From genes to clones, the new Reproductive Biotechnologies Laboratory christened at the Ontario Veterinary College in early June will help U of G build on its reputation as a centre for studies in reproductive biology and animal and human health, says Dr. Allan King, Biomedical Sciences.

The opening of the lab, which occupies much of a third-floor wing at the college, marks the first phase of Guelph's Institute for Animal-Human Links in Health Science Research.

The lab is intended to promote interdisciplinary studies involving researchers from OVC and two other U of G colleges, as well as collaborators at other universities in Canada and abroad.

"I think it represents the trend in research today," says King. "We do collaborative, multidisciplinary research."

About 40 people, including seven biomedical sciences faculty, will share the facility. Many of those faculty, staff and students took part in a mini-symposium on research in reproductive technologies held June 8 to inaugurate the new facility.

"U of G has had a strong reproductive biology interest for some time, but this facility brings some of these researchers together into a central node," says Dr. John Leatherland, chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences. "The students will work side by side, collaborating in research and applying for joint grants. It's a wonderful learning arena for our graduate students. The emphasis is on research, mostly using large-animal models, that has relevance to both animal and human health issues."

On a tour of the facility, King noted that its open-concept design will bring together various researchers previously working in their own labs. The space includes individual environment-controlled workrooms and equipment that will allow scientists to conduct such exacting tasks as growing stem cells used in cloning and developing embryos and studying genetic material.

Biomedical sciences professor Jim Petrik says access to the lab's state-of-the-art equipment and collaboration with other researchers will benefit his studies of reproductive disorders, including protein interactions.

His colleague Dr. Dean Betts will use the lab for his studies on therapeutic and reproductive cloning, including potential uses of reproductive biology for curing diseases such as Alzheimer's and spinal cord injuries.

"There's not a comparable facility in the world devoted to reproductive biotechnologies," says Betts, who discussed his research as one of four invited speakers at the mini-symposium. "The reproductive biotechnologies group of the department is well-known, but this facility will just make it stronger."

King, who this year was awarded a Canada Research Chair in Reproductive Biotechnology, studies expression of genes in embryos. Referring to the use of animal models for studying reproductive biology in humans, he says: "What we do is important in its own right, but animal models are also seen as models for human health."

The new lab is expected to attract visiting scientists from across the country and abroad, such as three current visitors from Denmark, France and Italy.

The lab is the first of five related components under the proposed Institute for Animal-Human Links in Health Science Research. Funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation with matching funding from the Ontario Investment Trust and support from U of G and private-sector partners, the $27-million institute will also include another comparably sized research lab, specialized animal holding facilities, a magnetic resonance imaging suite and a surgical-diagnostic research lab.

- Andrew Vowles

The Global Vets are taking their show on the road. This summer, nine veterinary students are travelling in four groups to Argentina, India or East Africa.

2004 Global Vets, from back left, are Mijanou Lamoureux, Uschi Rudof, Lindsay Lane and Claire Windeyer. From front left are Becky Ball, Kate Wilson, Joanne Coote, Kyla Ortved and Kathleen Cameron.

The Global Vets experience offers veterinary students unique opportunities to promote international collaboration on animal health and welfare, agricultural development and ecosystem health. Initiated by veterinary students in 1997, Global Vets has remained largely student-driven, with participants responsible for planning their itineraries, making contacts in their destination countries, fundraising for their projects and sharing their experiences with the OVC community and sponsors when they return.

On the itinerary this summer is a stint at the Mendoza Zoo in Buenos Aires for students Kate Wilson, Becky Ball and Mijanou Lamoureux, where they hope to learn more about how Argentines view wildlife, as well as the conservation efforts undertaken by the zoo. During their time in Argentina, they will also be involved in projects related to food safety and parasitology research, as well as working a small animal clinic.

In India, Kathleen Cameron and Claire Windeyer look forward to working with a mobile animal clinic near Delhi that provides free medical treatment to working animals such as horses and donkeys, improving the living and working conditions of these animals and educating their owners about proper care and treatment. They will also participate in farm visits with India's National Development Dairy Board and will work at a veterinary hospital and shelter for small, large and wild animals

In East Africa, two pairs of students - Lindsay Lane, Uschi Rudolf, Kyla Ortved and Joanne Coote - will rotate through six different projects, including a week spent educating local schoolchildren about animal health issues such as population control and infectious disease, and work with Kenya Wildlife Services, assisting in the rehabilitation of sick and orphaned wild animals such as elephants and lions.

