Pathology and Virology
Melanie Ammersbach
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
(See also: Non-human Primate Medicine, Wildlife/Exotic Animal Medicine/Zoonoses)
Dr. Ammersbach is a veterinary clinical pathologist with a special interest in non-traditional species. The areas of expertise of clinical pathologists include clinical chemistry, hematology and cytology. Non-traditional species include exotic pets, zoo animals, wildlife and laboratory animals.
There are many potential projects, including several collaborations with other faculty members, such as: 1. A collaboration with the primate center and Dr. Olstad to evaluate neutrophil morphology with inflammation (retrospective study), and cerebrospinal fluid analysis findings (retrospective and prospective) and their association with a number of diseases. 2. A collaboration with Dr. Van Hoy on a project validating and establishing normal reference intervals for blood gases and coagulation tests in pet minipigs and 3. A collaboration with Dr. Beaufrere documenting lipoproteins in birds (including cockatiels and flamingoes) using high resolution lipoprotein electrophoresis.
STAR students will explore projects in the field of clinical pathology (hematology, biochemistry or cytology) of non-traditional species (exotics, wildlife, laboratory animals).
Feel free to reach out at mammersbach@ucdavis.edu for more information.
Faculty Bio
Brian Bird DVM, MSPH, PhD
One Health Institute
(See also: Global Health, Vector-borne Disease Research)
Dr. Bird is a veterinarian and virologist with expertise in virus ecology and viral hemorrhagic fevers. He has an active research program in California and across Africa investigating zoonotic virus spillover and immunobiology from wildlife especially bats and rodents of high-consequence viruses, pathogen-detection, and the development of countermeasures ranging from vaccines for animal and human use to community-based risk mitigation. STAR student projects could range from laboratory analyses to field ecology depending on student interest and needs of currently funded projects.
Alexander Borowsky
Center for Comparative Medicine
Dr. Borowsky is a surgical pathologist with expertise in diagnostic breast pathology. His research is focused on development of a mouse model of prostate cancer, focusing on the molecular pathways that are activated or disrupted in various genetically engineered mice, and correlating these findings with the tumor phenotype. Among genes of interest are tumor suppressor genes such as Nes1, which is down regulated by methylation during early breast and prostate cancer. Conditional targeted knockouts of these genes are being developed in mouse models. These findings are being validated and compared with data derived from human tumors, using microarrays, quantitative RNA and laser capture microscopy.
Terza Brostoff
(see also: Immunology/Infectious Diseases)
Dr. Brostoff is a board-certified veterinary microbiologist with emphasis in immunology and virology. Her laboratory's current interests include:
- Developing novel diagnostic tests for infectious diseases and cancer
- Developing lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated mRNA vaccines
- Understanding the contribution of extracellular vesicles to viral infection
Potential STAR projects include:
- Validation of a novel diagnostic test for feline coronavirus
- Measuring the T-cell responses to mRNA vaccines
- Analyzing EVs from infected vs. uninfected animals to understand how they may contribute to disease progression
If interested, please email tmbrostoff@ucdavis.edu to discuss further.
Lark L. Coffey, Ph.D.
Davis Arbovirus Research and Training
Center for Vectorborne Diseases
Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
(See also: Immunology/Infectious Disease, Vector-Borne Disease Research)
Dr. Coffey studies the ecology, evolution, and transmission dynamics of mosquito-borne viruses including chikungunya, Zika, West Nile, and St. Louis encephalitis that are significant causes of human disease with no licensed human vaccines or treatments beyond supportive care. The goal of her research is to understand patterns of viral molecular evolution and the viral genetic factors that promote arbovirus emergence and severe disease. Her work focuses on how intrahost viral genetic diversity generated by error-prone viral replication influences infectivity and transmissibility between mosquitoes and people or animals. She and her team also developing cheap and convenient improvements to surveillance in mosquitoes by detecting viral RNA in saliva expectorated by sugar-feeding West Nile virus vectors in California. They are also developing approaches to increase safety of candidate live-attenuated chikungunya virus vaccines by restricting their potential to develop revertant mutations that cause illness in vaccinees. Together with the California National Primate Research Center, the team is developing a non-human primate model of human Zika virus in pregnancy that is being used to define the roles of Zika virus mutations in fetal disease and for pre-clinical testing of therapies and vaccines.
