FFAR Awards Third Cohort of Vet Fellows

July 14, 2021 — 

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) is excited to announce the fourteen recipients of the 2021 Veterinary Student Research Fellowships (Vet Fellows) in partnership with the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC). This fellowship creates opportunities for veterinary students to pursue research on global food security and sustainable animal production. [Source: FFAR 12 July 2021]

The FFAR Vet Fellows program invests in future veterinarians and provides the opportunity to pursue research expertise outside of the traditional biomedical course. Veterinarians trained in multi-species medicine, animal science and public health are key to addressing many real-world challenges. The three-month fellowship culminates with student presentations at the annual National Veterinary Scholars Symposium in August.

The FFAR Vet Fellows program supports student research on agricultural productivity, public health and environmental sustainability. FFAR and AAVMC adjusted the parameters of the fellowship in response to the COVID-19 crisis to also include zoonotic or pandemic research. Due to the urgent nature of this research, the Vet Fellows were not required to provide matching funds. The 2021 Vet Fellows are also not required to provide matching funds, allowing them to focus exclusively on their research.

"We're honored to work with FFAR again on this important program," said AAVMC CEO Dr. Andrew T. Maccabe. "The experience students gain through these Veterinary Student Research Fellowships inspires them to consider careers in agricultural and veterinary medical research. Many make significant contributions in addressing major problems in food production, food security and public health."

The 2021 FFAR Vet Fellows who are AASV student members are listed below:

Stefan Keller
University of Missouri
Anaplasma and Babesia are tick-borne bacteria in cattle that can cause severe anemia in livestock. These pathogen-caused diseases can impact ranchers' livelihoods and nutritional security globally. Keller's work aims to better understand cattle's immune response to ticks, with the goal of identifying molecules that may be ideal vaccine candidates for blocking pathogen transmission.

Courtney Wangler
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Influenza A virus (swine flu) is an endemic pathogen of pigs that can cause significant illness and is difficult to control. Wangler's research seeks to develop a rapid, low-cost test to determine the presence of influenza A in swine herds, enabling appropriate disease control interventions.

Jayden McCall
Kansas State University
African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes a highly contagious and deadly disease of swine for which there is no vaccine. McCall is identifying protective antigens, viral proteins that produce a protective immune response in the body, within the ASFV genome. This information is critical to developing an efficient vaccine against ASFV, greatly benefitting global pork producers.