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Dr. Ronald D. Smith (rd-smith@uiuc.edu)
is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of
Pathobiology, College of Veterinary
Medicine, University of Illinois. He received the DVM degree
from Michigan State University
in 1967, and the MS and PhD degrees (1972, 1974) in Veterinary
Medical Science from the University of Illinois. His thesis research
focused on thrombokinetics in canine ehrlichiosis.
From 1967 to 1970 he served as a U.S. Peace
Corps veterinarian in tropical Ecuador, working primarily
with cattle, swine and horses. From 1970 to 1974 he studied the
pathogenesis of thrombocytopenia in canine ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia
canis infection) and
described the development of the agent in the tick vector, Rhipicephalus
sanguineus.
Dr. Smith joined the staff of the UI College of Veterinary Medicine
in 1974. From 1975 to 1980 he was Project Leader for a collaborative
research and training program in Mexico directed toward the development
of a culture-derived vaccine for bovine babesiosis.
Dr. Smith's research interests have focused on the epidemiology and control of vector-borne blood diseases of animals, including canine ehrlichiosis and heartworm disease, bovine anaplasmosis and babesiosis, and their arthropod vectors. Aspects of this research include the development of these agents in ticks, mechanisms of tick-borne transmission, production of antigens from blood for diagnosis and immunization, and quantitative analysis of transmission cycles through computer stimulation models. Teaching has focused on clinical epidemiology, food safety and public health, and medical informatics. International activities have focused on the epidemiology, diagnosis and control of parasitic diseases of food-producing animals.
Dr. Smith has served as Head of the Division of Epidemiology (1985-1993), Director of Computing Services (1991-1994), Director of Medical Informatics (1994-1998), and Director of Instructional Computing (1998 - present). He served as Head of the college's Department of Pathobiology until December 31, 2004, and retired on January 1, 2005. Dr. Smith is the principal or co-author of over 80 scientific publications including the textbook "Veterinary Clinical Epidemiology - 3rd Edition," published by CRC Press.
For many years Dr. Smith was the sole instructor for VP 650 - Epidemiology and in the past has taught or co-taught
He serves as "Webmaster" and Newsletter Editor for the Association for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (AVEPM) and serves on the Executive Board of the Veterinary Medical Databases (VMDB).
Revised 3/17/06