Third year veterinary student, Leann Shaw (pictured above), spent her summer studying the effects of therapeutic taping on gait and selected exercises in dogs. “We applied kinesiology tape to pelvic limb joints and collected data to analyze joint range of motion and ground reaction forces,” explains Leann.  Through the process she gained a deeper understanding of how to analyze force plate data and examine motion analysis results. “I’ve learned a lot about the data collection process and how fluid, patient, and creative we have to be sometimes. Also getting to present to the student body and faculty was a great experience.” Her mentors for the project were Dr. Darryl Millis, Dr. Krysta Janas, and Dr. Becca Noel. 

Shaw was one of twenty-one veterinary students who took part in a ten-week summer research program sponsored by the Comparative and Experimental Medicine program and the Center of Excellence (COE) in Livestock and Human Health at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Stephen Kania, assistant dean for Research and Graduate Students at UTCVM describes the summer program, “Each student participated in project design, conducted the studies and made a scientific presentation at the end of the summer.” Thirty-two faculty mentored the students.

In addition to this program, three students presented at the 2020 National Veterinary Summer Scholars Symposium​. “The pandemic forced us to reorganize the summer programs to respect social distancing, new hygiene standards, and minimize the number of people present when in-person activities were needed; despite the impact of COVID-19, the summer was extremely successful,” says Dr. David Anderson​, associate dean for Research at the college. The Summer COE presentations were given via ZOOM as were laboratory meetings, and student presentations.

Additional sponsors for the summer program included the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research, American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, and Fear free Research​.