A large contingent of University of Minnesota swine faculty, graduate and DVM students traveled to San Francisco to present their latest research findings and learn from their peers at the 56th meeting of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. A UMN PhD student was recognized for her outstanding contributions to the swine industry; DVM students brought home several scholarships and a UMN faculty member received funding for two projects.
As part of its mission to fund research with direct application to the profession, the American Association of Swine Veterinarians Foundation awarded almost $100,000 in funding for research. Out of the 4 research proposals funded, two were from Dr. Cesar Corzo, totaling around $53,000.
Casondra Snow, Class of 2027 received a $10,000 Merck Animal Health and AASV foundation scholarship. This scholarship recognizes the next generation of veterinarians planning to dedicate their career to swine practice. Additionally, Snow received a Zoetis and United Health scholarship for presenting her poster entitled “Can swine transport trailers be used to evaluate the Salmonella status of a farm?” She also received a $500 award for being selected as one of 15 students to be a poster presenter.
More scholarships were awarded to students participating in the AASV Student Seminar, which invites selected veterinary students to make a scientific presentation at the organization’s annual meeting.
Julia Baker, a dual DVM/PhD candidate, received a $2,500 scholarship for her presentation, “Computationally predicted T-cell epitope trends for 30 years of wild-type PRRSV-2 strains from the USA”. Gaby Grant, a second-year DVM student, received a $1,500 scholarship for her presentation, “The before, during, and after of emergency swine depopulation with foam”. Second-year DVM student Rachel Retterath received $500 in scholarship for her presentation on “Determining the ideal pH target to inhibit Escherichia coli growth in swine drinking water”. All students received an additional $750 award for being selected as one of 15 student presenters.
Dr. Marie Culhane gave a talk on choosing the right influenza strain for vaccination 
Dr. Seth Melson, UMN alumn, at the UMN alumni reception 
UMN student Rachel Retterath 
PhD/DVM student Julia Baker received a $2,500 scholarship 
Dr. Montse Torremorell talked about indirect transmission of influenza 
Dr. Maria Pieters gave a talk about lameness and Mycoplasma hyosynoviae 
Researcher Xiaomei Yue talked about the impact of air filtration on PRRS outbreaks
Sponheim receives Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year
Dr. Amanda Sponheim received the Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award. This award recognizes swine industry veterinarians who have demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in delivery of veterinary service to their companies and their clients, as well as given tirelessly in service to the AASV and the swine industry.
Dr. Sponheim received her BS in animal sciences (2004) and DVM (2008) from the University of Illinois. She completed the Executive Veterinary Program at the University of Illinois in 2016. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Minnesota under faculty advisor Dr. Maria Pieters, while working in the swine division at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health (BIAH) USA Inc. as a senior key account veterinarian.
Upon acceptance of the award, Dr. Sponheim commented, “I am truly humbled and honored to receive this award that is reflective of the people who have invested in me throughout my career. I am grateful for the opportunity to support the collaborative, progressive, science-driven veterinarians and pork producers we work with.”
Congratulations to our terrific University of Minnesota CVM crew! So proud of your stellar representation of Minnesota on the national stage!