AASV News
AASV installs 2016 officers

Dr George Charbonneau was installed as the president of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians at the association’s 47th annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. He succeeds Dr Ron Brodersen, who is now immediate past president. Dr Alex Ramirez has ascended to president-elect. The newly elected vice president is Dr Scanlon Daniels.

AASV President Dr George Charbonneau (OVC ’81) grew up in Arnprior, Ontario. He obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Ontario Veterinary College and established a veterinary practice serving southwestern Ontario. George is currently a veterinarian at South West Ontario Veterinary Services and is based in White Lake, Ontario. Dr Charbonneau has served as the president of the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians and the Ontario Association of Swine Veterinarians. He was involved in the formation of the Ontario Pork Industry Council and served as its initial chairman. He also represented Canadian swine veterinarians as a district representative on the board of directors of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. He was the 2012 recipient of the AASV Swine Practitioner of the Year award.

When asked to comment on his thoughts about the future of AASV and his tenure as president, Dr Charbonneau said, “In 2015, the National Pork Board made a significant investment in the formation of the Swine Health Information Center. The AASV is honored to participate, along with our industry partners at the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council, in preparing for and responding to emerging diseases. Our AASV members play an important role in managing emerging diseases. The AASV will provide support to our members in this effort, while continuing to be active in managing other issues such as antimicrobial resistance, foreign-animal disease, and animal welfare.”

AASV President-elect Dr Alejandro “Alex” Ramirez (ISU ’93) grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico. He obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Iowa State University (ISU) College of Veterinary Medicine and joined Valley Veterinary Center, a mixed-animal practice, in Cherokee, Iowa. In 2004, Alex left practice and returned to ISU to pursue a teaching career. He obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Iowa and concluded a PhD at ISU in 2011.

Dr Ramirez joined AASV in 2002. He first served as a substitute judge for the student presentations at the AASV Annual Meeting. Shortly thereafter he was asked to co-chair the student oral competitions. He has also co-chaired the Collegiate Activities Committee for the past few years and has served on the Journal of Swine Health and Production Editorial Board since 2010. He has represented District 6 on the AASV Board of Directors since 2013.

AASV Vice President Dr C. Scanlon Daniels (ISU ’98) grew up on a family-owned and operated livestock enterprise in central Iowa. He attended Iowa State University where he received a BS degree in Animal Science and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. He also has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Guelph. Dr Daniels has been previously employed as a staff veterinarian by Iowa Select Farms and Seaboard Foods. Currently, he and his wife, Dr Angela Daniels, operate a diversified food-animal veterinary practice, laboratory, and multi-species contract research organization in Dalhart, Texas. Dr Daniels has been active in multiple AASV committees and has served on the AASV Board of Directors representing District 7 on two occasions.

AASV Past President Dr Ron Brodersen (ISU ’79) grew up on a livestock farm near Coleridge, Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Iowa State University, where he received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, and also attended the University of Illinois Executive Veterinary Program. Dr Brodersen has been providing swine veterinary services in Hartington, Nebraska, since 1990. His veterinary practice recently became a part of Suidae Health & Production. He also owns Whole Hog Genetics. He was active on the Nebraska Pseudorabies Eradication Task Force in the 1990’s. Dr Brodersen has been active in the AASV, serving on the board of directors as well as the pharmaceutical and boar stud committees. He has also served as chairman of the AASV Foundation. The AASV recognized him as the Swine Practitioner of the Year in 2003.

AASV to publish 2016 membership directory

In keeping with its traditional every-other-year schedule, the AASV is preparing to publish the 2016 Membership Directory. The association requests that AASV members take a few moments to verify their directory listing at https://www.aasv.org/members/only/directory.php. When the member’s username and password are entered, his or her contact information automatically appears, along with a response box for the submission of additions, deletions, or other corrections. Lately, the most common changes have been the removal of fax and land-line phone numbers and the addition of mobile phone numbers.

