Happenings in the Department of VCAPP

NEW to and DEPARTING from VCAPP

Thiebaut Herzog will be joining the department as a research assistant in Bob Ritter's lab, and Giulia Ronchi arrived this week to work in the lab of Krzysztof Czaja. (November 9, 2009)

Jim Peters will be returning to VCAPP in mid-February to work with Steve Simasko as a Research Assistant Professor.  He will manage the lab and grant writing.

Joseph Harding (and wife Barb) are proud grandparents of their first grandson, Logan Harding, born to Joe's son Tim and daughter-in-law.  He joins grand daughter, Kiera (photo above).  The Hardings also have one other grand-daughter, Lena, from their daughter, Erin and husband.

Welcome to first-year Neuroscience/Veterinary Science Graduate Students: Joseph Cahall, Jason Wright, Peter Neumann, Katie Jewett, Brandon Roberts and Zhiqun "Cindy" Zhou.

Rosemarie Larios gave birth to daughter Mia Martier Larios on Friday, September 4 at 3:35 p.m. via c-section.  She weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Oliver Link has joined the staff of the Vivarium as a new animal technician.  He replaced Chris Eby who was called to active military duty for 1 to 3 years.  Chris will return to his position once he returns to Pullman.

Lynn Churchill retired after 27 years of service at WSU.  A reception honoring her took place on August 13, 2009.

New graduate students for the 2009-2010 academic year are Brandon Roberts, Jason Wright, Joseph Cahall, Peter Neumann, Katie Jewett and Zhiqun Zhou.  A Pizza party to welcome the new students is scheduled for Wednesday, August 19 at noon.

Fernanda Monjaraz-Fuentes will be leaving the Rector lab in mid September.

New Employees beginning fall semester 2009 are: Binglin Li (Wayman Research Associate); Xiaojun Li (called Drin; Appleyard Research Associate); Ronchi Giulia (Research Associate with Czaja (arriving in September or October); Rafal Bukowski (postdoctroal associate with Bob Ritter) will arrive early September; Mark Zielinski (Krueger postdoctoral associate) has arrived in the department.  Welcome to these new co-workers.

Margaret Gottschalk left her position at VCAPP on May 29, 2009.  Margaret had for many years been the "mainstay" as the first face visitors encountered at the front desk.  She reports she is enjoying her retirement.  Beatrice O'Neill has moved from word processing to manning the main VCAPP desk.

Nancy Dernell recently (May 2009) began employment as an Instructional Material Developer in VCAPP.  She will work with faculty to develop computer-enhanced educational materials.

Travis Brown left his position at VCAPP to accept a postdoctoral assignment at Brown University (5/31/09)

Mami Otaka will be retuning to her native home (Japan) on June 24, 2009.

Piao Huazi arrived mid-April to work with Sue Ritter as a Research Associate.

Liyun Chen began a postdoctoral Associate appointment with the Bob Ritter lab on March 1.

Swami Prakash arrived in early December as a new graduate student.

Alok De has left his position in the Krueger lab to accept a new post in Missouri.

Pari Sengupta arrived November 1 to fill the Research Assistant Professor position in the Krueger lab.

Skyler Brown will be taking Vanessa Wakeling's postion in the Sorg lab.  Vanessa accepted a position on the west coast starting in early November.

Pete and Starla Meighan will be working part time in the Rector lab.  They will continue in their part time Clinical Assistant Professor positions with the department.

Larry Jensen joined the research team of Ruth Newberry in early October 2009.  He left VCAPP October 1, 2009.

EVENTS OF NOTE

New Fall SCAVMA store hours are to be announced at the end of the current week (8/17)

Murali Chandra was recognized by the Graduate and Professional Student Association for excellence in advising (5/27/09)

Dr. Chandra also serves as the campus WSU cricket club player-coach.  See cricket story link.

Congratulations Fan Liao for earning the Summer 2009 Graduate Student Travel Grant (all winners).

The April 6 issue of WSU Today (online) featured many of VCAPP's research stars (story and photos by WSU Vet graduate, Becky Phillips)  The article includes information on depression research and includes Drs. Jaak Panksepp, Yan Dong, Gary Wayman, Sylvie Cloutier, Rebecca Craft and Dan Gurerra.  The article can be found here.

Dr. Heiko Jansen and his graduate assistant Jasmine Ware are featured in one of the impressive slides showcasing the university's best photos of 2008 (from WSU Photo Services).  You can see the entire impressive photo collection (including VCAPP's "stars") by clicking here.  There is some great music that accompanies the slide show, so turn on your speakers.

WSU Showcase 2009 also featured several CVM/VCAPP students.  Access the site here.

In case you haven't noticed, the Wegner Building is being gifted with a new coat of paint (to remove the Orange 1970s look).  It will be nice to have all the ducts and walls clean and ready for visitors.  (Thanks Becky for overseeing these projects.)

Pam Colbert Retirement (photos)

Myofilament Modeling Conference a success
The 2008 Student-Centered Myofilament-Modeling Conference, arranged by Dr. Kenneth Campbell of VCAPP, was deemed a success by all who attended the 2-day event. Participants (below) posed for a photo during a break at the informative and educational schedule.  VCAPP participants included Dr. Campbell, Chair Bryan Slinker, Dr. Wen-Ji Dong, Murali Chandra and his student, Steven Ford.

Celebration of Excellence at CVM
Dean Bryan Slinker invited all members of the Department of VCAPP and CVM to join in a celebration of excellence, Friday evening, May 1, 2009 at the Best Western-University Inn, Moscow, ID.  The evening, which featured a catered dinner, showcased CVM faculty and staff accomplishments throughout the past year.

Babies
Fan Lia gave birth to a wonderful baby boy, Isaac (Dawei in Chinese, which means "great or big behavior") on May 5, 2008.  He had lots of hair and mom reports everyone is doing well.

BIRTHDAYS TO CELEBRATE

October:
5-Michael Sardinia
9-Glenn Raymond Wyrick
11-Parijat Sengupta
12-Vitaly Ryu
13-Manuel Rojas
22-Neal Burke
    Mark McNabb
25-Stewart Bohnet
27-Xiling Wu
30-Thu Dihn

November:
1-Cesar Zamora
5-Nancy Dernell
   Heiko Jansen
   Mingyan Zhu
9-Dallas Kinch
11-Tricia Duffy
13-Patrick Wilson
22-Paul Whitney
24-Jeanne Jensen
25-Sally Blank
26-Caroline Behoist
28-Ruth Newberry
29-Pete Meighan
29-Zoltan Peterfi
30-Ken Campbell

December:
8-Sandi Brabb
13-Chris Davis
    Laura Kinslow
    Donna Sienkiewicz
17-Katrina Mealey
21-Sylvie Cloutier
22-Mike Morgan
30-Carolyn Johnson