University of Missouri Veterinary Research Scholars Program

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Mentors

Click on the mentor’s name for a description of their research.

Dr. Pam Adkins, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Research area(s): Current research interests include heifer mastitis, the ecology of staphylococcal species on the dairy farm, strain typing of bacterial species associated with bovine intramammary infections,  the effects of intramammary antimicrobial usage, and heat stress.

Dr. Yuksel Agca, DVM, PhD
Research area(s): Cellular, biophysical and molecular aspects of rodent germplasm cryopreservation and transgenics

Drs. Sybil Amelon, PhD (some projects in ecophysiology, ecohealth and one health in collaboration with Sarah Hooper, DVM, PhD)
Research area(s): Wildlife (bats) ecology in central hardwoods

Dr. Jim Amos-Landgraf, PhD
Research area(s): Microbiomes and colon cancer

Dr. Chris Baines, PhD
Research Area(s): The role of mitochondria and programmed necrosis in cell death and cardiac disease

Dr. Shawn Bender, PhD
Research area(s): Cardiovascular dysfunction in obesity and metabolic syndrome, especially involving mineralocorticoid receptor signaling

Dr. Charlie Brown, PhD
Research area(s): Inflammation/Lyme disease/arthritis

Dr. Elizabeth Bryda, PhD
Research area(s): Molecular genetics, development and characterization of animal models to study disease.

Dr. Amie Burling, DVM, DACVPM (some projects in collaboration with Dr. Craig Franklin)
Research area(s): Clinical shelter medicine topics (infectious disease prevention ,behavioral welfare, population health, microbiome, etc.)

Dr. Lane Clarke, DVM, PhD
Research area(s): Pathophysiology of intestinal epithelial transport and biology in cystic fibrosis and chemotherapy-induced injury.

Dr. Kevin Cummings, PhD
Research area(s): Neurohumoral control of breathing and cardiorespiratory function in sleep

Dr. Lindsay Donnelly, DVM, MS, DACVIM 
Research area(s): Fecal microbiome as it relates to risk for chemotherapy side effects and chemotherapy response

Dr. Craig Emter, PhD
Research area(s): Utilizing exercise gene, drug, and regenerative therapies to treat heart failure in swine and people

Dr. Aaron Ericsson, DVM, PhD (see also the MU Metagenomics Center; some projects in collaboration with Dr. Craig Franklin or Dr. Philip Johnson)
Research area(s): Microbiota of companion and research animals

Drs. Brian Flesner, DVM, MS, DACVIM and Angela McCleary-Wheeler, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (some projects in collaboration with Dr. Jeff Bryan, DVM, PhD, DACVIM)
Research area(s): Chemotoxicity; epigenetic modifiers; canine osteosarcoma

Dr. Craig Franklin, DVM, PhD, DACLAM (see also the MU Metagenomics Center; some projects in collaboration with Dr. Aaron Ericsson and project 4 is in collaboration with Dr. Amie Burling)
Research area(s): Microbiota in reproducibility and translatability of rodent models of disease (What? So what? Now what?) and microbiota of shelter animals

Dr. Laurel Grisanti, PhD
Research area(s): G protein-coupled receptor regulation of inflammation in the heart

Dr. Tamara Hancock, DVM, PhD, DACVP (clinical)
Research area(s): Investigations of the social dimensions of identity development in the veterinary medical profession with an emphasis on the learning environment, mental health and well-being and practices for inclusion and belonging

Dr. Philip Johnson, BVSc, MS, MRCVS, DACVIM (some projects in collaboration with Dr. Aaron Ericsson, Dr. Kei Kuroki, DVM, PhD, DACVP or Dr. Teresa Lever, PhD)
Research area(s): Research relating to inflammation in horses including laminitis and SIRS

