Summer/Fall 2013 PDF - University of Minnesota College of ...

RESEARCH ANIMAL MEDICINE
Zoe Bianco, Chris
Thomson, and other
members of the
Research Animal
Medicine club had an
opportunity to work with
black bears—including
two cubs—when they
shadowed a University
researcher working
on a project for the
Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources
and U of M Department
of Fisheries, Wildlife, and
Conservation Biology.
OPENING THE DOOR TO
animal research
Not long after Zoe Bianco and Chris
Thomson met while attending
freshman-year orientation, they
decided to undertake a major endeavor to
launch a student club.
“I saw a hole within the available student
clubs at the College of Veterinary
Medicine and within the University of
Minnesota research community, which
is a very productive and interesting
community,” says Bianco, president of the
Research Animal Medicine (RAM) club.
“So, I said, ‘Hey, Chris, do you want to
start a club’ ”
Within months, Bianco and Thomson had
surmounted several challenges. By spring
2012, they were holding preliminary
events and planning for a fall 2012 grand
opening of the RAM club.
“There were hoops we had to jump
through in founding the club, but there
has been so much enthusiasm from the
6 Profiles Summer/Fall 2013
faculty and students that it has motivated
us to work hard and to be successful,” says
Thomson, RAM club vice president.
The RAM club’s primary mission is to
foster constructive conversations about
all aspects of animal research and provide
educational opportunities to encourage
Chris Thomson helps Dr. Elizabeth Pluhar
prepare a dog for an MRI. The dog is part
of Pluhar’s research on brain cancer in
dogs. Photo by Sue Kirchoff
that discussion among students, faculty,
and the community.
One of the club’s first challenges was to
acquire funding to support its mission.
Bianco and Thomson first turned to the
University Medical School’s Experimental
Surgical Services (ESS), a preclinical
cardiovascular laboratory. ESS offered
to fund the club if Bianco and Thomson
could come up with a matching donation
from a non-university research facility.
Minneapolis-based Medtronic, a global
leader in cardiac devices, agreed to match
ESS funds.
Today, the RAM club has roughly 50
active members—about 17 percent of the
participating student body—all working
to advance the understanding of research
animal medicine.
“Veterinarians bring a unique viewpoint
to animal research because they have
a broad perspective in comparative