The typical directory entry includes the member’s name, mailing address (two lines plus city, state, postal code, and country), business phone, fax, mobile phone, home phone, and one e-mail address. The directory does not list multiple e-mail addresses.

Print copies of the directory will be distributed to AASV members in late summer.

Proceedings book coverAASV proceedings

Don’t wait by the mailbox …

Again this year, you won’t find a 3-pound AASV proceedings book in your mailbox, but you can download all 434 pages (many in full color) from the Web site in mere seconds. Additionally, all of the pre-conference seminar booklets are available for download at no extra charge! To download the PDF files for viewing on your favorite electronic device, visit https://www.aasv.org/ library/proceedings/ or look under the “Resources” menu tab on the AASV Web site for “AASV Meeting Proceedings.”

To access the files, your 2016 AASV membership dues must be current, and you’ll need to enter your AASV username and password: if they’re not handy, use the “Reset Password” link in the upper right of the AASV Web site (https://www.aasv.org) to have them e-mailed to you, or contact the AASV office for assistance.

As in the past, PDFs for each of the individual proceedings papers will continue to be available as part of the AASV Swine Information Library, https://www.aasv.org/library/swineinfo/. This fully searchable, online library of more than 12,000 proceedings papers and journal articles is just one of the many benefits enjoyed by AASV members.

Call for papers – AASV 2017 Student Seminar

Veterinary Student Scholarships

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians announces an opportunity for veterinary students to make a scientific presentation during the Student Seminar at the AASV Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday, February 26, 2017. Interested students are invited to submit a one-page abstract of a research paper, clinical case study, or literature review for consideration. The submitting student must be a current (2016-2017) student member of the AASV at the time of submission and must not have graduated from veterinary school prior to February 26, 2017. Submissions are limited to one (1) abstract per student.

Abstracts and supplementary materials must be received by Dr Maria Pieters (pieters@aasv.org) by 11:59 pm Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 (firm deadline). All material must be submitted electronically. Late abstracts will not be considered. Students will receive an e-mail confirming the receipt of their submission. If they do not receive this confirmation e-mail, they must contact Dr Maria Pieters (pieters@aasv.org) by Friday, September 23, 2016, with supporting evidence that the submission was made in time; otherwise, the submission will not be considered for judging. The abstracts will be reviewed by an unbiased professional panel consisting of a private practitioner, an academician, and an industry veterinarian. Fifteen abstracts will be selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar at the AASV Annual Meeting. Students will be notified by October 14, 2016, and those selected to participate will be expected to provide the complete paper or abstract, reformatted for publication, by November 15, 2016.

As sponsor of the Student Seminar, Zoetis provides a total of $20,000 in support to fund travel stipends and the Top Student Presenter scholarship. The student presenter of each paper selected for oral presentation receives a $750 stipend to help defray the costs of attending the AASV meeting.

Each veterinary student whose paper is selected for oral presentation competes for one of several veterinary student scholarships awarded through the AASV Foundation. The oral presentations will be judged to determine the amount of the scholarship awarded. Zoetis funds the $5000 scholarship for the student whose paper, oral presentation, and supporting information are judged best overall. Elanco Animal Health provides $20,000 in additional funding, enabling the AASV Foundation to award $2500 each for 2nd through 5th place, $1500 each for 6th through 10th place, and $500 each for 11th through 15th place.

Abstracts that are not selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar will be considered for participation in a poster session at the annual meeting. Zoetis and the AASV fund a stipend of $250 for each student who is selected and participates in the poster presentation. In addition, the presenters of the top 15 poster abstracts compete for awards ranging from $200 to $500 in the Veterinary Student Poster Competition sponsored by Newport Laboratories.

Complete information for preparing and submitting abstracts is available on the AASV Web site at www.aasv.org/ annmtg/2017/studentseminar.htm. Please note: the rules for submission should be followed carefully. For more information, contact the AASV office (Tel: 515-465-5255; Fax: 515-465-3832; E-mail: aasv@aasv.org).