Non-Human Primate Medicine
Melanie Ammersbach, DVM
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
(see also: Pathology/Virology, Wildlife/Exotic Animal Medicine/Zoonoses)
Dr. Ammersbach is a veterinary clinical pathologist with a special interest in non-traditional species. The areas of expertise of clinical pathologists include clinical chemistry, hematology and cytology. Non-traditional species include exotic pets, zoo animals, wildlife and laboratory animals.
There are many potential projects, including several collaborations with other faculty members, such as: 1. A collaboration with the primate center and Dr. Olstad to evaluate neutrophil morphology with inflammation (retrospective study), and cerebrospinal fluid analysis findings (retrospective and prospective) and their association with a number of diseases. 2. A collaboration with Dr. Van Hoy on a project validating and establishing normal reference intervals for blood gases and coagulation tests in pet minipigs and 3. A collaboration with Dr. Beaufrere documenting lipoproteins in birds (including cockatiels and flamingoes) using high resolution lipoprotein electrophoresis.
STAR students will explore projects in the field of clinical pathology (hematology, biochemistry or cytology) of non-traditional species (exotics, wildlife, laboratory animals).
Feel free to reach out at [email protected] for more information.
Faculty Bio
Lisa Miller, PhD
Immunology, respiratory, pediatric
California National Primate Research Center
(See also: Pulmonary Medicine, Pharmacology/Toxicology)
Dr. Miller's research program is focused on understanding the relationship between early life environmental exposures, immunity and chronic disease. We study how mucosal and systemic immunity is established during infancy, and determine the impact of air pollutants, allergens, and infectious disease on childhood health. A major emphasis has been in the elucidation of mechanisms for immune susceptibility that lead to pediatric airways dysfunction, which may ultimately lead to generation of new diagnostics and preventative medicine.
For 2027, Projects will include studies on wildfire smoke exposure and health outcomes (in vivo mouse and in vitro human/NHP cells), also development of new approach methodologies (NAMs).
Dr. Miller can be reached via email.
Glenn Yiu, MD, PhD
Med: Ophthalmology & Vision Science
(See also: Ophthalmology/Ocular Biology, Translational Research/Regenerative Medicine)
Dr. Yiu is a clinician-scientist and vitreoretinal surgeon at the UC Davis Medical Center who uses advanced ocular imaging technologies to study diseases of the eye. Examples include optical coherence tomography (OCT), which allows visualization of retinal pathology in vivo with near-histological details. OCT imaging allows physicians to identify age-related or pathologic changes in the structure of the retina or vasculature, particularly in diseases such as age-related macular degeneration in humans, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
Through collaborations with veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Sara Thomasy, they are now using OCT technology to study retinal anatomy in rhesus macaques at the California National Primate Research Center.
Projects include understanding aging and age-related diseases of the eye, and development of genome editing and gene therapies. Students may learn skills such as ocular imaging, eye injections, eye dissections, immunohistochemistry, and multi-omic analyses.
More details about Dr. Yiu are available at: https://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/eyecenter/yiulab/index.html
Contact Dr. Yiu: [email protected]