Graduate Training of Veterinarians in Animal Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Infectious diseases of animals can greatly impact the security of food systems and have significant economic effects within the global economy. The pathogenesis and transmission of infectious agents at the farm level is a significant point of origin for subsequent food safety and public health issues. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of scientists who fully understand the vulnerabilities of the food supply beginning at the farm level and how compromises in animal biosecurity can impact public health. Veterinarians have unique skills sets in comparative medicine that could facilitate the study of animal populations, infectious diseases, and the impact of animal health on the food supply. Therefore, the goal of this proposed integrated doctoral program is to complement expertise in veterinary medicine with rigorous research training in the areas of animal infectious diseases and epidemiology to better address of food safety and biosecurity issues. This program will train two DVMs to address the national targeted expertise shortage area entitled "Sciences for Agricultural Biosecurity" within the major academic area of veterinary medicine. Fellows will graduate from this PhD program with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively address the complexities of how animal infectious diseases intersect with agricultural biosecurity and public health.

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APPROACH: The doctoral degree in Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology (CMIB) will be conducted in two phases. Phase I of the program will consist of acquiring and documenting a high degree of competence in fundamental and basic biomedical sciences and developing research skills. A core of basic graduate courses will be required for all fellows to ensure uniform excellence and depth of understanding in veterinary infectious diseases and epidemiology. Fellows will participate in a weekly seminar course focusing on critical topics in comparative medicine and integrative biology. The seminar course uses primary research articles to highlight the topic and in addition to seminal works, relevant papers are chosen to reflect the range of interests of graduate students participating in the course. Fellows will be required to participate in laboratory rotations during the first semester of the program. The fellow would be expected to learn research techniques, read related research papers, attend laboratory meetings and interact as much as possible with other students, staff, and faculty during the rotations. The overall goal of the rotation is to identify a major professor and a potential thesis research project. Upon completion of laboratory rotations, fellows will have the option of developing a dissertation proposal in microbial pathogenesis, immunopathogenesis, and/or molecular epidemiology. Phase I culminates with a comprehensive examination in which the depth and breadth of the candidate's knowledge will be tested. Phase II of the PhD program consists of conducting research, continuing to expand knowledge base by taking additional courses and seminars as necessary, and completing the research and defending the PhD dissertation. The written dissertation must be based upon original scholarly research. It must contribute new knowledge to the scientific community and result in, or be deemed by the student's guidance committee to have data sufficient in quantity and quality for, one or more research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The defense will consist of a public lecture followed by an oral examination in which the candidate will defend the dissertation and knowledge of related scientific areas. The College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State continues to be ranked in the top ten compared to all other veterinary programs in the country. The College of Veterinary Medicine is the home of the CMIB graduate program and has access to support features from the pre-existing biomedical community including two medical schools (College of Human Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine). Michigan State is the only university in the country with 3 on campus medical schools. This provides unique opportunities to explore in more detail where human and veterinary medicine intersect to affect issues of animal biosecurity, food safety and public health. Trainees will be prepared to enter the workforce and assume leadership roles related animal agriculture biosecurity at academic institutions, government organizations, and corporate settings.