News

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) welcomed 57 new house officers (41 residents, 8 fellows, 8 interns) into its advanced training programs this year. The UC Davis SVM House Officer Program is the largest of its kind in the United States with 144 total house officers (124 residents, 10 fellows, 10 interns) advancing their skills in approximately 40 training programs. These programs range from one to four years in length, during which veterinarians focus on a specific aspect of specialty medicine such as oncology, equine surgery, internal medicine, or anesthesiology.

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Continuing Professional Education is proud to announce the launch of AggieVET 2026, a brand-new, two-day veterinary conference designed to deliver premier continuing education for the entire veterinary community. The inaugural event will be held May 30–31, 2026, both in-person at UC Davis and virtually for participants around the world.

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine announced that it had raised $118 million in the fiscal year 2024-25, a new record for the school. A total of 5,380 individuals, corporations, and foundations made 8,632 philanthropic contributions.

“Case of the Month” – July 2025

At 9 months old, Onyx is already an experienced show animal. His family has been showing sheep as a hobby for nearly a decade, and Onyx is the latest addition to their flock. Unfortunately, the award-winning Natural colored Hampshire cross sheep became acutely ill at a recent show. 

“After traveling to a show, I could tell Onyx wasn’t feeling well that evening, but I wasn’t terribly worried,” said his owner. “But on a walk the next morning, he went down abruptly and could not get back up.”

Dr. Sandy Willis, a 1984 graduate of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, was elected chair of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Board of Directors (BOD). Dr. Willis, District 11 representative on the AVMA BOD, was elected chair on July 20 while meeting during AVMA Convention 2025 in Washington, D.C., held in conjunction with the 40th World Veterinary Association Congress.

The UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) recently acknowledged the dedication and hard work of its staff members with the annual VMTH Staff Excellence Awards.

The VMTH Staff Excellence Awards are divided into these categories:

• Leadership/Staff Excellence
• Small Animal Hospital
• Large Animal Hospital
• Laboratory/Pathology/Pharmacy/Central Services/Diagnostic Imaging
• Supervisor
• Administrative/Client Services
• Unsung Hero

The 2025 VMTH Staff Excellence Awards winners are:

View the campaign overview PDF.

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s 75th anniversary communications campaign received “Grand Gold”—the highest honor—in the 2025 Circle of Excellence Awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE. 
 

Contributed by the Louis Lab, a multidisciplinary and multi-state group which aims to improve the financial and economic resilience of the U.S. dairy industry.

Five faculty members have been selected for a 2025 Chancellor’s Fellowship recognizing their work to, in the words of the organizers, “foster a learning environment where all students can develop the skills to be successful.”

Among them was Dr. Luis M. Peña-Lévano of the School of Veterinary Medicine. The assistant professor of Cooperative Extension was recognized for his outstanding expertise in the field of agricultural economics.

A third round of funding for Reaching Across the Causeway Awards was recently announced by the Associate Dean of Research of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Vice Dean for Research of the School of Medicine, the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) and UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC).

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is deeply saddened by the passing of John C. Harris, a distinguished UC Davis alumnus, agricultural innovator, and devoted supporter of animal health and education. Harris, who passed away at the age of 81, earned his degree in agricultural production from UC Davis and went on to become a transformative figure in California’s agricultural and equine industries. As chairman and CEO of Harris Farms, Inc., his leadership helped build one of the most respected names in farming, ranching, and Thoroughbred breeding on the West Coast.

The UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) is pleased to announce that orthopedic surgeon Dr. Po-Yen Chou has achieved Fellow status in Joint Replacement Surgery (JRS) with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS).

Feline infectious peritonitis, or FIP, is a serious and historically fatal disease in cats caused by a coronavirus. It behaves in many ways like severe coronavirus infections in humans, causing widespread inflammation, T cell exhaustion and chronic immune dysfunction. Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have found that mesenchymal stromal cells, or MSC therapy, in combination with antiviral drugs, helped cats’ immune systems recover and reduced systemic inflammation.

In a remote region of California, a wildlife rehabilitation center uploads routine clinical notes about an injured eagle showing signs of neurological symptoms. Within hours, an AI system flags this case alongside similar reports from across the State, detecting an unusual pattern that might signal an emerging disease outbreak—weeks before traditional surveillance methods would notice.