STAR students will participate in projects involving arbovirology, virus titration and assessment of viral RNA levels from experimental samples, experiment design including considerations of rigor and reproducibility.
Dr. Coffey can be reached via email at lcoffey@ucdavis.edu.
Please see http://coffeylab.ucdavis.edu for more information.
Rodrigo Gallardo, DVM, PhD, DACPV
(See also: Immunology/Infectious Disease, Food Animal Medicine)
I am a poultry veterinarian with experience in poultry production, management and health. I obtained my DVM degree from the University of Chile and a PhD from Auburn University in avian molecular virology. I am board certified by the American College of Poultry Veterinarians (ACPV). I worked for several years in a layer breeder facility in charge of reproduction and hatchery for Hy-line international. I have worked as an assistant veterinarian in diagnostic laboratories using serological, virological and molecular methods for detection of viral diseases affecting the poultry industry including Newcastle disease (NDV), avian influenza (AI), infectious bronchitis (IBV), avian reoviruses (ARV), infectious coryza (IC), etc. I have been involved in manufacturing NDV and IBV biological products both live attenuated and inactivated. In research, I have worked on characterizing viral pathogens and the immune responses they elicit in chickens. During my career I have been working with RNA viruses, particularly corona and reoviruses, trying to understand their variability and evolution in immunocompetent and immunodeficient hosts. Currently, I am the head of the Poultry Medicine Program at the University of California in Davis where I teach, perform research and outreach. My passion is to help the poultry industry translating research into practical actions. I currently collaborate with the broiler and layer industry in California in the surveillance and prevention of Newcastle disease, Reoviruses, IBV and infectious coryza. I also provide support in poultry medicine and disease prevention to poultry companies in the Caribbean and Central and South America.
E-mail: ragallardo@ucdavis.edu
Stefan Keller, DVM, Dr.med.vet., PhD, DECVP
Assistant Professor of Anatomic Pathology
I am an assistant professor of anatomic pathology at the School of Veterinary medicine. My research is focused on 1) improving methods to diagnose lymphoma in domestic animal species based on B- and T-cell receptor diversity; 2) developing algorithms to support clinical decision-making using machine learning/artificial intelligence.
For the summer of 2023 the Keller lab would welcome a veterinary student interested in improving diagnostic methods to distinguish inflammatory bowel disease from lymphoma in cats with chronic enteropathy. More specifically the project will utilize next generation sequencing to characterize the hypervariable region of T-cell receptors from archived endoscopic samples of cats with a wide range of histological profiles and clinical disease severity. We expect this technique to outperform current methods to detect early emerging alimentary lymphoma and to differentiate it from inflammatory enteric disorders. The student will work with researchers from various fields such as pathology, internal medicine and computer science. The project is benchwork-centered and will involve contemporary molecular techniques such as PCR, capillary electrophoresis and next generation sequencing. Furthermore, the STAR student will be exposed to related research projects centered on assessing lymphocyte distribution in intestinal biopsies using artificial intelligence and extracting pertinent clinical information from VMACS. In addition to the mandatory STAR poster presentation, we encourage, and will support a poster presentation at the annual American College of Veterinary Pathology (ACVP) conference 2023.
Dr. Keller can be reached via email at smkeller@ucdavis.edu.
