About Research at AMC

Research is a fundamental component of the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center’s founding mission. AMC is proud to advance veterinary medicine by pioneering new discoveries and progressive treatments. Through our Caspary Research Institute, AMC veterinarians work to understand the origins of diseases, to develop preventive measures, and ultimately to achieve cures. AMC doctors conduct clinical investigations of naturally occurring diseases in pets, often in collaboration with physicians studying the same illnesses in humans, to enable more effective diagnoses, advance medical and surgical treatments, and prevent disease in animals and humans alike.

Research Spotlight

Behind the Scenes: AMC Veterinarians’ Work as Peer Reviewers in JAVMA

A collage of four veterinarians
Clockwise from top left: Drs. Quesenberry, Alvarez, Ferrari, & Daniels

The April 2024 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) includes a special acknowledgment of the journal’s peer reviewers. These are content experts who volunteer their time to evaluate manuscripts, ensuring they meet rigorous standards for study design, scientific methodology, and statistical analysis. Reviewers also provide constructive feedback to improve the manuscript before it is published. This meticulous work, performed anonymously, is critical to maintaining the high standards of prestigious journals like JAVMA and its sister publication, the American Journal of Veterinary Research (AJVR).

In the April 2024 issue, four members of the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center’s veterinary team—Drs. Katherine Quesenberry, Lelani Alvarez, Jonathan Ferrari, and Zoe Daniels—are recognized among the peer reviewers. These contributions reflect AMC’s dedication to advancing veterinary research, not only through our clinicians’ original studies but also by contributing to the peer-review process that ensures the quality and integrity of veterinary science industry-wide.

For more on JAVMA and the work of publishing veterinary studies, listen to our podcast with JAVMA Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Lisa A. Forter on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts. Don’t forget to like and subscribe!

Dr. Leilani Alvarez’s Research Among Veterinary Surgery’s Most Read Articles

AMC’s Leilani Alvarez, DVM, DACVSMR

One measure of a publication’s impact is how often the article is read. Recently, AMC’s Dr. Leilani Alvarez received a special recognition from Veterinary Surgery, the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, when her article, Systematic review of postoperative rehabilitation interventions after cranial cruciate ligament surgery in dogs, ranked in the top 10% of papers published in the journal in 2022 based on downloads.

The popularity of Dr. Alvarez’s research is due in part to the prevalence of cranial cruciate ligament disease, which is the leading cause of hindlimb lameness and arthritis of the canine knee. Dogs with one torn cruciate ligament frequently develop a tear in the other leg. While surgeons repair the ligament using a variety of techniques, postoperative rehabilitation therapy helps return the knee to normal function. Dr. Alvarez’s study determined therapeutic exercise and cold compression therapy to be the most useful modalities available.

Congratulations to Dr. Alvarez on this achievement!

AMC Veterinarians are Key Contributors to Landmark Internal Medicine Textbook

AMC Senior Veterinarians with the ninth edition of Ettinger’s Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine (L to R: Dr. Dennis Slade, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, Dr. Alexandra van der Woerdt, Dr. Taryn Donovan, Dr. Allyson Berent, Dr. Chick Weisse)

The ninth edition of Ettinger’s Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine (TVIM) was just released. This textbook is a veterinarian’s trusted resource and is considered the “bible” for internal medicine specialists. The book is extra special to AMC because the eponymous title belongs to none other than a member of AMC’s first intern class, Dr. Stephen Ettinger!

No single person could author such an imposing book. This tome comes off the shelf at an imposing 2,448 pages co-authored by dozens of veterinary experts worldwide. The book’s two volumes are divided into sections covering major topics such as heart disease, kidney disease and liver disease. Of the 22 sections within the TVIM, three current AMC Senior Veterinarians — Drs. Allyson Berent, Ann Hohenhaus and Chick Weisse — served as editors for sections entitled “Minimally Invasive Interventional Therapies,” “Hematologic and Immunologic Disease” and “Lower Urinary Tract Disease,” respectively. A fourth section editor is an AMC alumnus.

Each of the 22 sections is further divided into chapters focusing on a specific disorder, such as different types of cancer, Addison’s disease or hypoadrenocorticism and seizures. In total, the two volumes contain 331 chapters, and ten of those chapters were authored by AMC Senior Veterinarians including:

An additional 16 chapters were authored by AMC alumni, giving AMC a strong presence in this authoritative new edition.

How a Chance Encounter Led to Research Success: Highlighting the Work of Dr. Taryn Donovan

Dr. Taryn Donovan, Diplomate, ACVP Anatomic Pathology

Over the past 4 years, Dr. Donovan has been a prolific contributor to new research in veterinary medicine, serving as senior author or co-author on 18 manuscripts in her specialty of veterinary pathology. This very productive stretch started with a chance encounter at the annual meeting of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. A colleague, not from AMC, had misspelled the name of a legendary AMC pathologist, Dr. Amiya Patnaik in a presentation, and when Dr. Donovan brought this error to the colleague’s attention, the ensuing conversation led to a research collaboration and a published article: “Mitotic Figures-Normal, Atypical, and Imposters: A Guide to Identification.”

