Veterinary medicine

Russell S Witte

Professor, Medical Imaging
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Professor, Applied Mathematics - GIDP
Professor, Neurosurgery
Professor, Optical Sciences
Professor, Neuroscience - GIDP
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-0346

Work Summary

We develop cutting-edge imaging technology, integrating light, ultrasound and electricity, to diagnose and treat diseases ranging from epilepsy to breast cancer. Novel sources for ultrasound contrast include optical and microwave absorption, mechanical strain, and electrical current. We visualize electrical brain “stormsˮ during uncontrollable seizures and envision “smartˮ photoacoustic agents that seek-and-destroy deadly tumors.

Research Interest

Dr. Russell Witte, a native Tucsonan, received a BS degree with honors in physics from the University of Arizona in Tucson (1993). Following travel abroad in Europe and Brazil, he began graduate studies in bioengineering at Arizona State University. His doctoral thesis (PhD, 2002) used chronic microelectrode arrays to describe sensory coding and learning-induced plasticity in the mammalian brain. He then moved to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and, as a post doc in the Biomedical Ultrasonics Laboratory, developed novel hybrid imaging techniques that integrate ultrasound, light, and/or microwaves for medical applications. In 2007, Dr. Witte returned to Tucson and is now Associate Professor of Medical Imaging, Optical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona. Dr. Witte’s Experimental Ultrasound and Neural Imaging Laboratory (EUNIL) devises cutting-edge imaging technology, integrating light, ultrasound and microwaves to diagnose and treat diseases ranging from chronic tendon disorders (tendinopathies) and irregular cardiac rhythms (arrhythmias) to breast cancer. By integrating different forms of energy, special effects are created that enable ultrasound imaging of optical absorption deep in tissue (photoacoustic imaging), mapping current source densities in the beating heart (acoustoelectric imaging), and elasticity imaging of human muscle and tendon for quantifying tissue mechanical properties. Dr. Witte's research further extends into nanotechnology and smart contrast agents, which have applications to functional brain imaging, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Dr. Witte works closely with collaborators in the Colleges of Engineering, Optical Sciences and Medicine, as well as industry, to develop cutting-edge imaging technologies that potentially improve patient care. Dr. Witte is also a member of the Arizona Cancer Center, Sarver Heart Center and School of Mind, Brain, and Behavior, as well as the Neuroscience, Applied Mathematics, and Biomedical Engineering graduate interdisciplinary programs (GIDPs). Dr. Witte's vision is to develop a new generation of young investigators steeped in multiple disciplines branching from neuroscience, neural engineering, biochemistry, mathematics, biomedical imaging and, physics. He welcomes dreamers, brainstormers and problems solvers to join his team in search of the next great discovery in physics and medicine. Keywords: Biomedical Engineering/Medical Imaging

Gayatri Vedantam

Professor, Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Co-Director, Collaboratory for Anti-infectives & Therapeutics
Professor, Immunobiology
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Associate Director, Research
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Contact
(520) 626-6839

Work Summary

Our research efforts focus on bacteria that cause serious healthcare-associated infections, and those associated with antibiotic use. This infections disproportiOur federally-funded research focuses on infection prevention. Specifically, we study diseases such as Clostridium difficile Infection that affect populations worldwide ("One-Health" issue). Our current efforts are aimed at translating bench-research findings to the bedside. We have recently been awarded two patents for a novel biologic agent invention aimed at preventing bacterial infections in humans as well as food animals.onately affect the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. One overarching goal of our studies is to develop safe, cost-effective, non-antibiotic interventions to prevent and treat bacterial diarrheas.

Research Interest

Dr. Vedantam’s research interests are broadly focused on pathogenic mechanisms leading to antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and include host-pathogen studies of the diarrheagenic agent Clostridium difficile. C. difficile infection is currently a leading healthcare-acquired disease in the USA, incurring over $3 billion in treatment and containment costs. Dr. Vedantam’s laboratory uses multiple genomic and proteomic approaches to study C. difficile pathogenesis, including, but not limited to, automated iTRAQ-based comparative proteomics, and genomic analyses. Her laboratory also offers hospital surveillance and typing services, and a genetic manipulation program for clostridial pathogens. These efforts have identified attractive targets for interventions aimed at eliminating C. difficile from the gut, and are a focus of translational research goals. Dr. Vedantam is also involved in multiple teaching efforts, and offers a highly popular, upper-division, laboratory-based course on bacterial pathogens. The strengths she brings to any research endeavor are based on her expertise in genetic, mechanistic and animal model studies. Keywords: Infectious Disease, healthcare-associated infections, bacterial pathogenesis

