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Illinois Becomes One of Few Land-Grant Institutions with Lab Animal Accreditation
Illinois Becomes One of Few Land-Grant Institutions with Lab Animal AccreditationIn June, the University of Illinois received official notification that the Urbana campus has been awarded full accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International.
According to Dr. Joseph Thulin ('88), institutional veterinarian and director of the Division of Animal Resources, "This achievement places us within an elite group of land-grant universities nationwide that are fully accredited. Within the Big Ten, we join Penn State as the only schools to have achieved full accreditation for all components of their animal care and use programs, including agricultural animal components."
Campus-wide AAALAC accreditation has been a University goal for over a decade.
While campus programs at the Beckman Institute, the School of Life Sciences, and the Department of Psychology were previously accredited, those within the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and the Natural History Survey are receiving accreditation for the first time.
September 11 Attacks Touch Illinois
The impact of the attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon was felt around the world, and the College of Veterinary Medicine was no exception.
In the days following September 11, news came of the deaths of loved ones among our alumni and our Urbana campus members. Faculty, staff, and students contributed thousands of dollars to relief efforts. The military reserve unit of one employee was called to duty, and the possibility that students in the reserves would be called still looms.
In response to the national tragedy, the University of Illinois Alumni Association created a Web site for the University community to reconnect with each other and to inform each other about the welfare of fellow alumni, students, and faculty in the New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., areas: www.uiaa.org/stayintouch.html.
Dr. Morin Wins Dairy Science Award
Dr. Dawn Morin veterinary clinical medicine, received the prestigious 2001 West Agro Inc. Award from the American Dairy Science Association at its annual meeting in July. Dr. Morin's research was cited for helping to define the effectiveness, economic impact, and consequences of common mastitis diagnostic, treatment, and control methods.
The announcement of her selection mentions that her research has "carefully defined the relative value of antibiotic and supportive treatments of clinical mastitis" and has "demonstrated the value of using epidemiology and economic analysis in development and evaluation of mastitis monitoring and control programs."
Dr. Morin was also hailed as an expert in the role of udder health in production of quality colostrums and as the first to develop information on milk composition and mastitis in llamas and various domestic farm animal species.
Vallis Honored for Successful Deanship
On August 19, College faculty, alumni, and friends gathered at the Champaign Country Club to pay tribute to Dr. Ted and Mrs. Carroll Valli. Dean Valli, who had led the College for 11 years, returned to a focus on teaching and research this summer.
Among the gifts bestowed on the couple in appreciation for their dedication to the College were a cherry-finish chair bearing the University of Illinois seal, a College pin filled with sapphires and fire opals for Mrs. Valli, and a memory book.
In addition, a scholarship fund for veterinary students was established in Dr. Valli's honor. To contribute to the fund, please call 217/333-2762.
Thank you, Dr. and Mrs. Valli, for your skillful leadership!
College Hosts Diagnostic, Pathology ConferencesApproximately 60 attendees traveled to Urbana for the North Central Conference of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians in June.
"The conference offered a means for veterinary diagnosticians to share interesting diagnostic cases and identify and spread the news on new and re-emerging disease entities," says Dr. E. J. Ehrhart, of the College's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which organized the conference. "It helps diagnosticians stay informed, monitor, and better diagnose diseases that challenge companion animals, the livestock industry and human health and safety nationally and within our region."
Dr. Linda Berent, an Illinois veterinary pathobiology graduate student, won the $100 Graduate Student Presentation Award at the conference for the student presentation of highest quality.
The C.L. Davis Continuing Education Course, entitled "Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Pathology," was held at the College immediately following the diagnostics conference. Drs. Walter E. Hoffmann and Wanda Haschek-Hock served as directors. Seventy-three attendees heard from speakers including Drs. Claire Andreasen, Ronald Carter, E. J. Ehrhart, John Harvey, Barbara Kitchell, Joanne Messick, Ted Valli, and Maxey Wellman. The course was supported in part by GlaxoSmithKline, Inc., and Schering Plough, Inc.
Both conferences attracted participants from academic and industry settings as well as from outside the United States.
Retirement the New "New Thing" for Dr. Ken Holmes
Dr. Kenneth R. Holmes, who retired this year as associate professor after more than 25 years on the veterinary biosciences faculty, likes to try something new.
After studying electrical engineering as an undergraduate, he worked in the aviation industry in Baltimore and for the highway department in his native Michigan. But Dr. Holmes soon tired of this field and was encouraged to enter a new area: bioengineering. He returned to Michigan for a master's degree in anatomy and PhD in physiology, which was granted by Michigan State's veterinary college.
After a three-year stint teaching at the dental school at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Dr. Holmes joined the College faculty in 1975, with a joint appointment in the College of Engineering. His career with Veterinary Biosciences has included serving as assistant department head and director of graduate studies since 1989, and serving as acting head in 1994-95.
Dr. Holmes' research has contributed several new ideas to the study of bioheat transfer. His group developed a method of fixing tissue so that it can be used repeatedly in heat transfer studies. This method, now standard around the world, has reduced the use of animals in research.
Dr. Holmes and Professor Mike Chen, of mechanical engineering, developed the Chen-Holmes Bioheat Equation that has become a staple tool in the field. Their research teams also created a pulse-heated thermistor microprobe that measures blood flow in normal tissue and tumors.
Many at the College also know Dr. Holmes for his banjo playing. He took up the banjo at age 22, when bluegrass music was in its infancy.
Looking back over his career, Dr. Holmes repeatedly credits his wife, Linda: "I couldn't have done it without her support."
Dr. Holmes will teach three-fourths of the neurobiology course this fall.
And after that? "I'll have more time to practice the banjo," he says. "Maybe I'll learn some new tunes."
![[Carroll and Dr. Ted Valli welcome guests at the luncheon honoring them for their service to the College]](images/Vallis2.jpg)
![[Dr. Ted and Mrs. Carroll Valli]](images/Vallis.jpg)