Dr. Donovan’s unique expertise in identifying mitotic figures (cells in the process of dividing, commonly seen on cancer biopsies) also led to frequent collaborations with Dr. Christoph Bertram of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Bertram’s research interests include applications of artificial intelligence in biopsy analysis, and one of their early collaborations was a paper titled “Computer-assisted mitotic count using a deep learning-based algorithm improves interobserver reproducibility and accuracy,” which showed the AI-guided algorithm was more accurate and reliable than human pathologists in assessing dividing cells in a biopsy.

Her work in cancer biopsy interpretation has also led to her participation in the standardizing of tumor biopsy evaluation and reporting and a recent call to action for the veterinary oncology community to adopt common guidelines to improve patient care worldwide.

AMC Resident and Faculty Publications 2023

Previous Years: 2022 | 2021 | 2020

Peer-Reviewed Publications

(AMC personnel in bold.)

  1. Aubreville M, Stathonikos N, Bertram CA, Klopfleisch R, Ter Hoeve N, Ciompi F, Wilm F, Marzahl C, Donovan TA, Maier A, Breen J, Ravikumar N, Chung Y, Park J, Nateghi R, Pourakpour F, Fick RHJ, Ben Hadj S, Jahanifar M, Shephard A, Dexl J, Wittenberg T, Kondo S, Lafarge MW, Koelzer VH, Liang J, Wang Y, Long X, Liu J, Razavi S, Khademi A, Yang S, Wang X, Erber R, Klang A, Lipnik K, Bolfa P, Dark MJ, Wasinger G, Veta M, Breininger K. Mitosis domain generalization in histopathology images – The MIDOG challenge. Med Image Anal. 2023 Feb;84:102699. doi: 10.1016/j.media.2022.102699. Epub 2022 Nov 23. PMID: 36463832.
  2. Aubreville M, Wilm F, Stathonikos N, Breininger K, Donovan TA, Jabari S, Veta M, Ganz J, Ammeling J, van Diest PJ, Klopfleisch R, Bertram CA. A comprehensive multi-domain dataset for mitotic figure detection. Sci Data. 2023 Jul 25;10(1):484. doi: 10.1038/s41597-023-02327-4. PMID: 37491536; PMCID: PMC10368709.
  3. Bennett JA, Hohenhaus A, Andersen TT. Proof-of-Concept Study of an Alpha-Fetoprotein-Derived Peptide for the Management of Canine Mammary Cancer. Animals (Basel). 2023;13(3):403. Published 2023 Jan 25. doi:10.3390/ani13030403.
  4. Cohen J, Fischetti AJ, Daverio H. Veterinary radiologic error rate as determined by necropsy. Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2023;64(4):573-584. doi:10.1111/vru.13259.
  5. Fragoso-Garcia M, Wilm F, Bertram CA, Merz S, Schmidt A, Donovan T, et al.. Automated diagnosis of 7 canine skin tumors using machine learning on H&E-stained whole slide images. Vet Pathol. 2023 Nov;60(6):865-875. doi: 10.1177/03009858231189205.
  6. Gavic EA, Achen SE, Fox PR, Benjamin EJ, Goodwin J, Gunasekaran T, Schober KE, Tjostheim SS, Vickers J, Ward JL, Russell DS, Rishniw M, Hamer SA, Saunders AB. Trypanosoma cruzi infection diagnosed in dogs in nonendemic areas and results from a survey suggest a need for increased Chagas disease awareness in North America. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2023 Feb 2;261(5):705-712. doi: 10.2460/javma.22.10.0445. PMID: 36735504.
  7. Hohenhaus, AE, Peripheral Lymphadenopathy in Dogs: Differential Diagnoses | Clinician’s Brief (cliniciansbrief.com).  Peripheral Lymphadenopathy in Dogs: Differential Diagnoses.  Clinician’s Brief Jan/Feb 2023 p 54.  Peripheral Lymphadenopathy in Dogs: Differential Diagnoses | Clinician’s Brief (cliniciansbrief.com)  
  8. Hohenhaus AE. Improving access to advanced veterinary care for rescued cats and dogs. J Feline Med Surg. 2023;25(12):1098612X231211755. doi:10.1177/1098612X231211755
  9. Mastrocco A, Prittie J, West C, Clark M. A review of the pharmacology and clinical applications of levetiracetam in dogs and cats. J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). Published online November 21, 2023. doi:10.1111/vec.13355.
  10. Mastrocco A, Sahagian Α, and Prittie J. Phenibut toxicosis in a dog. J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). 2023;33(4):472-476. doi:10.1111/vec.13313.
  11. Matula E, Mastrocco A, Prittie J, Weltman J, Keyserling C. Microorganism colonization of peripheral venous catheters in a small animal clinical setting. J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). 2023;33(5):509-519. doi:10.1111/vec.13328.
  12. Quinci M, Pey P, Diana A, De Jesus A, Penninck D. B-mode ultrasound and colour Doppler findings in cats with gastric lymphoma. J Feline Med Surg. 2023 Feb;25(2):1098612X221150174. doi: 10.1177/1098612X221150174. PMID: 36786666.
  13. Reyes VAA, Donovan TA, Miller AD, Porter BF, Frank CB, Rissi DR. Doublecortin immunolabeling in canine gliomas with distinct degrees of tumor infiltration. J Vet Diagn Invest. 2023;35(2):187-192. doi:10.1177/10406387221145321.
  14. Sahagian MJ, Mastrocco A, Prittie JE, Weltman JG, Woods S. Retrospective analysis of the use of canine-specific albumin in 125 critically ill dogs. J Vet Emerg Crit Care. 2023; 1- 9. https://doi.org/10.1111/vec.13286 .
  15. Rohdin C, Wang C, Brander G, Rondahl V, Karlsson Å, Friling L, Fischetti A, Meadows J, Häggström J, Jäderlund KH, Ljungvall I, Lindblad-Toh K. Mutations in the CYP27B1 gene cause vitamin D dependent rickets in pugs. J Vet Intern Med. 2023 Jul-Aug;37(4):1507-1513. doi: 10.1111/jvim.16791. Epub 2023 Jun 9. PMID: 37293695; PMCID: PMC10365047.
  16. Rissi DR, Reyes VAA, Donovan TA, Church ME, Howerth EW, Klang A, Woolard KD, Miller AD. Primary and secondary leptomeningeal gliomatosis in dogs. Vet Pathol. 2024 Mar;61(2):171-178. doi: 10.1177/03009858231193104. Epub 2023 Aug 14. PMID: 37577961.
  17. Sidhu A, DeJesus AA. Computed tomographic, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasonographic characteristics of retrobulbar meningiomas in 15 dogs. Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2023;64(6):1044-1054. doi:10.1111/vru.13311 
  18. Smith R, Mastrocco A, Prittie J, Weltman J. Comparison of Aural and Rectal Temperature in Dogs Presenting to an Emergency Room. Vet Med (Auckl). 2023 Jul 26;14:125-131. doi: 10.2147/VMRR.S411935.
  19.  Tran DTH, Donovan TA, Daverio H, Le Roux AB. CT features of rounded atelectasis in chronic inflammatory pleural effusions in cats and dogs. Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2023 May;64(3):420-428. doi: 10.1111/vru.13220. Epub 2023 Feb 7. PMID: 36751880.
  20. Walsh ND, Porter IR, Miller AV, Fischetti AJ, Cheong SH, Scrivani PV. Canine intrahepatic portosystemic shunts: Interlobar and intralobar classifications. Vet Radiol Ultrasound. 2023;64(4):646-660. doi:10.1111/vru.13252.
  21. Wipond M, Prittie J, Mastrocco A, Donovan TA. Fatal exposure to quaternary ammonium disinfectant in 2 dogs. J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). 2023 May-Jun;33(3):380-387. doi: 10.1111/vec.13299. Epub 2023 Apr 27. PMID: 37102439.
  22. Zimmerman K, Walsh KA, Ferrari JT, Keuler NS, Atherton MJ, Lenz JA. Evaluation of mechlorethamine, vinblastine, procarbazine, and prednisone for the treatment of resistant multicentric canine lymphoma. Vet Comp Oncol. 2023;21(3):503-508. doi:10.1111/vco.12913.