OVC celebrated the achievements of two graduates as they received awards on Alumni Weekend, held June 25 to 27. Dr. Donal McKeown, OVC '58, was honoured as the U of G 2004 Alumnus of Honour at the President's Lunch, while Dr. Ted Valli, OVC '62, received the OVC Alumni Association's 2004 Distinguished Alumnus award at its annual general meeting.

Valli is widely recognized as a dedicated teacher, researcher and administrator. He earned MSc and PhD degrees at Guelph in 1967 and 1969, respectively, and then became a faculty member in OVC's Department of Pathology. In addition to the more than 200 refereed papers Valli has authored to date, he has supervised the work of over 30 graduate students, including five who are current faculty members at OVC. He says that working with graduate students was what he enjoyed most.

"They were a marvellous part of being a professor," he says. "They ate my food, borrowed my clothes, drove my car - we were like a family."

He became chair of OVC's Department of Pathology in 1979, and later served as Associate Dean of Research at OVC from 1985 to 1990. He left the College to serve as Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois, a position he held for two terms.

Valli's friends and colleagues speak of his strong work ethic and his enthusiasm for clinical pathology. He was known to sleep at his laboratory when necessary, in order to conduct blood tests on animals every few hours.

"We had a lab timer that made a devastating noise when it went off, and we relied on it to keep us awake," he remembers.

Valli continues his work and teaching in diagnostic pathology at the University of Illinois.

McKeown also has an enviable record of success and achievement, and will be honoured as the U of G 2004 Alumnus of Honour.

After graduating from OVC, McKeown was a partner at a prestigious small animal clinic, Friendship Animal Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he had the distinction of caring for the pets of two US presidents (Johnson and Nixon). He returned to Canada in 1974 to become a professor at OVC, first as a surgeon in the Department of Clinical Studies, where he was able to indulge his interests in orthopedics. Later, his interests evolved to include animal behaviour, and he spent his last years at OVC in the Department of Population Medicine. He is considered a pioneer in animal behaviour work, was a popular speaker at national and international conferences, and received teaching awards for his work with students.

"Behaviour was an area that I deemed very important to the practice of veterinary medicine," McKeown says. "I'll always remember the tremendous support I got from OVC for developing a new course in ethology."

Through his work in animal behaviour, McKeown became involved as a consultant for many police and customs officers as well as in the training of other service dogs.

Throughout his career as a practicing veterinarian and teacher, he pursued a variety of other interests, including business, veterinary organizational work and community service. He was one of the founders and vice-president of Veterinary Medical Diets, a pet food company based in Guelph. Other companies he founded include one that tests veterinary drugs for pharmaceutical companies, another that tests dog and cat foods for the pet food industry, and a third that promotes dog training and manufactures the "Gentle Leader" line of products.

McKeown is well known for his leadership as an early president of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA), and was named Ontario Veterinarian of the Year in 1989 by the OVMA.

Aside from his work in the veterinary field, McKeown is deeply involved in community work. He has served as president of the Fergus-Elora Rotary Club, and recently co-chaired a major funding campaign for the Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus.

- Karen Gallant

The Forster Medal, the University's highest convocation award for a graduate student, will be presented to biomedical sciences major Josh Silvertown at the Ontario Veterinary College convocation ceremony June 17 at 2:30 p.m.

Silvertown completed a bachelor of science at U of G in 2000 and earned a PhD after only three years of graduate school. He pioneered the development of an adenoviral vector system expressing relaxin. He has three abstracts, a full paper and a major review article published and another abstract and paper in press. He is currently completing a post-doctoral fellowship with the Ontario Cancer Institute's department of medical biophysics.

While at Guelph, Silvertown volunteered his time to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Guelph, serving on the board of directors, chairing the recruitment committee, working with a group in the Little Brothers program and supervising volunteer assistants. On campus, he served on Board of Governors, Senate, the Judicial Hearing Board, the Board of Directors of the Graduate Student Association, the Student Budget Advisory Committee and several other committees.