News in Brief

Congratulations to Dr Locksley Messam on his recent keynote address at the 21st Southern African Society for Veterinary Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine (SASVEPM) Congress in Capetown.  The Congress focused on the unique problems and circumstances faced in animal health and welfare on the African continent and explored practical and sustainable local and regional solutions.

For more on SASVEPM 2024, see here: (opens in a new window)https://sasvepm.org/sasvepm-congress-2024/

Locksley’s presentation can be viewed (opens in a new window)by clicking here. 

The School of Veterinary Medicine hosted its annual Information Sessions for prospective students in New York and San Francisco in January this year.  Pictured are some of the attendees and speakers who participated in the session in the Irish Consulate in San Francisco on 9 January.  Marissa Silva (MVB 2016) and Brianna Creighton (MVB 2018), both members of our Young Alumni Ambassadors Group, very kindly volunteered to come along to the session in San Francisco to speak about their experience of studying and living in Ireland.

Dr Benoit Cuq and Dr Monica Augusto from the UCD Veterinary Hospital Small Animal Medicine Team were recently invited to lecture at the EUVG School of Veterinary Medicine in Coimbra (Portugal).

Benoit and Monica travelled to Portugal to teach two days of courses in Immunology and Haematology as part of a Masters Degree in Advanced Small Animal Internal Medicine. The course is designed for veterinary practitioners who are looking to advance their practice in internal medicine. This is the third year Benoit and Monica have been asked to share their expertise on these topics.

Monica and Benoit also teach in these areas in UCD and have most recently supervised graduate students as follows:

• Monica has been supervising Conor Moloney who is working on Reticulocyte indices for his Doctorate of Veterinary Medical Specialisation (DVMS) project
• Conor published a paper on this work in December 2023 and presented the results of his research at the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ECVIM) Congress in Lyon in September 2024
• Benoit supervised Antoine Duclos for his DVMS thesis on IMHA in dogs
• Antoine recently published a paper on this work and also presented the results of his research at the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Annual Forum in Philadelphia in June 2023

We were delighted to host our Graduate Certificate in Dairy Herd Health students at the Bimeda Herd Health Hub on UCD Lyons Farm for two days last Autumn. Practical sessions at Lyons are an important part of this course - they're used to teach students a range of skills that are invaluable to cattle practitioners.

Course participants enjoyed a dinner together after their first day of practical sessions.  The dinner was kindly sponsored by Bimeda and Andrew Glynn (General Manager, Bimeda Ireland) and Colin Chapman (CEO, Bimeda Europe) were in attendance.  A most enjoyable evening was had by all!

Congratulations to the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine Equine Team on their recent successes at the Irish Equine Veterinary Association’s (IEVA) Annual Conference and the European College of Equine Internal Medicine's (ECEIM) Annual Forum.

Members of the Equine Team (past and present - pictured, right) represented UCD School of Veterinary Medicine at the Irish Equine Veterinary Association’s annual conference in Kilkenny with great success.  The team presented three clinical research abstracts, two posters, three invited lectures, hosted three workshops and four members of the team were case award finalists.

The team also did exceptionally well in the IEVA awards:

• Lucy Lamont (past intern) won first prize and €1000 in the IMV sponsored Recent Graduate Case Award
• Aurore Le Breton and Christos Kalyvas were runners up in the above category
• Ahmed Al Ansari won the Poster Award sponsored by the Irish Equine Centre 
• Andrea Del Rincon won the Practitioners Case Award sponsored by Connolly Red Mills

In Copenhagen, Claudia Gilders (ECEIM Resident) won the Best Oral Presentation by a Resident at the European College of Equine Internal Medicine Annual Forum - the prestigious Luis Monreal Award.  Claudia is now invited to attend the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Conference in Kentucky next June to present her data.  Congratulations to Claudia on this fantastic achievement!

Pictured below: Assoc Prof Vivienne Duggan (Equine Clinical Studies, Diagnostic Imaging & Anaesthesia Section Head), Claudia Gilders & Professor Lisa Katz at the ECEIM Annual Forum in Copenhagen.

What are the environmental impacts of UCD’s vet school activities? What steps can be taken to address or minimise any of these? And how can future vets and vet nurses be equipped with a greater awareness of the environmental sustainability of the profession and measures that can be taken to improve it? 

These were the questions discussed at the recent ‘Sustainability in the Vet School’ half-day seminar, organised by Emma O’Neill, professor of small animal medicine in UCD.

Keynote speaker was vet Ellie West, environmental sustainability lead for the veterinary group Linnaeus UK, which has over 80 practices across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Ellie spoke of her work exploring the environmental impact of veterinary practice and mitigation measures. 

This keynote, attended by some 70 people from across the School, was followed by a talk by vet Niamh Byrne, founder of the new group, Veterinary Sustainability Network Ireland. Niamh spoke of the aims and objectives of this group and how people can get involved. 

Read more about this event by clicking here.

The European Union Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (EURCAW) Ruminants & Equines provides scientific and technical knowledge to Competent Authorities of EU member states and their support bodies, for the official controls on ruminant and equine welfare requirements laid down in European Union animal welfare legislation.

EURCAW Ruminants & Equines continues to work on new content, including new welfare topics concerning fitness for transport, equine housing and care, and hoof care. In the upcoming Work Programme 2025-2027, additional topics such as painful and stressful procedures will be explored. The new work programme also includes other exciting updates, including a new LinkedIn page and roadshows around the EU. There are 3 additional Centres, focused on other species, EURCAW Pigs, EURCAW Poultry and Small Farmed Animals and EURCAW Aquatic Animals.

For more information on EURCAW Ruminants & Equines, visit our website (opens in a new window)by clicking here or scanning the QR code below.