Katrina K. Knott, MS, PhD, Environmental Health Unit, Missouri Department of Conservation; Katrina.Knott@mdc.mo.gov (some projects in ecophysiology, ecohealth and one health in collaboration with Sarah Hooper, DVM, PhD) 
Research area(s): Ecotoxicology and Conservation Physiology. Projects center on the bioaccumulation and potential adverse effects of toxicants (e.g., lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, algal toxins) in fish and wildlife

Dr. Sehwon Koh, PhD
Research area(s): Neuroscience focusing on glial regulation of synaptic connectivity in development and neurological disorders

Dr. Teresa Lever, PhD (some projects in collaboration with Dr. Philip Johnson or Dr. Nicole Nichols, PhD)
Research area(s): Laryngeal function

Dr. Chris Lorson, PhD
Research area(s): Neurodegeneration; Animal models of disease; Therapeutic development

Dr. Leslie Lyons, PhD
Research area(s): Comparative genetics of felines and other mammals

Dr. Charles Maitz, DVM, PhD
Research area(s): Radiation biology, radiation dosimetry, and modeling of high LET radiation, including boron neutron capture therapy

Dr. F.A. (Tony) Mann, DVM, MS, DACVS, DACVECC (see also ECC page)
Research area(s): Small animal surgical conditions, particularly those of emergent or critical nature

Dr. Lynn M. Martin, DVM, MPH, DACVIM (LAIM)
Research area(s): Equine ophthalmology and laminitis

Dr. Megan McCracken, DVM, MS, DACVS-LA
Research area(s): Optimizing models of intermittent lameness in horses

Dr. Allison Meyer, PhD
Research area(s): Developmental programming in beef cattle, or how nutrition and management of pregnant cows and heifers impacts their calves.  We are especially interested in health and metabolism of neonatal beef calves.

Dr. John Middleton, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Research area(s): 1) Dairy cattle mastitis; 2) Molecular epidemiology of bacterial mastitis pathogens; 3) Dairy goat mastitis; 4) Livestock models for human disease

Dr. Rajiv Mohan, PhD
Research area(s): Nanomedicine and Gene therapy for Corneal fibrosis and angiogenesis, Corneal Would healing, Glaucoma, Autophagy and Laminitis

Dr. Brandon Moore, PhD
Research area(s): Comparative reproductive anatomy of crocodylians

Dr. Nicole Nichols, PhD (some projects in collaboration with Dr. Teresa Lever)
Research area(s): Understanding how breathing and swallowing function can be restored in rodent models of motor neuron death, and establishing biomarkers of respiratory deficits or dysphagia (swallowing impairment) in rodent models of motor neuron death).

Dr. Wole Odemuyiwa, DVM, PhD, DACVM
Research area(s): Virology, Immunology

Drs. Carol Reinero, DVM, PhD, DACVIM and Hans Rindt, PhD
Research area(s):  Pulmonology: Respiratory and blood microbiome, respiratory infections, link between respiratory disorders and dysphagia; Immunology:  Development of a tool kit of immunodiagnostics in dogs

Dr. Cheryl Rosenfeld, DVM, PhD
Research area(s): microbiomes, endocrine disrupting chemicals, brain transcriptomic responses, placenta, offspring health and metabolic disorders

Dr. Bill Stich, PhD
Research area(s): Biology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens, with the goal of developing more effective approaches for control of tick-borne diseases that impact people and domestic animals.

Dr. Laura Tambrallo, DVM, MS, DACLAM, Associate Director, Animal Science & Welfare and Dr. Matt Myles, DVM, PhD, DACLAM, Associate Director, Animal Care, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health
Research area(s): Veterinary pharmaceuticals

Dr. Bret Ulery, PhD
Research area(s): Biomaterials, Immunoengineering, Regenerative Medicine

Dr. Michael Zhang, DVM, PhD
Research area(s): 1) Diagnostic test development; 2) Vaccine development; 3) Clinical case investigation.

About the Program

The objectives of the MUVRSP are to expose veterinary students to research career opportunities through a mentored research experience and develop a much-needed community of veterinary research scientists.

