Driving animal, human and environmental health forward

Dr. Jon Kim joined the UF College of Veterinary Medicine faculty through the school’s Artificial Intelligence Initiative. In his new role at UF, Kim will focus on developing novel diagnostic and clinical applications in the field of comparative oncology and translational medicine by utilizing AI and machine learning. We sat down with Kim to ask him about his exciting new endeavors at our university.

The new University of Florida Veterinary Hospital was officially unveiled in Ocala on May 25 with a ribbon cutting. The hospital provides leading-edge patient care in a new 40,000-square-foot hospital facility located in Ocala, Florida. Veterinarians from UF offer world-class veterinary care and advanced diagnostics and treatment for horses, dogs and cats.

Maddie’s Shelter Medicine at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine is unique in the U.S. and in the world. Julie Levy, DVM, PhD, and her team provide veterinary students and practitioners with the specialized knowledge to enhance the medical and behavioral health of sheltered animals and to promote public health.

Osteosarcoma is the most common form of bone cancer in dogs. Building on technology he originally developed to treat melanoma in animals, UF’s Rowan Milner developed a vaccine to treat osteosarcoma in dogs. Rather than being administered to prevent a dog from developing cancer, it is given to a dog to treat cancer once it has developed. He discusses promising results from years of studies and what’s ahead to improve survival for dogs with this aggressive form of cancer.

Veterinary colleges are increasingly requested to respond to animal issues related to natural and man-made disasters. Dr. Lawrence Garcia, medical director of the UF Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service (VETS) Team, recently led his team on a 10-day deployment to Fort Myers in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. He discusses the many reasons why a well-trained disaster response team is important for veterinary colleges to have.

Asthma attacks account for nearly one-third of all asthma deaths. Anxiety is a common comorbidity in asthma, but despite links between asthma attacks and anxiety, there have been few studies in the asthma field of the amygdala, the brain region that initiates anxiety. UF’s Leah Reznikov, an associate professor of physiological sciences, discusses how her research aims to tackle that considerable gap with the goal of developing new approaches to treat asthma and reduce patient deaths.

The dangerous rat lungworm parasite is showing up in a growing number of species, including giant African snails and invasive Cuban treefrogs in Florida. Heather Walden, a University of Florida parasitologist and an expert in the rat lungworm parasite, shares what this means to human and animal health, as well as to the environment.

Degenerative mitral valve disease is the most common heart disease affecting dogs, affecting nearly all older and small breed dogs to some degree. Darcy Adin, DVM, a clinical professor of cardiology in the UF Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, discusses how ongoing research at UF aims to enhance treatments aimed at improving the lives of dogs living with heart disease.

Avian Influenza, or bird flu, has been in the news this past year as an outbreak, caused by a highly pathogenic strain, has caused illness and death in a variety of species around the nation. Two UF experts provide updates and share info relevant to owners of pet birds as well as how the virus is a potential danger to other species, including humans.