AASV Annual Meeting Well-Attended

March 21, 2012 — 

The AASV held its 43rd Annual Meeting in Denver, Colo. March 10 - 13, 2012. The meeting, held at the Hyatt Regency, drew 1004 total attendees including 558 paid registrants and a record 164 students. The participants represented 30 countries including the U.S. Total attendance included 220 allied industry representatives manning a record 75 technical tables. The students in attendance represented 27 veterinary schools from 7 countries!

The participants were presented with numerous educational sessions including 9 pre-conference workshops, two general sessions, three break-out sessions, research topics, industrial partner sessions, 15 student seminar presentations and 54 posters.

Dr. Dean Boyd opened the Monday General Session with the Howard Dunne Memorial Lecture. His presentation, entitled “How to integrate science into practice to improve business viability,” explored the impact of animal health and performance on economic viability in pork production. Dr. Lisa Tokach followed up with the Alex Hogg Memorial Lecture entitled “Science, welfare, and economics: Are they corner¬stones or just a balancing act?” She provided a thought-provoking look into daily practice challenges in contrast to global perspectives derived from her recent experiences with the Heifer International Program.

The second half of the Monday morning session included presentations on swine immunology, applying evidence-based population medicine in practice and improving the welfare of the diseased or injured pig. The Tuesday General Session was devoted to swine influenza and the regional control and elimination of the PRRS virus. All of the General Session presentations on Monday and Tuesday were video recorded and will be posted in the video library of the AASV website in the near future.

The AASV Awards Reception was held Monday night followed by the AASV Foundation’s annual fund-raising auction. Dr. Kerry Keffaber, 2008 AASV President and chair of the 2012 Awards Selection Committee, presented the recipients of the Howard Dunne Memorial Award (Dr. Tom Stein), the Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year Award (Dr. Brad Gramm), the Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year Award (Dr. Deb Murray), the Meritorious Service Award (Dr. Morgan Morrow), and the award for Swine Practitioner of the Year (Dr. George Charbonneau).

The lively Foundation auction raised a record amount totaling $81,377.00! The money raised supports Foundation programs including student travel stipends, research projects, scholarships, student externships, summer internships, awards and other opportunities to enhance the personal and professional aspects of swine veterinary medicine.

Auctioneer, and AASV Executive Director, Dr. Tom Burkgren called the auction with the assistance of AASV Student Delegate Shamus Brown (ISU). This year’s auction also included a raffle in which participants purchased numbered buttons for a chance to win one of three cash prizes. The raffle netted $2327.10 for the Foundation. The auction was a great success and fun was had by all. The Foundation wishes to thank all those that participated in the auction by bidding on items and the auction committee chaired by Dr. Warren Wilson. A special thanks goes out to all those that donated items to the auction. A list of the auction buyers and the selling prices is available on the AASV Foundation’s auction website.

In addition, fifteen AASV committees met during the Annual Meeting and the Board of Directors convened at the close of the meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The 2013 Annual Meeting will be held March 2 – 5 in San Diego, CA and the Board selected New Orleans, LA as the site for the 2016 Annual Meeting.