. The ACVO held its 50^th anniversary conference in Maui, Hawaii, Nov. 6-9, 2019. Banks’ peer-reviewed paper is entitled, “Veterinary ocular microbiome: Lessons learned beyond the culture.”

The Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine recently honored Tamara Hancock with its Outstanding Young Alumni Award. Hancock, DVM, MS, DACVP, PhD, is the coordinator of curriculum and student outcomes and an assistant teaching professor at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine.

The award was established this year to recognize alumni who have excelled in the veterinary profession and provided service to their community 10 years or less after earning their doctor of veterinary medicine degree. Hancock earned a DVM at Iowa State in 2011. She went on to complete a master’s of science degree and complete a residency in clinical pathology in 2014, and a PhD in 2018 at Mizzou.

MU College of Veterinary Medicine Professor Emeritus James Tomlinson, DVM, MVSc, DACVS, received the 2019 American College of Veterinary Surgeons Founders Award for Career Achievement. Tomlinson is a small animal orthopedic surgeon in the MU Veterinary Health Center.

This is only the 14th time this award has been given out in the history of American College of Veterinary Surgeons. This college awarded Tomlinson the honor to recognize him as “a world-renowned veterinary orthopedic surgeon and one of the leading international authorities on fracture repair, minimally invasive techniques, and angular limb deformity.”  The college further recognized him for 38 years of training small animal surgery residents.