Richard Levenson, MD, FCAP
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
(see also: Diagnostic Imaging)
BACKGROUND: Richard Levenson, MD, FCAP, is Professor and Vice Chair for Strategic Technologies in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UC Davis. He trained in medicine at University of Michigan and pathology at Washington University, and is Board-certified in Anatomic Pathology. A faculty position at Duke was followed by an appointment at Carnegie Mellon University to explore multispectral imaging approaches for pathology and biology. In 1999, he joined Cambridge Research & Instrumentation (now part of PerkinElmer) to become VP of Research, and helped develop commercially successful multispectral microscopy systems and software for molecular pathology and diagnostics, multispectral and three-dimensional small-animal imaging systems, optical dynamic contrast techniques, and birefringence microscopy. He serves on NIH, NCI and NSF review panels, is section editor for Archives of Pathology, and is on the editorial boards of Laboratory Investigation. Current research includes mass-tagged enabled multiplexed immunohistochemistry, and novel slide-free microscopy. MUSE MICROSCOPY How microscopes work in actual clinical pathology has not changed materially in well over a century. Our lab originally developed ultraviolet-based MUSE microscopy as a novel approach for obtaining high-resolution, diagnostic-quality histological images from unsectioned thick tissue specimens. MUSE avoided the need to perform extensive tissue processing and thin physical sectioning. In recent years we have gone on to develop visible-light-based FIBI (fluorescence imitating brightfield imaging), which has some advantages over MUSE. FIBI images resemble H&E-slide digital captures, and can be generated from tissue in just a few minutes. Extended fields of view can be captured from whole organs with microscopic detail. This non-destructive process leaves the sample intact for subsequent downstream molecular or genetic analysis. In addition, images can include shading and depth cues that reveal surface profiles important in understanding the three-dimensional organization of complex specimens. This inexpensive, rapid, and slide-free, sample-sparing method has potential to replace frozen sections, and may have other applications in both high- and low-resource settings.
EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE PROJECTS:
1. Survey a suite of familiar and unfamiliar stains as alternatives to hematoxylin and eosin for improving image content or for staining new tissue components that are not easily detected just with H&E, such as collagen, elastin, amyloid, PAS, etc.
2. Developing immunofluorescence approaches that are compatible with FIBI so molecular data can be acquired at the same time histology images are captured. We have a number of approaches that can be explored, including new contrast agents, and non-antibody-based probes.
3. Application to vet path cases would be very relevant, as FIBI can both provide intra-operative guidance, as well as point-of-care histology in veterinarian offices, which could be helpful in decreasing the need for return visits and accelerating care. Creating a digital atlas of FIBI images from a variety of normal and diseased tissues from a variety of species would be an interesting project. Another would be to explore imaging parasitic diseases. Research skills that would be helpful: imaging experience, software and coding expertise for enhancing image capture and display, histology exposure, AI interest or familiarity.
Important point: currently, the work would take place at the Medical Center in Sacramento. If we have built additional imaging stations it is possible, but perhaps not likely, that we will have a FIBI imaging station available for experiments at the vet school in Davis.
Contact - levenson@ucdavis.edu
Christopher Miller, DVM, PhD
Center for Comparative Medicine
Christopher J. Miller, D.V.M., Ph.D. is a Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Veterinary Medicine and an Adjunct Professor of Medicine in the School of Medicine. Dr Miller is a veterinarian and virologist, a core faculty member of the Center for Comparative Medicine and a Staff Scientist at the California National Primate Research Center. His laboratory utilizes non-human primate models of AIDS, Herpes simplex virus, Zika virus and influenza A virus infection to define the pathogenesis of these viral infections, study the nature of protective antiviral immunity, and test vaccines and immunotherapeutic strategies to prevent infections with these agents.
Please visit Dr. Miller's website for more information.
Patricia Pesavento, DVM, PhD, dip ACVP
Pathology, Viral Diseases
Vet Med: Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology
The Pesavento laboratory is interested in pathogens that emerge from intensive housing/population situations such as shelters or free ranging wildlife populations in suburbia. The approach is one of translational research; from examination of the clinical disease and pathology of outbreaks of infectious disease, to molecular and cellular analysis of the causative pathogen/pathogens and their particular virulence. We extend studies by using cell culture models of primary host target tissues, with the overall aim of the laboratory to form a basic understanding of the pathogen: host relationship. Our laboratory has projects in viral oncogenesis (Raccoon neuroglial tumors) and emerging viral pathogens (Red Panda Amdoparvovirus, Feline hepadnavirus, Feline gammaherpesvirus).