Books/Book Chapters

  1. Prittie, J. and Ludwig, L. (2023). Pneumoperitoneum. In E. Monnet (Ed.). Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119693741.ch22 . John Wiley & Sons.
  2. Prittie, J. and Ludwig, L. (2023). Hemoperitoneum. In E. Monnet (Ed.).  Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119693741.ch21. John Wiley & Sons.
  3. Prittie, JE. And De Stefano, J. (2023). Administration of Other Biological Products. In J.M. Burkitt Creedon and H. Davis (Eds) Advanced Monitoring and Procedures for Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care. ). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119581154.ch68. John Wiley & Sons.
  4. Latney LV. Pain Recognition in Reptiles. Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. 2023;26(1):27-41. doi:10.1016/j.cvex.2022.09.004.
  5. Latney LV. Updates for Reptile Pediatric Medicine. Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. Published online December 13, 2023. doi:10.1016/j.cvex.2023.11.013.
  6. Latney LV. Nutritive Support for Critical Exotic Patients. Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. 2023;26(3):711-735. doi:10.1016/j.cvex.2023.05.009.

Letter to the Editor

  1. Rissi DR, Donovan TA, Barros CSL, Church ME, Koehler JW, Matiasek K, Miller AD, Porter BF. Letter to the editor: Overview of the Veterinary Cancer Guidelines and Protocols for CNS neoplasms of dogs and cats. J Vet Diagn Invest. 2023 Aug 23:10406387231194323. doi: 10.1177/10406387231194323. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37608762.
Back to top
See our 2022 Resident Veterinarian Research Studies