Anesthesia and Pain Management
Jenessa Gjeltema, DVM, Dipl. ACZM
Research Focus: Effects of environmental plastic pollution on animal, human, and ecosystem health. Application, evaluation, and validation of clinical diagnostics and therapeutics in zoological species.
(See also: Wildlife/Exotic Animal Medicine)
Affiliated departments: UC Davis One Health Institute, Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center and Department of Medicine and Epidemiology
As Assistant Professor of Zoological Medicine and Senior Veterinarian at the Sacramento Zoo, Dr. Jenessa Gjeltema, DVM, Dipl. ACZM, a board-certified specialist in Zoological Medicine, provides both clinical services and engages in research in the field of Zoological/Wildlife Medicine.
Possible student research projects include:
- Development, evaluation, and validation of research techniques for the study of environmental microplastic contamination
- Investigation of the health effects of plastic pollution in animals and ecosystems
- Conservation medicine for Western Pond Turtles (Actinemys marmorata)
- Disease pathology and environmental risks affecting captive and free-ranging endangered Puerto Rican crested toads (Peltophryne lemur)
- Application, evaluation, and validation of clinical diagnostics or therapeutics in zoological species
To contact Dr. Gjeltema - jgjeltema@ucdavis.edu
Kristin Grimsrud, DVM, PhD
Assistant Clinical Professor, Dept of Pathology, School of Medicine
Associate Director of Vivaria and Veterinary Care, Mouse Biology Program (MBP)
(See also: Pharmacology/Toxicology, Translational Research)
Not taking students in 2025
Dr. Grimsrud is a laboratory animal veterinarian and her research focuses on translational medicine and animal model optimization and development. Her current major research efforts are in collaboration with the Knockout Mouse Project, Metabolic Mouse Phenotyping Center and Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center. Additionally, she is involved in a variety of microbiota bariatric surgery research projects that utilize mouse models. Lastly, Dr. Grimsrud has a strong interest in translational clinical pharmacology where she investigates variation in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in special populations (e.g. burn patients, pediatrics) and assess the influences of polymorphisms on drug efficacy.
Research projects that students could be involved with relate to studies to optimize anesthesia and analgesia protocols, optimizing superovulation techniques in rodents and a variety of other projects related to the genetically engineered rodent models and microbiota/gnotobiotic research.
Contact Information:
Email: kngrimsrud@ucdavis.edu
Office Phone: 530-757-3220
Michelle Hawkins, VMD Dipl. ABVP (Avian Practice)
Anesthesia, analgesia, wildlife
California Raptor Center and One Health Institute
(See also: Wildlife/Exotic Animal Medicine and Zoonoses)
Dr. Hawkins research areas are in advancing clinical and research techniques aimed at improving the health of wild birds of prey through rehabilitation. Currently for this 2025 call, Dr. Hawkins has a project with Dr. Christina Harvey from Dept of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DMAE) to explore wing morphology changes associated with the rehabilitative success of raptors. The study will use cadavers to determine whether specific soft tissue damage (tendons, muscle) reduces the successful return to flight for these birds. We hypothesize certain tendon and muscle damaged in collisions changes the flight of these birds and may be detrimental to release. The successful student will work at both the California Raptor Center and DMAE sites (high-res motion capture cameras) to explore these questions.
Dr. Hawkins can be reached at mghawkins@ucdavis.edu.
Heather Knych, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVCP
(See also: Phamacology/Toxicology)
Dr. Knych is a clinical veterinary pharmacologist with research interests in (1) pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships of drugs in performance horses (2) pain management and treatment of inflammation in horses and (3) equine drug metabolism in horses, including the identification of polymorphisms leading to altered drug clearance and therapeutic effects. The lab has a dedicated exercised (treadmill) research herd that is used for in vivo studies and a fully equipped analytical (mass spectrometry) and molecular pharmacology lab.
Please contact Dr. Knych (hkknych@ucdavis.edu) for potential projects.
Joao H. N. Soares, MV, MSc, DSc
Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia
(See also: Pulmonary Medicine)
Not taking students in 2025
Dr. Joao Soares is a veterinary anesthesiologist with a research interest in respiratory function during anesthesia, including the use of specialized monitoring such as respiratory mechanics, electrical impedance tomography and volumetric capnography. Current research projects are 1) Evaluation of methods to choose positive end-expiratory pressure during mechanical ventilation of anesthetized dogs; and 2) retrospective study on the occurrence of postanesthetic pulmonary complications in dogs and cats anesthetized at the VMTH.
Potential STAR projects are: 1) Anatomic and alveolar dead space in anesthetized dogs of different breeds; or 2) Effects of blood sampling duration upon arterial blood gases in anesthetized horses in lateral and dorsal recumbency. Both projects will be performed in anesthetized patients of the UCDavis VMTH. Other projects in the area of respiratory physiology applied to anesthesia may be discussed depending on the student interest.
Dr. Soares can be reached via email at jhsoares@ucdavis.edu.