Previous projects accomplished include:
Tissue distribution of FcGHV
Polarity of Feline Caliciviral invasion of epithelium
Expression of the capsid protein VP1 of Raccoon Polyomavirus
Monoclonal antibodies to the oncogenic Tag protein of the Raccoon polyomavirus
Potential 10 week projects for Summer students:
Is FcGHV associated with oronasal carcinomas of the cat?
What is the impact of amdoparvovirus infection on red pandas in zoologic collections?
Please visit Dr. Pesavento's website for more information.
Kent E. Pinkerton, Ph.D.
Professor of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology
(see also: cardiology, immunology, pharmacology/toxicology and pulmonary medicine)
1) To take an innovative approach in addressing air quality issues in dairy and cattle operations by the examination of direct health effects on the cardiopulmonary systems of mice and rats exposed to ambient particles using a concentrator system at the Tulare Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center.
2) To examine the effects of environmental factors (gases and particles in the air) on peri-natal development to affect lung anatomy and pulmonary function in the rat. From conception to adulthood in the rats takes approximately 6 weeks, an easy fit for one summer!
3) To measure heart rate variability as an indicator of change in autonomic control in the mouse exposed to Davis, CA summer particulates.
4) To take a comparative biology approach to elucidate mechanistic environmental pathways leading to increased susceptibility (fetal onset of adult disease).
5) To examine the role of secondhand smoke on increased susceptibility to infection (influenza).
6) To explore the role of metabolomics as an early indicator of disease (asthma, altered immune function, increased susceptibility to infection).
Dr. Pinkerton can be reached via email at kepinkerton@ucdavis.edu.
Christina Sigurdson, DVM, Ph.D., DACVP
Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, UC Davis
Department of Pathology, UC San Diego
(See also: Neurology/Neurobiology)
Our laboratory investigates the spread of prion diseases. We are focused on understanding the molecular basis for prion transmission between species, for example, human and animal susceptibility to prions of deer and elk, known as chronic wasting disease. To this end, we have identified a loop region in the prion protein that has a major impact on the cross-species transmission of prions. We also study how the biophysical properties of the prion aggregate enable or prevent prion spread into the brain, leading to fatal neurodegeneration.
A second area of interest is in understanding the molecular basis of a highly prevalent amyloid disease that is occurring in island foxes off the coast of southern California.
We would welcome veterinary students to our laboratory at UC San Diego to participate in projects related to either prion disease or island fox amyloidosis.
Please visit Dr. Sigurdson’s website for more information.
Fauna L Smith
Assistant Professor of Livestock Reproduction and Herd Health
VM: Population Health and Reproduction
(see also: Immunology/Infectious Diseases, Food Animal Medicine/Food Safety)
Dr Smith is an Assistant Professor of Livestock Herd Health and Reproduction. Her expertise is in immunology and infectious disease. Her research interests are in the areas of small ruminant emerging diseases, development and assessment of herd level preventative measures for infectious disease and immune development and sex differences in ruminants. Dr. Smith is boarded in Large Animal Internal Medicine and her clinical focus is small ruminant herd health. Potential research topics include immune characterization of sheep and goats, field research on a novel approach to prevention of gastrointestinal or respiratory diseases of sheep and goats, and bio-surveillance of California's small ruminant populations for emerging infectious diseases.
Dr. Smith can be reached at flsmith@ucdavis.edu.
Esteban Soto-Martinez, MSc, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVM
VM: Medicine and Epidemiology (See also: Microbiology, Immunology, Wildlife/Zoonoses)
Dr. Esteban Soto is a board certified veterinary microbiologist who has an interest in aquatic animal health. Our laboratory main research interests are to understand the pathogenesis of important infectious diseases of wild and aquatic animals, and to develop strategies to protect animals from these diseases. Members in our laboratory study One Health, Aquatic Animal Disease, and Fish Disease through a combination of microbiological, molecular, and epidemiological methods. Current projects involve studying the ecology, diversity and host-pathogen interaction of Francisella noatunensis, Piscirickettsia salmonis, Veronaea botryosa, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, Flavobacterium spp., Saprolegnia ferax, Koi herpes virus and other fish pathogens; and studying the ecology, diversity and host-pathogen interaction of hypermucoid Klebsiella pneumoniae in marine mammals.
