Accomplished Faculty

“Our academic accreditation by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association gave us academic accreditation for up to seven years … the site team’s verbal report was positive, praising our faculty’s strong commitment to teaching and providing research opportunities for our students.”

Dr. Brenda Love, Ph.D. and DVM, class of 1990, received reappointment as assistant professor in the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, where she is responsible for the bacteriology and mycology section. She and her team culture samples for bacteria and fungi to determine if animals have an infectious disease.

Dr. Myron Hinsdale, DVM and Ph.D., was recently reappointed as assistant professor in the physiological sciences department. He is one of three members of OSU’s Stem Cell Focus Group formed to study adult stem cells and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD). He is investigating how extracellular matrix proteins such as proteoglycans affect bone marrow-derived stem cell behavior in post injury repair in COPD.

Dr. Robin Allison received a promotion to associate professor with tenure in the veterinary pathobiology department. Allison is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (Clinical Pathology). Her professional interests include diagnosis of infectious and neoplastic diseases in blood and cytologic specimens, educating veterinarians about the importance of blood film evaluation as quality control for automated hematology analyzers, teaching veterinary students and training pathology residents.

Dr. D.L. Step, a food animal research, extension, and production medicine specialist, received a promotion from associate professor to professor in veterinary clinical sciences. Step, a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, focuses on herd animal health and production as well as bovine disease research.

Dr. Robert Fulton, class of 1966, received reappointment to the McCasland Chair in Food Animal Research in the veterinary pathobiology department. Fulton, Regents Professor and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists, researches viral diseases of cattle, including bovine viral diarrhea and bovine respiratory disease.

Dr. Ken Bartels received reappointment to the McCasland Clinical Professorship in Biomedical Laser Surgery. Bartels, a small animal surgeon, is in the veterinary clinical sciences department. He also holds the Kerr Chair in Laser and Biophotonics Research. Bartels’ research and clinical emphasis is the use of laser light for surgery and diagnostic purposes in medicine.

Dr. Dianne McFarlane received a promotion to associate professor with tenure in the physiological sciences department. McFarlane is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She studies equine pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID, also known as Equine Cushing’s Disease), a disease with pathologic similarity to Parkinson’s disease. (Related story on page 45)

Dr. Tom Oomens, Ph.D., received reappointment as assistant professor in the veterinary pathobiology department. Oomens’ research specialty is molecular virology. He focuses on the mechanisms by which viruses enter and exit host cells and how to exploit these mechanisms for vaccine and therapeutic purposes. His current efforts concern the human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which has a huge medical impact on infants and the elderly and for which there is no vaccine.

Dr. Jill Brunker received reappointment as assistant professor in small-animal internal medicine in the veterinary clinical sciences department. She is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She is conducting a clinical trial on the effectiveness of exenatide in treating cats with diabetes mellitus