Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

An associate professor of environmental health in the Department of Population Health Sciences, Julia Gohlke is leading a transdisciplinary team of experts from colleges across Virginia Tech to examine birth outcomes in Central Appalachia and their association with environmental change between 1990 and 2015.

Given the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine held a special virtual event on May 15, 2020, to honor and congratulate the Class of 2020.

In May, the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine proudly conferred 122 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees, 27 Master of Public Health degrees — including six dual DVM/MPH degrees — and five Master of Science degrees in biomedical and veterinary sciences at its 2021 commencement ceremonies in Lane Stadium.

Because implementing weight-loss plans for pets can be challenging, Megan Shepherd, assistant professor of clinical nutrition; Lauren Dodd, clinical nutrition resident; and sponsor Purina set out to discover how owners’ perceptions of their cat’s quality of life were influenced by adding food toys to the cats’ weight-loss regimen.

Two VA-MD Vet Med graduate students and a faculty member were among those receiving recognition from the Graduate School for outstanding service, teaching, research, academic performance, and mentoring. In addition, several veterinary students earned awards for their research presentations at the Graduate Student Assembly Research Symposium.

In April 2020, the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine was honored to host two commissioning ceremonies for four of its Class of 2020 graduates.

The recent decision to induct Michael Vick into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame has generated a tremendous response from both the veterinary community and those who share our commitment to animal welfare and promoting the humane treatment of animals.

Kaitlin Phelon is the Phi Kappa Phi Medallion undergraduate recipient for the inaugural Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) class.

Lynn Heffron, a laboratory specialist senior in the Meng Lab of Molecular Virology at VA-MD Vet Med, was named one of four recipients of the 2022 President’s Award for Excellence, which recognizes outstanding contributions and consistently excellent performance at Virginia Tech.

Led by Kylene Kehn-Hall, professor of virology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, a new special-studies course, COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2), will use a multidisciplinary approach to educate graduate students about the novel coronavirus and the pandemic.

Medical Reserve Corps-trained public health students in the Master of Public Health (MPH) program in the Department of Population Health Sciences and in the dual Doctor of Veterinary Medicine/MPH program have volunteered, along with additional faculty and staff, at a New River Valley COVID-19 call center and at drive-thru testing sites.

A member of Large Animal Clinical Sciences' patient services team since 2016, Hall began her new role as the Veterinary Teaching Hospital's patient services manager on Feb. 21.

On April 21, 2022, Col. Gary Cooper, commander, U.S. Army Medical Recruiting Brigade, traveled with his command team to Blacksburg to induct three first-year veterinary students into the Army. Graci Bettendorf, Victoria Ice-Gipson, and Andrew Ramirez are among 33 veterinary students across the country selected for the Veterinary Corps' scholarship program.

VA-MD Vet Med proudly welcomed its newest students in its Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Master of Public Health, and Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences programs.