Sadhana Ravishankar

Associate Professor, Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Associate Professor, Applied BioSciences - GIDP
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-1499

Research Interest

Sadhana Ravishankar, PhD, focuses on the stress response in foodborne pathogenic bacteria, including methods of pathogen control and natural antimicrobials. In the lab, Dr. Ravishankar attempts to control foodborne pathogenic bacteria including antibiotic resistant strains using various technologies and multiple hurdle approaches. Natural antimicrobials and their applications in various foods, antimicrobial and anti-oxidative activities of plant compounds also interest her. Bacterial attachment, biofilm formation and their control along with stress tolerance responses of foodborne pathogenic bacteria, and mechanisms of stress response in bacteria are some other subjects of research for Dr. Ravishankar’s lab.

John C Jewett

Associate Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry-Sci
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 626-3627

Work Summary

We seek to develop tools and strategies to expedite the understanding and treatment of the dengue virus. These advances will be transferable to other areas of virology and biochemistry. Along these lines, we are engaged in three core synergistic projects to answer the following questions: (1) Do unnatural metabolites incorporated into DENV serve as reporters for host-pathogen interactions? (2) What are the host-pathogen interactions in DENV that are targetable for diagnosis or treatment? (3) Is there a chemical reaction between two small molecules that reports on the interaction between DENV and host proteins?

Research Interest

Our goal is to merge the fields of synthetic organic chemistry with virology. We develop new reactions (and re-appropriate old ones) to gain insight into how viruses infects new host cells. Additionally, we are working to develop new methods to probe protein-protein interactions through the use of small molecules.Viruses can rapidly evolve and new tools are required to meet this ever-changing threat. While vaccinations have tamed many historically deadly viral diseases, there are still rogue viruses for which no vaccination strategy is available. Dengue virus (DENV), the virus that is responsible for dengue fever, hemorrhagic fever, and shock syndrome, is one such pathogen. The WHO estimates that the mosquito-borne pathogen infects over 50 million people each year. With a rapid increase in severe, potentially fatal, disease forms, DENV poses a significant risk to the 2.5 billion people who live in DENV endemic regions.

Shane C Burgess

Dean, Charles-Sander - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Vice President, Agriculture - Life and Veterinary Sciences / Cooperative Extension
Professor, Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Professor, Immunobiology
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 621-7621

Research Interest

Shane C. BurgessVice President for Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative ExtensionDean, College of Agriculture and Life SciencesInterim Dean, School of Veterinary MedicineDirector, Arizona Experiment StationA native of New Zealand, Dr. Burgess has worked around the world as a practicing veterinarian and scientist. His areas of expertise include cancer biology, virology, proteomics, immunology and bioinformatics.Since 1997 he has 186 refereed publications, trained 37 graduate students and has received nearly $55 million in competitive funding.The first in his extended family to complete college, Dr. Burgess graduated with distinction as a veterinarian in 1989 from Massey University, New Zealand. He has worked in, and managed veterinary clinical practices in Australia and the UK, including horses, farm animals, pets, wild and zoo animals, and emergency medicine and surgery. He did a radiology residency at Murdoch University in Perth in Western Australia, where he co-founded Perth's first emergency veterinary clinic concurrently. He has managed aquaculture facilities in Scotland. He did his PhD in virology, immunology and cancer biology, conferred by Bristol University medical school, UK while working full time outside of the academy between 1995 and 1998. Dr. Burgess volunteered to work in the UK World Reference Laboratory for Exotic Diseases during the 2001 UK foot and mouth disease crisis, where he led the diagnosis reporting office, for the Office of the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. He was awarded the Institute for Animal Health Director's Award for Service.In 2002, Dr. Burgess joined Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine as an assistant professor. He was recruited from Mississippi State as a professor, an associate dean of the college and director of the Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology to lead the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in July 2011. Under Dr. Burgess’ leadership, the college has a total budget of more than $120M with over 3,400 students and more than 1,800 employees.