For additional veterinary student research opportunities, see the Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars and National and Canadian Research Opportunities for Veterinary Students web sites.

This program is sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, IDEXX BioResearch, and the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.

Contact Us

Primary Contact:
Dr. Craig Franklin
Program Co-Director and Contact
Professor
Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Voice: 573-882-6623
Fax: 573-884-7521
Email: franklinc@missouri.edu

© 2018 — Curators of the University of Missouri. All rights reserved. DMCA and other copyright information. An equal opportunity/access/affirmative action/pro-disabled and veteran employer. Disability Resources
Dr. Gary S. Johnson's Lab

 

We are focused on the discovery of the mutations responsible for heritable canine diseases. Over the years we have identified approximately 40 such mutations. Currently our main strategy is to generate and analyze whole genome sequences from affected dogs, identify suspicious DNA variations, and do PCR-based DNA tests to see which candidate variations occur in affected dogs but not normal dogs. A Veterinary Research Scholar would be taught to do the PCR-based DNA tests and asked to test normal and affected dogs to determine the cause of an inherited canine disease. Before the beginning of 2018, we expect to receive 21 new whole genome sequences each generated with DNA from a dogs with a different inherited disease such as Elhers-Danlos syndrome, lysosomal storage disease, epilepsy, megaesophagous, cataracts, ataxia, and alopecia. By March we 2018, we expect whole genome sequence data for several more dogs with interesting diseases.

Dr. Laurel Grisanti's Research

 

The focus of my research is to understand the mechanisms that regulate the development and progression of heart failure.  In particular, my research investigates the immunomodulatory role of adrenergic receptors and following cardiac injury and as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of heart disease.  β-adrenergic receptors (βAR) are critical regulators of cardiac function both in the healthy and diseased heart.  Cardiac βAR are differentially expressed with the β1AR subtype being predominantly localized to cardiomyocytes where they are known to regulate contractility.  β2AR are predominate on other cells types including fibroblasts and immune cells.  During heart failure, βAR signaling becomes altered and subtype expression ratios change, leading to detrimental hypertrophy, increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis, fibrosis and cardiac dysfunction.  As a result of this dysregulation in βAR signaling, they are a common therapeutic target for the treatment of heart diseases including myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure.

Following MI, there is an intense inflammatory response that is critical to for clearing the area of dying cardiomyocytes and extracellular matrix debris and activating remodeling pathways.  It has been known for over 100 years that the sympathetic nervous system can influence immune responses in part through its activation of βAR.  βAR are expressed on virtually all cells of the immune system where they impact cell function in a cell type, activation state and disease dependent manner.  β2AR are the most highly and widely expressed βAR subtype in the immune system where they are known to influence a number of different functions including hematopoiesis, lymphopoiesis, thymopoiesis, lymphocyte homing, immune cell maturation and immune cell function.  Regulation of immune functions by β2AR is thought to contribute to a number of different diseases including autoimmune diseases and wound healing.  However, the manner in which β2AR regulate immune responses is often disease dependent and how β2AR regulation of immune responses influences the pathogenesis and progression of heart failure is completely unknown.  We have identified an important role for β2AR in suppressing early immune responses, which leads to impairments in the hearts ability to remodel following ischemic injury.  Mice that lack β2AR in their immune system have decrease leukocyte infiltration following MI as a result of decreased migratory ability through alterations in the chemokine receptor CCR2.  There are also impairments in egress of immune cells from the spleen.  Ongoing studies are investigating the role of β2AR in regulating specific immune cell populations that impact healing following MI, identifying novel mechanisms through which β2AR are influencing the immune response, the impact of β-blockers on inflammatory responses and novel therapeutic strategies targeting β2AR in the immune system to improve outcome after MI.

