Comparative Medicine Signature Program
Comparative medicine and animal models of human disease are crucial to the promotion of public health and the advancement of medical knowledge in veterinary and human medicine. The College of Veterinary Medicine has a rich tradition in developing and studying animal models of human disease, from basic biology to induced disease, spontaneous genetic mutations, transgenic animal models, gene knock-out models, and spontaneous animal models of human disease. Our core strengths include oncology; inflammatory and chronic diseases; and molecular and genetic models of animal disease. Our research programs span the continuum from basic to clinical and translational research. Some components of this program are designed to investigate basic biology and underlying mechanisms of disease, while other components focus on diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of disease.
The Comparative Medicine program emphasizes interdisciplinary and collaborative research with investigators across all three academic departments in the College and the College's centers; other units in the Academic Health Center; the College of Biological Sciences and the College Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences on the St. Paul campus; and several other University centers and institutes. The recent advent of translational medicine provides the CVM with an additional opportunity to test cell-, small molecule-, and gene therapies in animal models of the human condition.
Faculty Experts
Kari Anderson
Alvin Beitz
David Brown
Cathy Carlson
K. Hwa Choi
John Collister
Mike Conzemius
Connie Gebhart
Sagar Goyal
Mike Henson
Sandra Koch
Betty Kramek
Elizabeth LaFond
Alice A. Larson
Molly McCue
James Mickelson
Jaime Modiano
Michael Murtaugh
Timothy O'Brien
Ned Patterson
Katey Pelican
Elizabeth Pluhar
David Polzin
Sriram Rao
Kent Reed
Mark Rutherford
Pam Skinner
Sheila Torres
Troy Trumble
Dominic Travis
Zheng Xing
Bruce Walcheck
Robert Washabau
Jianming Wu