A message from our dean

Dr. Dana Zimmel

Dr. Dana Zimmel

Greetings,

As we find ourselves in the midst of holiday season, I want to first of all thank everyone in the college for their wonderful spirit of giving, as evidenced by programs we see throughout the college at this time of year.

The “Wish Upon a Star” program, spearheaded by our department of small animal clinical sciences, is aimed at providing toys to needy children. The “Movember” Mustache Competition raises awareness and funds to enhance awareness of men’s health issues, and has garnered over $10,000 since its inception in 2013. The college’s annual holiday food drive, one of the most successful in our community, has been ranked in Gainesville’s top ten for the volume of food collected. The breadth of caring and generosity on the part of our college family is overwhelming. I appreciate everyone’s efforts on so many fronts to make our community a better place.

Our latest Florida Veterinarian magazine is now out and has reached the mailboxes of alumni and friends of the college, with a roundup of news highlights from the past six months and an annual report that details some of our key FY ’21 statistics. Among the impressive statistics reported is the fact that we brought in $22.8 million in research funding this past year — a testament to the outstanding work we are doing in biomedical sciences here at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, and the stellar research-oriented faculty we have attracted in recent years. The magazine is available online here.

We received news that our three-year training grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in support of our Aquatic Animal Health program has been renewed for three more years, ensuring that our efforts to train residents, interns and veterinary students in marine mammal care will continue; see the story about this important funding in this issue.

This past year, we have been fortunate to fill many key leadership positions. Dr. Amanda House was appointed associate dean for academic and student affairs and Dr. Michael Bowie accepted a new position as assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion. Our newest leadership team member, Dr. Dianne McFarlane, begins her new role as chair of the department of large animal clinical sciences on Dec. 15 and I am excited to welcome her to UF and our college family.  I would also like to thank Dr. David Freeman for his valuable service as interim chair following the departure of Dr. Guy Lester earlier this year. Dr. Freeman offered a steady hand and valuable insights in LACS as we finalized plans for the UF Veterinary Hospital at World Equestrian Center, set to open next spring.

We are close to completing interviews for the associate dean for clinical services position, and I hope to make a hiring decision in the spring. As we announced previously, Dr. Paul Cooke recently decided to step down from his position as chair of our department of physiological sciences to return to his research, and Dr. Nancy Denslow graciously agreed to serve as interim chair.

I wish each of you a joyous holiday season, with hopefully an opportunity for peaceful reflection and rest. As always, thanks for everything you do to enrich the life of the college and the community beyond.

Dana

Dana Zimmel, DVM, DACVIM , DABVP
Dean and Professor

Share this article with others:
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Twitter

November-December 2021

Dr. Dana Zimmel

A message from our dean

A message from the college’s dean, Dr. Dana Zimmel.

Dr. David Suarez Fuentes

Resident honored for abstract presentation at national meeting

Dr. David Suarez-Fuentes’ award-winning presentation focused on CT features of thymoma in cats.

Bev Orozo

Veterinary technician receives specialty designation in anesthesia and analgesia

Beverly Orozco is now a veterinary technician specialist in anesthesia and analgesia.

Riley the Lab

Labrador retriever beats odds, remains cancer-free after treatment for deadly disease at UF

With treatment at UF and a lot of luck, Riley has lived for four years since his initial diagnosis.

Cat With No Name program

Forensic program helps diagnose disease outbreak in free-roaming cat colony

The ‘A Cat Has No Name’ program has recently expanded to provide laboratory diagnostics to living free-roaming cats.

...also in this issue

People

News

Around the College