News

Dr. Craig N. Carter, left presenting American Veterinary Epidemiology Society (AVES) Gold Headed Cane to Dr. Lisa A. Conti, right. 2017 Gold Headed Cane Awarded to One Health Initiative Team Member – Dr. Lisa A. Conti  Dr. Lisa A. Conti received the prestigious American Veterinary Epidemiology Society (AVES) KF Meyer/James H. Steele Gold Headed Cane Award from Dr. Craig N. Carter, current AVES President at the American Veterinary Medical Association convention in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) on July 24, 2017.   “The award was in recognition of Dr. Conti’s devotion to and achievements in the advancement of animal health, human health and One Health” said Dr. Carter.  He went on to say, “... you are so very deserving.”  Dr. Conti https://goo.gl/49F5rz is currently the Deputy Commissioner and Chief Science Officer of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, overseeing the divisions of Food Safety, Agriculture Environmental Services, Aquaculture, Animal Industry, and Plant Industry. Prior appointments were with the Florida Department of Health for 23 years, as Division Director of Environmental Health, Florida State Public Health Veterinarian and State HIV/AIDS Surveillance Coordinator. She has authored or co-authored numerous journal articles on One Health, public health, HIV/AIDS surveillance, vector-borne and zoonotic disease topics. She is Coeditor with prominent One Health physician Dr. Peter Rabinowitz, of the book Human-Animal Medicine: Clinical Approaches to Zoonoses, Toxicants and Other Shared Health Risks https://www.amazon.com/Human-Animal-Medicine-Clinical-Approaches-Toxicants/dp/1416068376  and Co-editor of Confronting Emerging Zoonoses: The One Health Paradigm http://www.springer.com/978-4-431-55119-5.  Dr. Conti serves on the NIH National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council. She is a member of the One Health Initiative pro bono team currently comprised of two physicians and two veterinarians. She was a founding member and Chair of the State Environmental Health Directors with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers. She was a founding member of the Florida Rabies Control and Prevention Advisory Committee, sat on the Rabies Compendium Committee of the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, was an Executive Board member of the Florida Veterinary Medical Association (FVMA) and established and chaired the FVMA One Health Committee from 1995-2013. Dr. Conti served on the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Public Relations representing Public Health. She was an Affiliate with the Yale University School of Medicine on Human-Animal Medicine projects; an Adjunct Professor at Florida State University having taught Food Safety and Epidemiology courses; Courtesy Associate Professor at the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology; and, has taught Anatomy and Physiology at Tallahassee Community College. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medical degree from the University of Florida, Master of Public Health (Public Health Administration) from the University of South Florida and Bachelor of Science (Chemistry/Math) from the University of Miami. She is a Certified Public Manager through Florida State University, and Board Certified in Preventive Medicine through the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. Dr. Conti is a recipient of the Florida Public Health Woman of the Year Award and the AVMA Public Service Award. Dr. Terry McElwain was also awarded the KF Meyer/James H. Steele Gold Headed Cane for outstanding leadership and career contributions in epidemiology, public health and One Health.  Dr. McElwain earned his DVM from Kansas State University.  After a short stint in clinical practice in Pennsylvania, he completed a residency in pathology and a PhD in Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology at Washington State University. He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists.  After serving as an assistant professor of pathology, infectious diseases, and immunology at the University of Florida and Washington State University, he became the Director and Executive Director, of the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in 1993, and Director of the Animal Health Research Center in 1995, continuing in those roles until his recent retirement. He continues to serve as the Associate Director and Professor of the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health at Washington State University.  He is a popular scientific speaker and a prolific researcher and writer.  He loves his students and has served on dozens of graduate student committees.  His One Health oriented research in zoonotic diseases is well recognized.  Funded by CDC, he conducted classic studies establishing strategies to prevent zoonotic diseases in Kenya.  He has received many awards and extraordinary recognition in his career to include the AAVLD E.P. Pope Award, Washington State University Faculty Member of the Year Award, AVES Diplomate status, and elected to the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. Others awarded an AVES Honorary Diploma for outstanding contributions in epidemiology, public health and One Health with biographical information provided by Dr. Carter included: Dr. Terri Clark received her DVM from Auburn University. After serving 11 years as a US Army Veterinary Corps Officer, she transferred to the National Institutes of Health as a commissioned corps officer in the US Public Health Service.  