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College of Veterinary Medicine Advance Newsletter

5 Questions with School of Molecular Biosciences alumna Jennifer Adair

Dr. Adair is looking through a microscope
Jennifer Adair ('05 PhD, School of Molecular Biosciences) had never heard of Pullman when she considered WSU’s National Institute of Health Protein Biotechnology Training Program. She even shamefully admits, at first, she confused WSU with the University of Washington. Now, the Coug is developing gene therapies to treat genetic disorders, HIV and cancer. Adair is a faculty member in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Her goal: provide safe, cost-effective applications for gene therapy that can be implemented worldwide. » More ...

Understanding Immunity to Improve Health

Dr. Goodman and Marena Guzman in Dr. Goodman's laboratory
Just a few short hours after illness-causing bacteria enter the human body, a sophisticated defense system goes to work. The immune system quickly recognizes the foreign invaders and sends a well-orchestrated, frontline defense. “Innate immunity is ancient,” says Alan Goodman, assistant professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences and affiliate faculty in the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health. “Our bodies have many ways of fighting infectious disease, but innate immunity is something that must be important for it to have persisted.” » More ...

From WSU to the Mayo Clinic: My Summer as an Undergraduate Research Fellow

Pierce sitting on the steps next to a statue outside the clinic
Walking quickly through an underground tunnel that stretches nearly a half mile, I carried samples frozen on dry ice between two buildings on the Mayo Clinic campus to be tested as part of a clinical study on irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS. Analysis of the tissues may help physician-scientists understand the causes of IBS and one day find a cure. In other places, it could take hours or days for analysis to begin, but here at the Mayo Clinic, I was impressed by how almost instantaneous everything is. » More ...

Five Questions with Dr. Gay Lynn Clyde

Standing in front of the Office of the Campus Veteriarian sign.
From as long as I can remember, I have loved animals. Growing up, my family lived mostly in the suburbs. We had a dog, but I would not have considered them “animal” people. When I was 9 years old, I started riding horses. I bought my first horse when I was 12 years old from money I’d saved mowing lawns in the summer. I knew then that I would be a veterinarian. » More ...

1st Biennial Chromatin-DNA Repair Lecture Honors Drs. Raymond Reeves and Michael Smerdon

Standing in a laboratory with a DNA model behind them
To honor Drs. Smerdon and Reeves and their long careers and innovative research on how DNA in chromatin influences basic cell functions, the School of Molecular Biosciences hosted the Smerdon/Reeves Symposium on DNA Repair in Chromatin: The First 40 years (and Beyond). » More ...

The Next Generation: Educating Our Undergraduates for Careers in Science and Veterinary Medicine

They are working in a laboratory.
James Bonner loves science. As a freshman, James knew he wanted to major in biochemistry, so when he was selected to be part of the new hands-on Science Education Alliance biology lab, or SEA lab, in the WSU School of Molecular Biosciences, he was thrilled. “The lab brings abstract scientific concepts into everyday learning,” said Bonner, one of 24 randomly selected freshmen admitted to the SEA lab in fall 2011, the program’s pilot year. » More ...