Publications:

  1. Grisanti LA, Shumacher SM, Tilley DG and Koch WT (2017) Designer Approaches to GPCR Modulation. JACC Basic Transl Sci. In Press.
  2. Guo S, Carter RL, Grisanti LA, Koch WJ and Tilley DG (2017) Impact of Paroxetine on Proximal β-Adrenergic Receptor Signaling. Cell Signal. 38:127-33.
  3. Verma SK, Garikipati VN, Krishnamurthy P, Schumacher-Bass SM, Grisanti LA, Cimini M, Cheng Z, Khan M, Yu Y, Benedict C, Truongcao MM, Rabinowitz JE, Goukassian DA, Tilley DG, Koch WJ and Kishore R (2017) Interleukin 10 Inhibits Bone Marrow Fibroblast Progenitor Cell-Mediated Cardiac Fibrosis in Pressure Overload Myocardium. Circulation. 136:940-953.
  4. Grisanti LA, Guo S and Tilley DG. G Protein-Coupled Receptor-Mediated Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Transactivation in the Cardiovascular System. 2017; J Cardiovasc Pharmacol; J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 70:3-9.
  5. Grisanti LA, Traynham CJ, Gao E, Koch WJ and Tilley DG (2016) β2-Adrenergic Receptor-Dependent Chemokine Receptor 2 Expression Regulates Leukocyte Recruitment to the Heart Following Acute Injury. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA; 113:15126-15131.
  6. Wasilewski WA, Grisanti LA, Song J, Carter RL, Repas AA, Myers VD, Gao E, Koch WJ, Cheung JY, Feldman AM and Tilley DG (2016) Vasopression Type 1A Receptor Deletion Enhances Cardiac Contractility and β-Adrenergic Receptor Sensitivity. Clinical Science; In Press.
  7. Woodall BP, Woodall MC, Luongo TS, Grisanti LA, Tilley DG, Elrod JW and Koch WJ (2016) Skeletal Muscle Specific GRK2 Ablation Alters Isolated Skeletal Muscle Mechanics and Enhances Clenbuterol-Stimulated Hypertrophy. J Biol Chem; 291:21913-24.
  8. Grisanti LA, Gumpert AM, Traynham CJ, Gorsky JM, Repas AA, Gao E, Carter RL, Yu D, Calvert JW, Pun Garcia A, Ibanez B, Rabinowitz JE, Koch WJ and Tilley DG (2016) Hematopoietic Expression of β2-Adrenergic Receptors is Critical for Survival Following Myocardial Infarction. Circulation; 134:153-67.
  9. Grisanti LA, Repas AA, Carter RL, Talarico JA, Gold JL, Koch WJ and Tilley DG. 2014. Temporal Regulation of Cardiac Cytokine Expression in Response to Chronic β-Adrenergic Receptor Stimulation. Am J Physiol Heart; 38:316-30.
  10. Hullmann JE, Grisanti LA, Makarewich CA, Gao E, Gold JI, Chuprun JK, Tilley DG, Houser SR and Koch WJ (2014) GRK5-Mediated Exacerbation of Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy Involves Facilitation of Nuclear NFAT Activity;  Circ Res. 115:976-85.
  11. Tilley DG, Zhu W, Myers VD, Barr LA, Gao E, Li X, Song J, Carter RL, Makarewich CA, Troupes CD, Grisanti LA, Coleman RC, Koch WJ, Houser SR, Cheung JY and Feldman AM (2014) β-Adrenergic Receptor-Mediated Cardiac Contractility is Inhibited via Vasopressin Type 1A-Receptor-Dependent Signaling. Circulation; 130:1800-11.
  12. Talarico JA, Carter RL, Grisanti LA, Yu JE, Repas AA and Tilley DG (2014) β-Adrenergic Receptor-Dependent Alterations in Murine Cardiac Transcript Expression are Differentially Regulated by Gefitinib In Vivo. PLoS One; 9(6):e99195.
