ASU vet school adds ambulatory service
The College of Veterinary Medicine at Arkansas State University, which will welcome its first cohort of students in August, has launched a large animal ambulatory service.
Arkansas’ first veterinary school “is centered around serving the community, and the ambulatory service is an important way for us to provide veterinary care directly to animal owners where they are,” Dr. Trey Neyland, teaching assistant professor of livestock practice, said in a news release from the university. “Through this service, one of our large animal veterinarians travels to a client’s farm, home, or facility to provide veterinary care for large animal species.”
Neyland and Dr. Scott Reiners, teaching associate professor of equine practice, provide veterinary care, according to A-State. Services will range from individual wellness and sick-patient examinations to routine herd healthcare, breeding soundness exams, pregnancy examinations, on-farm consultations, lameness evaluations and certificates of veterinary inspection, A-State said. The ambulatory service is available from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The service “will provide students across all years of their veterinary education with hands-on, real-life experience in rural veterinary medicine,” Neyland said in the release.
UCA gets contract to support teachers
The University of Central Arkansas’ Mashburn Center for Learning has been awarded a $300,000 contract from the Arkansas Department of Education to provide professional development and support to Arkansas schools.
Through the Arkansas Co-Teaching with the Strategic Instruction Model Project, the Mashburn Center will collaborate with selected K-12 schools statewide to strengthen instructional practices and improve learning outcomes for students through evidence-based co-teaching and collaborative instructional models, according to UCA. The project is expected to receive annual funding on an ongoing basis.
“This contract expands our ability to provide high-quality professional learning and coaching that helps teachers work together more effectively and ensures all students have access to engaging instruction,” Renee Calhoon, director of the Mashburn Center, said in a news release from UCA this week. The Mashburn Center is part of UCA’s College of Education.
Selected schools will participate in a comprehensive professional development and coaching program beginning next month, according to UCA.
UAMS gets $19.6M in research funding
A federal grant that funds a statewide biomedical research program led by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has been extended for another five years.
The latest grant from the National Institutes of Health is for $19.6 million and will be distributed over five years to the Arkansas IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence. IDeA refers to the Institutional Developmental Award program, which was established to distribute National Institutes of Health funding for biomedical and behavioral research, according to UAMS. The grants are awarded to institutions in 23 states and Puerto Rico.
The latest extension will bring the total amount of funding for the Arkansas research program to $107.7 million between 2001 and 2031, according to UAMS.
The IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence builds biomedical research capacity in states that historically receive lower levels of federal funding, providing grants, mentoring and research opportunities for students and faculty and connecting universities and research institutions to share resources.
“The grant allows us to continue to provide students and faculty with research opportunities, strengthen scientific infrastructure, and develop the next generation of researchers and innovators,” Lawrence Cornett, a distinguished professor of physiology and cell biology at UAMS and director of the Arkansas program, said in a news release from UAMS.
UAMS and the University of Arkansas lead the program, joined by a network of 16 colleges and universities across Arkansas. Programs include an intensive mentored summer research experience, where students spend 10 weeks working with scientists at UAMS and UA gaining research experience and career development skills, according to UAMS.
Since 2001, 342 students have participated in the summer program, most of whom have gone on to get advanced degrees.
“We find the students who are introduced to hands-on science early on go on to be better students when we see them again as medical students, pharmacy students and graduate students at UAMS,” Cornett said.
Ryan Anderson
Ryan Anderson covers higher education across the state. He joined the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in August 2022 after covering education — and other topics — for a decade at four newspapers in three states. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ryan attended DePaul University in Chicago and now resides in Fayetteville.
