Summary of the 2007 National Veterinary Scholars Symposium

Introducton

Over 450 people gathered on the NIH campus at the Natcher Auditorium August 3-4 for the 2007 National Veterinary Scholars Symposium. This symposium—sponsored in part by NIH, Merck & Co., Inc. (a pharmaceutical company), and Merial (an animal health company)—brought together veterinary students from schools around the United States and Canada who are engaged in formal research programs. The Symposium was hosted by the University of Pennsylvania and focused on research performed by veterinary students in summer programs, combined degree students, post-graduate veterinarian-scientists, and more senior veterinary scientists.

Symposium Focus

Special focuses of the symposium were comparative oncology as well as the contributions of veterinary scientists to public health. Concurrent sessions also focused on immunology, genomics, stem cells, genetic disease, neurobiology, cancer, infectious disease, and laboratory animal medicine. The meeting overlapped a concurrent conference hosted by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) that sought to identify barriers to students entering research careers. Of particular note, each veterinary program sent select student leaders to participate in the AAVMC conference, and these students then lead discussions during the symposium. This was also the first national gathering of veterinary students in combined degree programs.

Attendees

Approximately 275 veterinary students attended the symposium, including 33 combined degree students. Other attendees included 75 university faculty, nearly 50 NIH scientists, and scientists from Merck & Co., Inc. and Merial. The conference this year was, by far, the largest of its kind and was made possible by support from many agencies including:

Other schools contributing financially included Kansas State University, Colorado State University, The University of Florida, The Ohio State University, North Carolina State University, and Oklahoma State University.

National Training Opportunities

For information on national training opportunities for veterinarians, please consult www.ncrr.nih.gov/career_development_opportunities/ and http://cvm.msu.edu/ORG/rgs/nationalwebsite.htm. Highlights from the concurrent American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges Symposium entitled "Veterinarians in Biomedical Research: Building National Capacity" and a wide variety of additional information are available at www.aavmc.org/.