GRADUATE STUDENTS (MS + PHD) U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Fellowship Awarded to VMBS Doctoral Student Caitlin Castaneda, a doctoral student in the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences (VIBS), was awarded a U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Fellowship by the Texas A&M University Graduate and Professional School. The U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Fellowships are given annually by the Texas A&M University Graduate and Professional School to outstanding current doctoral students whose excellence in both research and teaching exemplifies the meaning of scholarship and mentorship in the highest sense. The fellowship includes a $5,000 award to help the winners continue their studies. Castaneda’s research primarily focuses on stallion fertility and the search for the genes that impact it. As part of that research, she’s been working on an assembly of the Y chromosome, something that Dr. Brian Davis, assistant professor in VIBS, said is unique. In 2012, the molecular cytogenetics lab discovered the first gene associated with stallion fertility, and as a result of Castaneda’s work, Caitlin Castaneda a diagnostic test for stallion subfertility was published in FY21. However, discovery of the actual causative mutation remains a goal to achieve. “We’re hoping to find more genes and then create more diagnostic tests so that when horses come through the clinic, we can have a molecular screening for fertility genetics in addition to the routine breeding soundness exam,” Castaneda said. This has potentially huge implications in the equine industry, in which stallion fertility is of significant economic interest. Down the road, Castaneda hopes to bring what she’s learned in animal medicine to research in human fertility, as well. In addition to her proven skills as a researcher—having authored eight publications, including three as the first author—she has also impacted a number of students as a teacher and mentor.
BIMS graduate students
Graduate Oath Ceremony 2022 VMBS Annual Report • 13
