Spring/Summer 2012 Aesculapian Magazine - University of Georgia ...

Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker
Tompkins receives Fulbright
Scholarship for research in Australia
CVM associate professor Mark Tompkins has
been selected to receive a 2012 Fulbright U.S. Senior
Scholarship to undertake research on Hendra and Nipah
viruses in Australia. Tompkins and his family will live in
Geelong, Australia, for roughly five months beginning in
August 2012.
Tompkins will be working at the Australian
Animal Health Labs (AAHL), which are part of the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization, Australia’s national science agency. AAHL
is an internationally recognized BSL3/
BSL4 facility capable of studying highconsequence
and emerging infectious
diseases in small and large animals.
While there, Tompkins’ work
Tompkins
will focus on the development of
therapeutic drugs for Hendra and
Nipah viruses, highly-pathogenic
zoonotic viruses that pose a serious
threat to human and animal health
in Australia, as well as in other parts of the world. There
are currently no effective vaccines or treatments for these
pathogens, and Tompkins’ project will be to develop novel
antiviral approaches for their treatment.
Nipah virus, first identified in pigs, has caused over
200 human fatalities in Asia since 1999 with evidence of
human-to-human transmission and a mortality rate above
50 percent. Hendra virus, which infects bats, horses and
now humans, has also been observed in Australia, with
the first outbreaks reported in 1994 and rising sharply
since 2007.
Tompkins is based within the CVM’s department of
Infectious Diseases.
CVM professor promotes FAMACHA© program in Australia
Dr. Ray Kaplan, a professor of parasitology in the
department of Infectious Diseases at the CVM, traveled to
Australia in February to promote the use of FAMACHA©
among sheep and goat producers. Kaplan, the director
of the U.S. FAMACHA© program, presented three
workshops on integrated parasite control, which included
instruction and hands-on training in the FAMACHA©
method. He also presented four research seminars while
visiting Australian universities.
FAMACHA© is a clinical on-farm system
developed in South Africa for classifying animals into
categories based upon level of anemia. Since anemia
Coffield named new Associate
Dean of Graduate School
Dr. Julie Coffield has been named the new
Associate Dean of the Graduate School at the
University of Georgia. Dr. Coffield has been involved
in graduate training and administration with the
University for the past 17 years. She is an associate
professor in the department of Physiology and
Pharmacology within the College of Veterinary
Medicine and was the director of the Interdisciplinary
Toxicology Program, a campus-wide program that
includes students and faculty from several different
colleges who share common interests in the field of
toxicology.
Dr. Coffield will serve
as the chief of operations for
the Graduate School, where
she will work closely with
the Graduate School staff in
Admissions and Enrolled
Student Services. Her focus
will be on student affairs and
program management as she
assists Graduate Coordinators.
She also will help the
Coffield
Graduate School implement
its 2020 Strategic Plan.
is the primary pathologic effect from infection with
Haemonchus contortus, or Barber’s Pole worm, the system
is an effective tool for identifying animals that require
anthelmintic treatment. The system also provides a
low-cost way to slow the development of anthelmintic
resistance by reducing the number of animals treated with
deworming drugs.
The trip was funded by Meat and Livestock Australia,
a producer-owned company that works with industry
and government to achieve a profitable and sustainable
livestock industry in Australia.
Photo by Nancy Evelyn