AAVN 2024 Webinar Series

Join the AAVN for an upcoming webinar!  These sessions are FREE for members, $20 for non-members*.  Student members -- please email aavnexecutive@gmail.com for your registration code. All webinars are submitted for RACE approval of 1 CE credits.

To Register Click Here

Horses have evolved a primary adaptation to a grasslands nutritional environment over approximately 30-40 million years. Humans domesticated horses between 6,000 and 9,000 years ago, began feeding grains as a concentrated energy and nutrient source ~2,000 years ago, and began to utilize pelleted concentrates <100 years ago.

It is likely that the change in dietary fractions of structural and nonstructural carbohydrates over a relatively short period of time is a significant contributor to the current prevalence of insulin resistance and equine metabolic syndrome in horses. This knowledge does not make the challenge of identifying nutritional and management solutions for an animal that is utilized for athletic production any easier. Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is generally defined by a combination of obesity, previous or current laminitis, and insulin resistance. This lecture will begin with some historical perspective on the rise in prevalence of equine metabolic syndrome.   Some of the relevant research that has helped shape current nutritional recommendations will also be highlighted. Finally, examples of dietary and husbandry management that might be utilized to reduce the risk of EMS or manage EMS in horses will be discussed.

Speaker: W. Burton Staniar  is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science at the Pennsylvania State University. He has been a member of the faculty at Penn State since 2007. He teaches or helps to teach between 5 to 7 courses, ranging from Introductory Equine Science to Advanced Equine Nutrition. He is also advisor for the Equine Research Team at Penn State, an undergraduate student organization that aims to provide students more opportunities to learn about and experience equine research. His current research centers on gastrointestinal health with a focus on feeding and exercise management practices related to systemic inflammation. While he focuses on the horse as a target and a model, Dr. Staniar is interested in nutritional management aimed at improved health and performance in all livestock species.  Dr. Staniar has previously been awarded the Penn State College of Agriculture’s Community of Teaching Excellence Award, the Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award of Merit, the Agricultural Student Council’s Advisor of the Year, and the American Society of Animal Science’s Northeast Young Scientist-Educator Award.  He has been a member of the Equine Science Society since 1998, has served on the Society’s board of directors since 2009, and most recently completed his term as President of that society.

Tuesday, May 7, 8 pm ET
Novel and Alternative Proteins: What to Consider When Making Dietary Recommendations for Pets
This webinar will review the importance of dietary proteins to support companion animal health and compare variety of dietary protein sources.  Pet food products containing different dietary protein sources and protein content will be evaluated and their purpose and viable recommendations will be discussed.

Speaker: Maria Regina Cattai de Godoy, MS. PhD  joined the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as an Assistant Professor of Companion Animal and Comparative Nutrition in August, 2015. She is also a faculty member in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. The focus of her research program is on companion animal and comparative nutrition.

In 2021, Dr. Godoy was promoted to Associate Professor and was a recipient of the 2021 Campus Distinguished Promotion Award at the University of Illinois. Dr. Godoy’s research program has received grant support from federal funding agencies, commodity associations, and the private sector. Her research expertise and scientific contributions to the field of companion animal and comparative nutrition have received national and international recognition. She has given presentations at national and international conferences in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America. Dr. Godoy has been involved in the development, implementation, and teaching of several courses and certificate programs for undergraduate and graduate students at the University . Dr. Godoy is an avid supporter of education through research, teaching and outreach, and actively involved in initiatives to champion diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Tuesday, October 1, 11 am ET 

Evaluation of a Direct Lymphocyte Proliferation Test for the Diagnosis of Delayed Food Allergies in Dogs

In humans, food allergies (FA) are divided into those with an IgE-mediated (immediate FA), cell-mediated (delayed FA), or both mechanisms (mixed FA). In dogs, lymphocyte stimulation tests have the highest concordance with oral food challenges (OFC). 

Nextmune isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and automatically counted them before and after a 5-day culture with food allergens. Stimulation indices (SI) were then calculated (ratio of cell counts after allergen challenge versus saline controls). Food allergen-specific IgE was quantified using the Pet Allergy Xplorer (PAX). A cutoff SI value of 3.0 was chosen after doing this lymphocyte proliferation test (LPT) in ten healthy laboratory beagles. None of 25 healthy pet dogs had an SI greater than the chosen 3.0 cutoff, indicating a specificity of 100%. Of 55 dogs with FA diagnosed by veterinary dermatologists, 44 had a delayed FA (80%). Of these 44 dogs, an LPT was done in 28. All these 28 dogs had at least one positive lymphocyte stimulation to a food item causing delayed flares after OFC; the sensitivity of this test for the identification of delayed canine FA was thus 100%. The LPT correctly identified 57/68 food items that caused delayed flares after OFC (84%). The PAX was negative for food-specific IgE in 18/28 dogs (64%), as expected for delayed FAs. In three dogs (11%), PAX results overlapped with those of the LPT, suggesting a mixed FA. In conclusion, FAs with delayed reactions after OFC, those suspected of having a cell-mediated mechanism, seem to be the most common type of FA in dogs. The LPT is helpful in identifying such cases.

Speaker: Thierry Olivry, DrVet, PhD, DipACVD, DipECVD graduated from the University of Toulouse, France, and completed a residency and PhD at the University of California Davis. He is a Diplomate of the ECVD and the ACVD. After 28 years as a clinician-scientist in veterinary dermatology and allergy at the NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Olivry left Academia and moved back to Europe to live in Riga, Latvia. In November 2022, he became Head of Research & Development at Nextmune, a multinational animal health company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. 

Registration is now open!  To sign up click here

There are a variety of minimally invasive diagnostics available to the practitioner to evaluate for the presence and sequalae of gastrointestinal and pancreatic diseases in companion animals. Many of these assays have been introduced over the last few years and offer additional insight into the cause and/or consequence of gastrointestinal diseases. Although these panels are widely available and relatively easy to perform, the results can occasionally be confusing and difficult to interpret especially when performed before other initial diagnostics and therapies have been performed. In this webinar, we will discuss when to (and when not to) run GI assays including the GI panel, infectious diarrhea panel, alpha 1 protease inhibitor, and dysbiosis index. We will also review how to interpret the results in light of the patient’s signalment, history, physical exam, and initial diagnostic findings and therapeutic trials.

Speaker: M. Katherine ("Katie") Tolbert, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM, SA nutrition) completed her small animal internal medicine residency and Ph.D. at North Carolina State University. She is a clinical associate professor in the Gastrointestinal Laboratory at Texas A&M University and is a member of the Dog Aging Project consortium. She completed an alternate-track residency in small animal nutrition at the University of Tennessee. Her clinical interests and research program are focused on the treatment of acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases in dogs and cats.

Registration is now open!  To sign up click here