The UC Davis Equine Reproduction Service was well represented at a recent international breeders’ veterinary conference in Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, held during the KWPN Stallion Show. The conference attracted leaders in the field to share insights on showjumping breeding and equine reproduction in general.
Retired UC Davis staff manager Harold Davis, BA, RVT, VTS (ECC, Anesthesia & Analgesia), was honored with the 2026 ICON Award by The Bridge Club at their 2026 ICON Event, held in conjunction with the annual Veterinary Meeting & Expo in Orlando. A veterinary technician at UC Davis for 36 years, Davis ended his career as the manager of the Emergency and Critical Care Service at the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH).
The University of California, Davis, today announced the largest gift ever made to veterinary medicine worldwide: $120 million from philanthropists Joan and Sanford I. Weill through the Weill Family Foundation to support its top-ranked veterinary school.
In recognition of this commitment, the university has renamed the school the University of California, Davis, Joan and Sanford I. Weill School of Veterinary Medicine — or simply the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Woutrina Smith has been appointed as Executive Director of the One Health Institute (OHI) effective January 1, 2026, for a five-year term. As Executive Director, she will provide administrative leadership for the OHI and will guide its professional, academic, and business affairs. She replaces Dr. Michael Ziccardi, who has transitioned to Interim Director at the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center after Dr. Kirsten Gilardi’s retirement. Ziccardi led OHI for the past 5.5 years.
When Lexi Parrish greeted her pet Tyler one morning this past November, she immediately knew something was wrong with her 3-year-old mixed breed rabbit. The experienced rabbit owner, having owned one before Tyler for 10 years, could tell he was in pain and needed medical attention.
After calling her primary veterinarian, she took Tyler to UC Davis right away, where he was seen by the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service.
by Gaspard Nzayisenga, senior field veterinarian for Gorilla Docs
Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
December 25, 2025 saw the beginnings of respiratory illness in some of the gorillas in Kwitonda group. Over the next few days, the respiratory illness spread through the group with some gorillas showing more severe clinical signs than others.
Dr. Michael Mison, chief veterinary medical officer of the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), recently presented at the 2025 6th International Forum of Directors of Veterinary Teaching Hospitals held in Beijing, China. The forum, hosted by China Agricultural University, brought together hospital directors and academic leaders from several international veterinary teaching hospitals to discuss strategy, operational models, and staffing/labor costs.
Bella, a 4-year-old female pit bull terrier mix, was diagnosed with an infiltrative lipoma in her right shoulder area in early 2025. Owners Paul and Kristy Lewis took her to two surgeons to discuss removal of the lipoma, a benign tumor of fatty tissue. Infiltrative lipomas can invade into local structures including the surrounding muscles. On Bella, the tumor was infiltrating the muscle down to the humerus bone and was continuing to grow. This made complete surgical excision nearly impossible.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have uncovered new details about how a once-deadly coronavirus disease in cats spreads through the immune system. The findings may help scientists better understand long COVID and other long-lasting inflammatory illnesses in people.
UC Davis’ unique integration of human and animal health expertise has given a fluffy, friendly kitten a chance at survival — and opened the door to ideas that could someday help human patients.
When Erin Cooper noticed her Maine Coon kitten Viggo had an oversized head, she never imagined it meant something serious. But an MRI revealed feline hydrocephalus: a buildup of fluid inside the brain that is often fatal.
Earlier this fall, the New World screwworm – the flesh-burrowing larva of a blowfly (Cochliomyia hominivorax) – was detected in cattle in Mexico just 70 miles from the U.S. border. Most recently, in late November, another case was confirmed in Nuevo León, a state of Mexico adjacent to Texas.
As 2025 comes to a close, we reflect with pride on a year defined by momentum, innovation, and meaningful impact. From transformative facilities and groundbreaking research to global engagement and student success, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine continued to advance animal, human, and planetary health in powerful ways. Below are just a few highlights from an extraordinary year.
Steve graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Genetics, worked for 13 years in private industry designing and producing novel therapeutic proteins and antigens for human diseases, then spent several years as a stay-at-home dad with his three young children before joining CAHFS in 2012 as an SRA2 in Davis-Bacteriology.
By the time Wednesday, a now 9-year-old female German Shepherd mix, was rescued by Steve Napolitano in 2021, she had already been placed in a kill shelter and rejected by two families, only to be diagnosed with cancer after finally finding happiness in a safe home.
After seeing multiple specialists about the oral malignant melanoma diagnosed in her right jaw, Wednesday ultimately landed at the Oncology Service at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in early 2025.
A recent publication in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association marks an important contribution to radiation-safety understanding in veterinary imaging. The lead author of the review is Lisa Carstens, a registered veterinary technician at UC Davis.
