AI: An Emerging Frontier for Veterinary Medicine
Since 2020, faculty have led a diverse and growing portfolio of artificial intelligence AI/ML research. These publications demonstrate applied, translational AI across clinical medicine, epidemiology, microbiome science, imaging, pharmacology, informatics, and educational research.
Several defining characteristics span this body of work:
- Strong clinical orientation – AI tools for diagnostics, imaging interpretation, disease classification, and EHR-integrated decision support.
- Population and One Health modeling – ML applied to disease surveillance, forecasting, and antimicrobial resistance.
- Production and agricultural systems AI – Machine learning for microbiome analysis, dairy systems, and predictive livestock health.
- Advanced computational methods – Deep learning, neural networks, radiomics, and spatio-temporal modeling.
- Infrastructure and evaluation work – Platforms, benchmarking, reproducibility studies, and AI literacy assessment.
Importantly, these publications reflect not just participation in AI research, but intellectual leadership, with SVM faculty serving as first or senior authors in clinically relevant, domain-driven AI innovation.
AI Research Areas
Clinical AI, Diagnostics, and EHR Integration
SVM faculty have applied machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve clinical diagnostics, decision support, and health record integration. This includes both algorithm development and evaluation of AI tools in real-world veterinary settings.
Key Contributions
- Development and validation of ML-based diagnostic classifiers
- AI-assisted pathology quantification
- Clinical decision support for internal medicine
- Real-time ML integration into veterinary EHRs
- Evaluation of LLMs for clinical information extraction
Publications & SVM Authors
- Anna: an open-source platform for real-time integration of machine learning classifiers with veterinary electronic health records (2025) Chun Yin Kong, Picasso Vasquez, Makan Farhoodimoghadam, Chris Brandt, Titus C. Brown, Krystle L. Reagan, Allison Zwingenberger & Stefan M. Keller
- Artificial intelligence-based quantification of lymphocytes in feline small intestinal biopsies (2025) Judit M. Wulcan, Paula R. Giaretta, Sai Fingerhood, Simone de Brot, Esther E. V. Crouch, Tatiana Wolf, Maria Isabel Casanova, Pedro R. Ruivo, Pompei Bolfa, Nicolás Streitenberger, Christof A. Bertram, Taryn A. Donovan, Michael Kevin Keel, Peter F. Moore, and Stefan M. Keller
- Diagnosis and classification of portosystemic shunts: a machine learning retrospective case-control study (2024) Makan Farhoodimoghadam, Krystle L. Reagan, Allison L. Zwingenberger
- Classification of neoplastic and inflammatory brain disease using MRI texture analysis in 119 dogs (2021) Mason W. Wanamaker, Karen M. Vernau, Sandra L. Taylor, Derek D. Cissell, Yasser G. Abdelhafez, Allison L. Zwingenberger
- Classification performance and reproducibility of GPT-4 omni for information extraction from veterinary electronic health records (2024) Judit M. Wulcan, Kevin L. Jacques, Mary Ann Lee, Samantha L. Kovacs, Nicole Dausend, Lauren E. Prince, Jonatan Wulcan, Sina Marsilio, Stefan M. Keller
- Machine learning algorithm as a diagnostic tool for hypoadrenocorticism in dogs (2020) K.L. Reagan, B.A. Reagan, C. Gilor
- Evaluation of a machine learning tool to screen for hypoadrenocorticism in dogs presenting to a teaching hospital (2022) Krystle L. Reagan, Jully Pires, Nina Quach, Chen Gilor
- Diagnosis of Wilson Disease and Its Phenotypes by Using Artificial Intelligence (2021) Valentina Medici, Anna Czlonkowska, Tomasz Litwin and Cecilia Giulivi
Epidemiology, One Health, and Disease Forecasting
SVM researchers have applied machine learning to population-level disease modeling, spatio-temporal forecasting, and antimicrobial resistance analysis.
Key Contributions
- Spatio-temporal epidemic forecasting
- AI-driven surveillance of infectious diseases
- Environmental and agricultural pathogen prediction
- Modeling disease dynamics across animal populations
Publications & SVM Authors
- Spatio-temporal PRRS epidemic forecasting via factorized deep generative modeling(2022) Mohammadsadegh Shamsabardeh,Bahar Azari, Beatriz Martínez-López
- Predicting Escherichia coli levels in manure using machine learning in weeping wall and mechanical liquid solid separation systems (2023) B. Dharmaveer Shetty, Noha Amaly, Bart C. Weimer, Pramod Pandey
- Identifying Associations in Minimum Inhibitory Concentration Values of Escherichia coli Samples Obtained From Weaned Dairy Heifers in California Using Bayesian Network Analysis (2022) Brittany L. Morgan, Sarah Depenbrock, Beatriz Martinez-Lopez
- Impact of sensor data pre-processing strategies and selection of machine learning algorithm on the prediction of metritis events in dairy cattle (2023) Gema Vidal, James Sharpnack, Pablo Pinedo, Ching Tsai, Amanda Renee Lee, Beatriz Martínez-López
- Comparative performance analysis of three machine learning algorithms applied to sensor data registered by a leg-attached accelerometer to predict metritis events in dairy cattle (2023) Gema Vidal, James Sharpnack, Pablo Pinedo, I Ching Tsai, Amanda Renee Lee, Beatriz Martínez-López
Microbiome, Production Medicine, and Agricultural Systems
AI methods have been applied to high-dimensional microbiome data, dairy systems analytics, and livestock health prediction.
