November – December 2019
- Welcome Dr. Sonja Saksida as a faculty position in Aquaculture Population Health, started in December. Dr. Saksida received her Bachelors of Science in Marine Biology, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Master of Science in Veterinary Epidemiology from the University of Guelph. Dr. Saksida has over 25 years of experience in aquatic animal health in Canada and internationally.
- The second Aqua Epi conference from November 4 – 6 in Thailand.
Current and former CVER members who attended the 2nd International Scientific Conference in Aquatic Animal Epidemiology from left to right: Omid Nekouei (former), Annette Boerlage (former), Beibei Jia, Larry Hammel, Thitiwan Patanasatienkul, Nicole O’Brien (former), Jaewoon Jeong, Derek Price (former), Ian Gardner, Marina Delphino, Krishna Thakur, Jeffrey Davidson.
September – October 2019
- Great Success – Seminar by Drs. Ian Dohoo and Javier Sanchez
At 3:00 pm Thursday October 10, the AVC Lecture Theatre B had already been filled almost close to full. The seminar lasted about 1.5 hours and followed by another joyful hour CVER coffee social. With many emails and inquiries before and after the seminar requesting for the presentation slides, and with the permission of their coauthor, Drs. Ian Dohoo and Javier Sanchez are generously sharing their talks with those who wanted, but were not able to attend the seminar, with CVER members and with those who are closely related with CVER. Click the links to access the presentations at Dr. Javier Sanchez_CVER_mediation_Oct10_2019 and Dr. Ian Dohoo_med_anal_case_study_Oct10_2019. - CVER Research Seminar by Drs. Ian Dohoo and Javier Sanchez on Thursday October 10 at 3:00 pm in AVC Lecture Theatre B, followed by CVER Coffee Social in AVC 343N. Click Ian_Dohoo & Javier_Sanchez Research Seminar Oct_10 for the details.
- Congratulations to Nora Biermann who has successfully defended her PhD thesis;
- Supervisors: Aimie Doyle and J. McClure
- Welcome to visiting graduate students:
- Welcome (back) to Monica Cecilia Miraballes from the National Institute of Agricultural Research in Uruguay; (Monica Cecilia was with us at the CVER from January to June in 2018.)
- Local supervisor: Javier Sanchez
- Welcome to Tanyanant Kaminsonsakul from Kasetsart University in Thailand
- Local supervisor: Krishna Thakur
- Welcome (back) to Monica Cecilia Miraballes from the National Institute of Agricultural Research in Uruguay; (Monica Cecilia was with us at the CVER from January to June in 2018.)
- Welcome to new epidemiology graduate students:
- Ana Soffia Jaramillo supervised by Javier Sanchez;
- Anna J. Potter supervised by Bronwyn Crane & John VanLeeuwen;
- Edward K. Nganga supervised by John VanLeeuwen;
- Elizah D. McFarland supervised by J. McClure & Greg Keefe;
- Landon M. Warder supervised by Javier Sanchez & Luke Heider;
- Madeleine Stein supervised by Michelle Evason & J. MaClure;
- Mariana Fonseca supervised by Javier Sanchez & Luke Heider;
- Paige Gamester supervised by Shawn MaKenna.
June – July 2019
- Congratulations to Marianne Parent who has successfully passing the comprehensive exams for her PhD program at UPEI.
- Epi on the Island 2019
The first 5-day course, “Survival Analysis”, from Jun 3 to 7, was held at the AVC. Ten participants were from China, Finland and across Canada. The course was instructed by Drs. Ian Dohoo and Henrik Stryhn of the AVC. The second 5-day course, “Applied Course in Quantitative Risk Modelling for Animal Health and Food Safety”, from Jun 24 to 28, was also held at the AVC. Thirteen participants were from Finland, Netherlands, Switzerland, USA and across Canada. The course was instructed by Drs. Håkan Vigre from National Food Institute at Technical University of Denmark, and Javier Sanchez of the AVC.
- CVER seminar by Dr. Ane Nødtvedt on Monday June 17 from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm in AVC Lecture Theatre B. Click Ane_Nødtvedt_Seminar_June_17 for the details.
- Congratulations to Maureen Anderson who has successfully defended her PhD thesis;
- Supervisors: Crawford Revie and Cory Neudorf
April – May 2019
- Dennis Makau (Supervisor: John VanLeeuwen) won the Governor General’s Gold Medal (graduate level). Dennis’ academic medal was presented by the Honourable Antoinette Perry, Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island at the Convocation 2019.
Congratulations, Dennis! - CVER seminar by Dr. Michael McIsaac on Thursday April 18 from 3:00 – 3:45 pm in AVC Lecture Theatre B, followed by CVER Coffee Social in AVC 343N. Click Michael_McIsaac_Seminar_April_18 for the details.
February – March 2019
- Welcome Dr. Ezekiel Omoshaba from Nigeria.
Dr. Omoshaba is a lecturer in Veterinary Microbiology from the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Nigeria. He is here at the AVC for 1 year to work on the research aspect of Ph.D. on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Ezekiel will be working with Dr. J McClure. - Congratulations to Mohamed Afifi for successfully passing the comprehensive exams for his PhD program at UPEI.
January 2019
- Congratulations to Peter Kimeli for successfully passing the comprehensive exams for his PhD program at UPEI.
- Congratulations to Dennis Makau and Joan Muraya who have successfully defended their PhD theses;
- Supervisor: John VanLeeuwen
- Welcome João Romero as the new graduate student: Master in Epidemiology
- Supervisor: Ian Gardner
- Welcome Ana María Colonia visiting with us from January to May 2019. During her stay, Ana works under Dr. Javier Sanchez’s supervision.
Ana is a Chemical Engineer with a master’s degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. She is a full-time student at the Agricultural Sciences Doctorate Program at Universidad de Caldas, Colombia. In 2018, Ana was awarded with the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) scholarship from the Government of Canada. During her exchange period from January to May 2019, Ana will be working with Dr. Javier Sanchez. Her PhD Project aims at identifying bacteriocins with potential use in mastitis treatment, a disease that economically affects milk producers and impacts directly on public health. She will be assessing these bacteriocins using a bank of mastitis pathogens from Colombia and Canada with different antimicrobial resistance profiles. Ana believes that the experience of this exchange program is of tremendous value to her PhD program, and will strengthen her doctoral study and broaden the spectrum of evaluation of bacteriocin activity. In addition, Ana is very excited to be able to learn more about Canada, the culture and cold winter!