Currently, she is Director of the Office of Animal Care and Use at the National Institutes of Health.  She is Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.  Dr. Jason Johnson received a MS in Biomedical Sciences and a DVM degree both from Auburn University.  After 7 years in practice, he taught 2 years at the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine at St. Kitt’s, West Indies.  He then joined Lincoln Memorial University as Medical Director of the DeBusk Veterinary Teaching Center, College of Veterinary Medicine.  He also served as Executive Director of the Center for Animal Health in Appalachia.  Next, he became Associate Dean for Clinical Sciences and in 2016, became Dean of the LMU College of Veterinary Medicine.  He is a Diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists. Dr. Mo Salman received his BVMS degree from the University of Baghdad, Iraq in 1973, his MPVM B.S. degree in Animal Science in 1976 and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine both from UC Davis.  Currently, he is Professor of Clinical Sciences and Director of the Animal Population Health Institute at Colorado State University.  He has received many awards to include Penn Veterinary World Leadership Award.  He has had a long and distinguished career in veterinary epidemiology and public health and has authored or coauthored over 300 peer reviewed articles and has served as editor of 7 books.    He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and has served as President of that organization.  He is also a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology.  Dr. John Gibbins received his DVM degree from The Ohio State University and a MPH from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD.  After five years in private practice, he has served in various leadership roles of increasing responsibility in the USAF and CDC to include a stint as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer.  He is currently the 11th Chief Veterinary Officer of the United States Public Health Service.  He deployed to Liberia in 2014-2015 as part of the Ebola response team.  He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.  Dr. Paul Gibbs earned his Bachelor of Veterinary Science (DVM equivalent) and a PhD in Virology from the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science.  He is a member and a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.  He has worked at the Pirbright Institute as a virology research officer, Professor of Virology and Chief of Microbiology and Parasitology at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and also served as the Director of the International Center for the University of Florida.   He retired in 2012.  His professional focus has always been on the control and prevention of emerging animal diseases of viral etiology. He received many honors to include the Pioneer in Virology Award from the AAVLD. Dr. Thomas Honadel earned his DVM from Kansas State University, a MPVM from the University of California, a Masters in Strategic Studies, and a MS in Reproductive Physiology from Pennsylvania State University.  He has had a long career as a United States Army Veterinary Corps officer with leadership roles of increasing responsibility, including three command assignments in overseas locations. He is currently Director, Veterinary Services, Army Public Health Center, Aberdeen proving Ground, MD.  He has attained the rank of full Colonel and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. Dr. Trevor Ames earned his DVM from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and completed a residency in Large Animal Medicine and a MS at the University of Minnesota.  After a stint in practice, he held positions in the Minnesota State Diagnostic Laboratory and later as a Professor of Veterinary Population Medicine with increasing levels of leadership, teaching and research responsibilities.    He is currently Dean and Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota.  He is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.    Note: Inaugurated by the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society (AVES) in 1964, the Gold Headed Cane Award was approved as an American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) award by the Executive Board in 1996 and is sponsored by Hartz Mountain Corporation, Secaucus, NJ (USA). The award recognizes the achievement of an individual concerned with animal health who has significantly advanced human health through the practice of veterinary epidemiology and public health. Dr. James H. Steele established the award to recognize the outstanding contributions of veterinarian, physician and scientist, Dr. Karl F. Meyer. Originally named the K.F. Meyer Gold Headed Cane Award, it was renamed the K.F. Meyer-James H. Steele Gold Headed Cane Award in 1985 to recognize Dr. Steele for his outstanding contributions to epidemiology and veterinary public health. Today, this award has gained in relevance and stature in concert with AVMAs and many other organizations endorsement and development of the philosophy of One Health throughout the world. Craig N. Carter, DVM, PhD, is Director & Professor, Epidemiology of the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary Science in the College of Agriculture, Food & the Environment College of Public Health at University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY (USA).  Dr. Carter serves as a member of the One Health Initiative team’s Advisory Board http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/advBoard.php.