FACULTY/STAFF
{ UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY VETERINARY MEDICINE }
DR. SHAWN ZIMMERMAN Dr. Shawn Zimmerman, DVM, Ph.D., DACVP
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hawn Zimmerman is a proud Arkansan with a doctorate in infectious diseases from the University of Georgia and a DVM from Louisiana State University. When she’s not teaching or rooting for the LSU Tigers, she’s stopping the spread of diseases that harm animals and humans alike.
How did you decide to specialize in infectious diseases?
Dr. Zimmerman:
My first exposure to microbiology was when my mom was going to college. Sometimes I would go to campus with her, and her professors were always showing me cool things. When I went to college myself, I was focused on getting into veterinary school and being a wildlife or zoo vet, but I also did microbiology research on the side. At the time, I just thought of it as a fun hobby and never really considered it as a career. Once I got further into vet school, I realized what really excited me about medicine was understanding the “how” behind each case, and the infectious disease cases always interested me the most. I was also really annoyed by the cases that seemed preventable or when there wasn’t a good test for confirming a diagnosis. At some point, I just remember thinking, “Well, then maybe I should just figure out how to do THAT.” From there, I naturally gravitated toward research and pathology. I specialized in clinical pathology so I could get better at recognizing subtle indicators of disease. Once I felt confident about how
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to study things on the host side, I went on to get my doctorate and did postdoctoral training in infectious diseases to tackle the pathogen side. It was a lot more education than I initially planned, but it’s led to a very fulfilling career. Now I get to teach students about the things I love, and I get to do research that could make a real difference one day.
What research topics are you pursuing now?
Dr. Zimmerman: Right now, my lab is studying how entero-
toxigenic E. coli (ETEC) causes disease in order to find new drug and vaccine targets. We’re also working to see if we can make a better laboratory animal model of human ETEC infection.
