On October 5, researchers from across the College of Veterinary Medicine gathered to share and receive feedback on their projects for Clinical Investigator’s Day, an annual event where faculty and residents present their research data to an enthusiastic and supportive audience. It runs in conjunction with the Fall New York State Veterinary Conference.

This year’s event had a record number of abstract submissions, with 17 research and five proposal presentations. The proposal presentations provide residents with a forum to present their research plans, with no data required, for feedback.

“All residents did an outstanding job with their presentations and they showed the depth and breadth of the excellent clinical-applied research that is being done at the college,” said Dr. Tracy Stokol, co-chair of the event and professor in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences.

Two faculty gave talks as part of the day’s program. Jessica McCart, D.V.M. ’07, Ph.D. ’13, from the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, discussed her research on hypocalcemia in transition dairy cows in a presentation titled “Being a Mom is Hard: Calcium Demands of Early Lactation Dairy Cows.” Dr. Gerlinde van de Walle from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Baker Institute for Animal Health gave the keynote address with “Equine Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Veterinary Medicine: Prospects and Challenges.”

Each year, awards are given in four categories. This year’s awards included:

Best Overall Presentation
Dr. Pia Martiny, emergency and critical care resident
Faculty mentor: Dr. Robert Goggs
Department of Clinical Sciences
“Diagnosis of Septic Peritonitis Using Effusion-Blood Gradients of Novel Biomarkers in Dogs.”

Best Scientific Content
Yike Bing ’12, D.V.M. ’16, medical oncology resident
Faculty mentor: Dr. Kelly Hume
Department of Clinical Sciences
“Use of Novel DNA Damage Response Inhibitors to Overcome Chemoresistance in Feline Solid Tumors”

Best Presentation Style
Melissa Fenn, D.V.M. ’15, large animal internal medicine resident
Faculty mentor: Dr. Gillian Perkins
Department of Clinical Sciences
“Agreement of Equine Stall-Side and Laboratory Major Cross Match Test in Healthy Horses”

Best Research Proposal
Dr. Ileana Miranda, anatomic pathology resident
Faculty mentor: Andrew Miller ’01, D.V.M. ’05
Department of Biomedical Sciences
“SOX2 Expression in Canine Malignancies”

Clinical Investigator’s Day is co-chaired by Drs. Elizabeth Buckles, Erin Daugherity, Mary Martin and Tracy Stokol. The college thanked its corporate, foundation, college and university sponsors for supporting the event. Corporate sponsors include Purina, Hill’s and Boehringer Ingelheim. The Morris Animal Foundation is the event’s foundation sponsor. College sponsors are the Animal Health Diagnostic Center, the Baker Institute for Animal Health, Continuing Education and Events, the Cornell University Hospital Animals, the Feline Health Center, Office of the Dean, Office of Research and Graduate Education and the Departments of Biomedical Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Molecular Medicine and Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences. The event was also supported by the Center for Animal Resources and Education at Cornell University.