LEADING THE WAY IN GLOBAL ONE HEALTH

International Programs office, the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases, the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, Global Health Research Complex, and the Center for Global Health and Innovation.

Learning Opportunities

The Global One Health program also advocates for experiential learning and provides mentorship and guidance for students interested in careers in global health, global health security, biodefense, and related opportunities at the intersection of health, science, and policy. In November 2019, the Global One Health program co-hosted the Student Pandemic Simulation with the Scowcroft Pandemic and Biosecurity Policy Program bringing together students from across the University and subject matter experts to practice responding to a pandemic outbreak scenario.

Through the Global Health Next Generation Seminar series, the program seeks to highlight for students the varied and rich global health expertise of scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and public servants both within and outside the University. This past year, the program hosted three key events in the series: a lecture by Dr. Martial Ndeffo linking mathematical modeling and the fight to control emerging and neglected diseases; a first annual Global Health Careers panel featuring five accomplished professionals from academia, national security, and defense sectors; and a lecture by Dr. Stefan H.E. Kaufmann, lauded German immunologist and microbiologist.

The program actively supports the MSC SCONA annual collegiate conference bringing public health and global health into the national affairs scholarly research and education discussions, giving delegates and other invited national premier academic scholars and industry leaders the opportunity to recognize the importance of One Health on the national security stage.

The Global One Health Program is also a champion and supports the development of One Health-related undergraduate, graduate, and professional coursework at the CVMBS, The Bush School of Government & Public Service, and across campus.

The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) is harnessing innovation through ongoing programming, research projects, and technological advancements, such as the development of a veterinary telemedicine program. 2020 Veterinary Entrepreneurship Academy (VEA) Participants

VEA was designed to expose students to opportunities through a 10-week summer program that combines virtual classroom learning with an internship at a veterinary startup company.

This summer, five Texas A&M students, four of whom are from the CVMBS, participated in the VEA to expand their knowledge of business and entrepreneurship. • Anna Blick, a third-year veterinary student from College Station, was matched with Zomedica, a veterinary biotech company which makes feline and canine medical devices for clinical veterinarians. She spent time in each area of the company, from marketing to research to data analysis. For one project, she helped the company develop a plan for marketing its new adrenal diagnostic test. “I got to see the inner workings of (the company), which was huge for me because I don't think I would have ever gotten an opportunity to see that outside of the VEA,” Blick said. “Every other week, I met with the CEO and it was really surprising to me how much the company itself was invested in me and wanted me to get the most out of this as possible.” • Madelyn Newland, a junior pre-veterinary animal science major from Fort Worth, worked with drip.vet, an online continuing education platform that strives to help veterinarians reach financial success and, thereby, reduce veterinarian suicide rates.

“I served as their pre-veterinary student ambassador this summer and worked with them a lot on reaching pre-veterinary students,” Newland said. “We revamped their social media, developed a presence on LinkedIn, and started reaching our hand into the preveterinary societies across the nation. Now, I feel that if I wanted to start a business, I could. I’m much more confident and I've lost so much of the fear that I wouldn’t be able to operate in such a competitive sector.” • Isamar Sanchez, a third-year veterinary student from San Antonio (who moved to the United States from Mexico City as a young child), was matched with PetHub, a company that specializes in digital pet ID tags. Sanchez spent much of her time doing market research and talking to veterinarians across the country about their thoughts on rabies tags. “The two major things I learned are that it's OK to ask for help and it’s OK to fail and try again,” said Sanchez. “Even if you don’t think you need any experience in business, you do. After this VEA internship, I honestly have the confidence and I feel like I do want to own my own business (like my parents).”