News

A documentary chronicling a groundbreaking collaboration between UC Davis veterinary and pediatric neurosurgeons has received a 2026 Northern California Emmy Award.

Produced by the UC Davis Health video team, Saving Viggo: The Kitten Surgery That Could Help Babies with Hydrocephalus won in the Health/Medical — News or Long Form Content category. The award recognizes senior video content producer Christopher Nelson, director of news and media relations Pamela Wu and contributing photographer Kevin Ulrich.

A new venture between the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine and PetSmart Charities will equip veterinary students to pursue impactful careers in community veterinary medicine. The PetSmart Charities Veterinary Fellowship program provides financial support, mentorship, and professional development during veterinary school, and for up to four years following graduation for fellows who work in qualifying community medicine practices.

This article first appeared in the CCAH Update newsletter, Spring 2026.

It isn’t often that researchers involved in the fundamental aspects of translational medicine get to meet a patient who has benefitted from a decade or more of basic science. So, when Dr. Stephen McSorley and his postdoctoral researcher Dr. Marietta Ravesloot-Chavez met Snoopy on the last day of his clinical trial, there were lots of ear scratches to deliver. 

Summer has found a new forever home after being hit by a car that required several surgeries at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH). The approximately 1-year-old German shepherd’s long journey back to health required a large team of veterinary professionals and volunteers. Their dedication to providing care to underserved communities, and saving animals in the process, has given a young dog a new lease on life in the perfect landing spot.  

The UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine welcomed 155 students of the Class of 2030 in the annual White Coat ceremony on Friday, August 21.

Dr. Karolynn Ellis has joined the Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Service at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) as an assistant professor.

Dr. Heather Knych and her team at the Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory were recently awarded the 2025 Dechra Analgesia Prize from the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists. The team was recognized for their publication, “The impact of transdermal application site on pharmacokinetics and selected pharmacodynamics of buprenorphine in horses” in the journal Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (VAA). 

Dr. Michael Lairmore, Dean Emeritus of the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, has published a biographical feature honoring fellow Dean Emeritus Dr. Frederick A. Murphy, Jr., who died June 23, 2026, at age 92.

Dr. Marvin Goldman, professor emeritus of the school and a pioneering radiation biologist whose research helped establish international safety standards for radioactive materials, died July 20, 2026. He was born May 2, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York.

On Saturday, August 1, a call came in from the Tevis Cup: a rider had been separated from her horse, and the horse was now somewhere deep in the Granite Chief Wilderness at 7,200 feet — no road, no trail, no way in on foot or by vehicle.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office helicopter launched with North Valley Animal Disaster Group technical animal rescue members Susan Marshall and Norm Rosene aboard, and flew to those coordinates. Overhead, we confirmed it: the horse was there, and still standing.

The UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) welcomed 63 new house officers (44 residents, 13 interns, 6 fellows) into its advanced training programs this year. The UC Davis SVM House Officer Program is the largest of its kind in the United States with approximately 140 total house officers advancing their skills in 53 distinct training disciplines (37 residencies, 9 internships, 7 fellowships) for the 2026-27 academic year.

Sometimes, people are just in the right place at the right time. Thankfully for Aika, neurologist Dr. Christine Toedebusch happened to be in the Emergency Room at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) when the 5-year-old corgi arrived. While she was checking on another patient, Dr. Toedebusch noticed Aika from across the room.

Lu Dao, DVM ’13, was recently named the 2026 Community College Advisor of the Year by the Health Professional Student Association (HPSA). Dr. Dao is a veterinarian and the Chair of the Agriculture Department at Los Angeles Pierce College in Woodland Hills, California. As a child, he lived across the street from the college and used the campus farm as his playground.

The Reaching Across the Causeway (RAC) Awards program, now in its fourth year, is a joint funding initiative led by the Vice Dean for Research of the School of Medicine (SOM), the Associate Dean of Research at the Weill School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), with contributions from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center.

UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine hosted the 25th Believe & Belong in Veterinary Medicine Youth Pathways event in late June. The program, created by the nonprofit blendVET Foundation, is a day-long event where underrepresented middle and high school students discover not only career paths within the veterinary profession, but build connections, and find mentors along with a sense of belonging.