Key Contributions
- Feature engineering and ensemble ML for microbiome analysis
- Predictive modeling in dairy production systems
- Integration of ML and statistical inference for agricultural data
Publications & SVM Authors
- An artificial intelligence approach of feature engineering and ensemble methods depicts the rumen microbiome contribution to feed efficiency in dairy cows (2024) Hugo F. Monteiro, Caio C. Figueiredo, Bruna Mion, José Eduardo P. Santos, Rafael S. Bisinotto, Francisco Peñagaricano, Eduardo S. Ribeiro, Mariana N. Marinho, Roney Zimpel, Ana Carolina da Silva, Adeoye Oyebade, Richard R. Lobo, Wilson M. Coelho Jr, Phillip M. G. Peixoto, Maria B. Ugarte Marin, Sebastian G. Umaña-Sedó, Tomás D. G. Rojas, Modesto Elvir-Hernandez, Flávio S. Schenkel, Bart C. Weimer, C. Titus Brown, Ermias Kebreab & Fábio S. Lima
- Integration of statistical inferences and machine learning algorithms for prediction of metritis cure in dairy cows (2021) E.B. de Oliveira, F.C. Ferreira, K.N. Galvão, J. Youn, I. Tagkopoulos, N. Silva-del-Rio, R.V.V. Pereira, V.S. Machado, F.S. Lima
- Large-Scale Data Mining of Rapid Residue Detection Assay Data From HTML and PDF Documents: Improving Data Access and Visualization for Veterinarians (2021) Majid Jaberi-Douraki, Soudabeh Taghian Dinani, Nuwan Indika Millagaha Gedara, Xuan Xu, Emily Richards, Fiona Maunsell, Nader Zad, Lisa A. Tell
Imaging, Radiomics, and Deep Learning
SVM faculty have led the application of deep learning, radiomics, and neural networks to imaging and complex biomedical datasets.
Key Contributions
- Deep learning (CNNs, neural networks) in imaging
- Radiomics modeling
- Advanced segmentation and pattern recognition
- Application of AI in radiation oncology
Publications & SVM Authors
- Artificial neural network applied to fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome stage diagnosis based on peripheral mitochondrial bioenergetics and brain imaging outcomes (2022) Cecilia Giulivi, Jun Yi Wang & Randi J. Hagerman
- Radiomics Modeling of Catastrophic Proximal Sesamoid Bone Fractures in Thoroughbred Racehorses Using μCT (2022) Parminder S. Basran, Sean McDonough, Scott Palmer and Heidi L. Reesink
- PrestoCell: A persistence-based clustering approach for rapid and robust segmentation of cellular morphology in three-dimensional data (2024) Yue Wu, Ingrid Brust-Mascher, Melanie G. Gareau, J esus A. De Loera, Colin Reardon
- Artificial Intelligence in Radiation Oncology (2022) Seong K Mun and Sonja Dieterich
Pharmacokinetics, Drug Modeling, and Regulatory AI
AI has been applied to drug residue detection, pharmacokinetics, and modeling relevant to regulatory science.
Key Contributions
- Machine learning for drug residue detection
- AI-informed pharmacokinetic modeling
- Data mining for regulatory applications
Publications & SVM Authors
- Large-Scale Data Mining of Rapid Residue Detection Assay Data From HTML and PDF Documents: Improving Data Access and Visualization for Veterinarians (2021) Majid Jaberi-Douraki, Soudabeh Taghian Dinani, Nuwan Indika Millagaha Gedara, Xuan Xu, Emily Richards, Fiona Maunsell, Nader Zad, Lisa A. Tell
- Biological Machine Learning Combined with Campylobacter Population Genomics Reveals Virulence Gene Allelic Variants Cause Disease (2020) DJ Darwin R. Bandoy, Bart C. Weimer
Infrastructure, Methodology, and AI Evaluation
Several publications address AI methodology, implementation challenges, reproducibility, and workforce readiness.
Key Contributions
- Practical challenges in ML implementation
- AI tool evaluation and benchmarking
- AI literacy and adoption assessment
- Editorial leadership in AI-enabled life sciences
Publications & SVM Authors
- Data challenges and practical aspects of machine learning-based statistical methods for the analyses of poultry data to improve food safety and production efficiency(2020) Maurice Pitesky, Joseph Gendreau, Tristan Bond, Roberto Carrasco-Medanic
- Editorial: Revolutionizing life sciences: the nobel leap in artificial intelligence-driven biomodeling (2024) Valentina Tozzini, Cecilia Giulivi
- Veterinary students exhibit low artificial intelligence literacy but agree it will be deployed to improve veterinary medicine (2025) Krystle L. Reagan, Karen Boudreaux, Stefan M. Keller
Opportunities Ahead
SVM is positioned to expand AI impact through:
- Scaling EHR-to-AI ecosystems for real-time clinical decision support
Building on existing EHR integration platforms to enable predictive triage, diagnostic assistance, and longitudinal outcome modeling within VMTH and partner hospitals. - Standardizing digital pathology datasets for cross-site research
Developing shared, annotated pathology and imaging repositories to support multi-institutional AI model training and validation. - Expanding sensor + microbiome prediction challenges for dairy systems
Leveraging production-scale data streams (sensor data, microbiome profiles, health outcomes) to create predictive modeling benchmarks and translational dairy AI applications. - Building deployable AI surveillance tools for state, federal, and global One Health partners
Translating epidemiologic and forecasting models into operational decision-support systems for animal health agencies and global health collaborators. - Formalizing training pathways (AI micro-credentials, short courses, resident training)
Establishing structured educational programs that build AI literacy and applied competency among DVM students, residents, and faculty clinicians.