  13. Grisanti LA, Talarico JA, Carter RL, Yu JE, Repas AA, Radcliffe SW, Tang H, Makarewich CA, Houser SR and Tilley DG (2014) β-Adrenergic Receptor-Mediated Transactivation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Decreases Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis Through Differential Subcellular Activation of ERK1/2 and Akt; J Mol Cell Cardiol. 72:39-51.
  14. Carter RL, Grisanti LA, Yu JE, Repas AA, Woodall M, Ibetti J, Koch WJ, Jacobson MA and Tilley DG (2014) Dynamic Mass Redistribution Analysis of Endogenous β-Adrenergic Receptor Signaling in Neonatal Rat Cardiac Fibroblasts; Pharma Res Per. 2(1):e00024.
  15. Yu J, Deliu E, Zhang XQ, Hoffman NE, Carter RL, Grisanti LA, Brailoiu GC, Madesh M, Cheung JY, Force T, Abood ME, Koch WJ, Tilley DG and Brailoiu E (2013) Differential Activation of cultured Neonatal Cardiomyocytes by Plasmalemmal Versus Intracellular G Protein-Coupled Receptor 55. J Biol Chem; 288(1):22481-92.
  16. Grisanti LA, Kurada L, Cilz NI, Porter JE and Lei S (2012) Phospholipase C not Protein Kinase C is Required for the Activation of TRPC5 Channels by Cholecystokinin. Eur J Pharmacol; 689(1-3):17-24.
  17. Grisanti LA, Perez DM and Porter JE. Modulation of Immune Cell Function by α1-Adrenergic Receptor Activation. Curr Top Membr 2011; 67:113-38.
  18. Grisanti LA, Woster AP, Dahlman J, Sauter ER, Combs CK and Porter JE (2010) α1-Adrenergic Receptors Positively Regulate Toll-like Receptor Cytokine Production from Human Monocytes and Macrophages; J Pharmacol Exp Therap. 338(2):648-57.
  19. Grisanti LA, Evanson J, Marchus E, Jorissen H, Woster AP, DeKrey W, Sauter ER, Combs CK and Porter JE (2010) Pro-Inflammatory Responses in Human Monocytes are β1-Adrenergic Receptor Subtype Dependent; Mol Immunol. 47(6):1244-54.
  20. Deng P, Rojanathammanee L, Xiao Z, Yang C, Grisanti L, Watt J, Geiger JD, Liu R, Porter JE and Lei S (2009) GABAB Receptor Activation Inhibits Neuronal Excitability and Spatial Learning in the Entorhinal Cortex by Activating TREK-2 K+ Channels; Neuron. 63(2):230-43.
  21. Xiao Z, Deng P, Rojanathammanee L, Yang C, Grisanti L, Permpoonputtana K, Weinshenker D, Doze VA, Porter JE and Lei S (2009) Noradrenergic Depression of Neuronal Excitability in the Entorhinal Cortex via Activation of TREK-2 K+ Channels; J Biol Chem. 284(16):10980-91.
  22. Rojanathammanee L, Harmon EB, Grisanti LA, Govitrapong P, Ebadi M, Grove BD, Miyagi M and Porter JE (2009) HSP27 Confers Cytoprotective Effects Through a β-Adrenergic Receptor Agonist-Initiated Complex with β-Arrestin. Mol Pharm; 75(4):855-65.
Dr. Chaurasia's Lab

 

My lab is focused on a broad-based highly innovative, translational research program in molecular basis of eye diseases. My major research interest is to identify the early key initiating oxidative, inflammatory factors/signaling molecules and immune cells, which render metabolic derangements and eventually damage both neuronal and vascular cells in the pathophysiology of the eye diseases. Current projects in the lab involve wound healing mechanisms and nanodelivery, protein aggregation diseases, anti-angiogenic drugs, stem cell therapeutics and molecular mechanisms involving diabetic retinopathy and age-related retinal degeneration to decipher new drug targets for these blinding diseases.