Dr. Kimberly VanderWaal, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine (VPM), received the 2024 Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence. The award recognizes researchers whose innovative studies have advanced the scientific standing of veterinary medicine.
Since joining the CVM faculty in 2017, VanderWaal has contributed significant advancements to the field of infectious disease epidemiology, as reflected in her record of high-profile publications and grant funding. She has also developed productive industry partnerships through which she has generated valuable information related to the transmission dynamics and genetic evolution of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in swine populations.
“She’s changing how this virus is perceived in the industry and what we can do to understand it,” said Dr. Montse Torremorell, professor and chair of VPM, who presented the award to VanderWaal. “She is investigating how PRRS virus, which is the most costly virus affecting the U.S swine industry, evolves to escape host immune responses, developing models to predict which genetic variants will emerge and how they may spread, and building computational tools to estimate the likelihood that two viral strains provide cross-protection against one another.”
Associate Professor Dr. Perle Zhitnitskiy, who nominated VanderWaal, also noted her dedication to “training the next generation of leaders in veterinary science research”—reflected most recently in her recognition as the CVM Outstanding Graduate Advising Awardee.
Read the full article on CVM’s Profiles.