Please email Dr. Soto-Martinez for more information - sotomartinez@ucdavis.edu
Nam K. Tran, PhD, MS, FACB
SOM: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
(See also: Microbiology/Parasitology)
My expertise is in clinical chemistry and point-of-care testing for critical care and emergency settings. This includes the development and implementation of innovative biomedical devices and technologies for improving the quality of patient care. These technologies include molecular pathogen detection methods for early detection of sepsis, novel biomarkers of organ dysfunction (e.g., acute kidney injury, myocardial infarction, etc), and point-of-care devices (i.e., medical testing at or near the site of patient care) for testing in emergency medicine and critically ill populations. Our team works closely with Biomedical Engineering, as well as the Divisions of Burn Surgery, and Trauma/Emergency Surgery from the School of Medicine. We are also heavily involved with clinical trials including a large multicenter randomized controlled study evaluating the impact of quantitative, PCR-based detection of Staphylococcus aureus in burn sepsis patients. Translational studies with the veterinary medicine involve the use of anti-fibrinolytic therapy in severe hemorrhage models (e.g., swine and sheep), and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modeling of drugs in both animal and human models of injury.
Contact: nktran@ucdavis.edu
Please visit Dr. Tran's website at: https://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/pathology/our_team/faculty/tranN.html
Nissi Varki, M.D.*
Comparative pathology, mouse models of human disease
Affiliated with UC Veterinary Medical Center – San Diego
Director of Histopathology Resources, Cancer and Mouse Histopathology
Professor of Pathology
(See also: Immunology/Infectious Diseases, Oncology, Cardiology)
Dr. Nissi Varki's research interests include comparative histopathology analysis of genetically altered mice, and models of human diseases including cancer, inflammatory disorders and microbial infections. She is investigating the role of glycosylated molecules in tumor progression and metastasis, including evidence for a human-specific mechanism for diet and antibody-mediated inflammation in human carcinogenesis. Another area of recent exploration is the tissue and species-specific expression of sialic-acid binding lectin receptors known as Siglecs, which play an important role in regulating host innate immune responses and inflammation. Dr. Varki also has a longstanding interest in immunological mechanisms operating at the gastrointestinal mucosal epithelium and their role in chronic colitis and colon cancer development. Dr. Varki serves as Director of the Histopathology Core laboratories Mouse Phenotyping Services at UC San Diego and teaches in the histology and pathology laboratory sessions for medical students, mentors numerous undergraduate students and high school students and serves on the Recruitment and Admissions Committee for the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Link to Dr. Varki’s current publications
Link to Dr. Varki’s website
*Please contact Peter Ernst pernst@ucsd.edu or Christina Sigurdson csigurdson@ucsd.edu first for more information
Austin K. Viall, DVM, MS, DACVP
Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology
Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
Dr. Austin Viall is a clinical pathologist in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology. His research interests are in the realms of immune-mediated hematologic disorders, anemia, and transfusion medicine in companion animals. Laboratory group specifically studies the underlying pathophysiology of canine immune-mediated hemolytic anemia and immune thrombocytopenia, along with mechanisms of immunothrombosis in these and other conditions. Additionally, Dr. Viall’s team is looking to develop better assays to diagnosis and monitor response to therapy in dogs with immune-mediated hematologic diseases. Potential STAR program projects include development of anti-erythrocyte antibody testing for IMHA diagnosis, anti-platelet antibody testing for ITP diagnosis, assessment of novel transfusion combability tests, or validation of a flow cytometry assays for neutrophil extracellular traps.
Please feel free to contact Dr. Viall at akviall@ucdavis.edu or come by office in VM3A 4329.