CSU turns 100, celebrates contributions to science

FORT COLLINS, COLO. — Colorado State University's (CSU) veterinary college turned 100 this year.

In celebration, the college established an "Imagine the Possibilities 100-Year Anniversary" scholarship to support students and highlight accomplishments at various events throughout the year.

CSU's research priorities are in the areas of cancer, environmental and radio logical sciences, infectious and immunological diseases, neurosciences, reproductive biology and genetic engineering, orthopedics and the bond between humans and animals.

The college is actively involved in a new and unique "supercluster" approach to technology transfer. Dubbed MicroRx, the collaboration is designed to speed transition of research on infectious diseases from the academic world into the global marketplace, the university explains.

This supercluster is made up of alliances of academic researchers, economists and business experts to encourage collaboration and bridge the worlds of business and aca demia.

Noted for advancements in infectious-disease research and home to the world's largest animal cancer research center, the veterinary school boasts numerous firsts since its establishment —starting with the first class of 27 students graduating in 1910.

CSU's firsts for the last 100 years include:

• The first courses in the world taught in veterinary medical ethics.

• The nation's first (and only) radiation biology department in a veterinary school.

• Home to the first calves and foals produced by artificial insemination in which research pre-determined the sex of calves.

• First to produce twin foals by splitting a single embryo.

• Established a master's degree in environmental health in 1977, making it one of only two schools in the nation to do so.

• The first university veterinary clinic to successfully perform open-heart surgery on dogs.

• The first university to use animal tumors as models for human disease and therapy for human cancer.

• Pioneered a limb-sparing technique to treat osteosarcoma, which is now widely adopted and significantly increases the likelihood that children diagnosed with osteosarcoma will be cured.

• Discovered the chemical that transmits the sensation of taste to the nervous system.

• Identified estrogen receptors as a player in anxiety and depression.

• The first in the West to apply X-rays to diagnose equine injuries.

• CSU's Department of Environmental Health and Radiological Sciences was first in the world to develop a program of radiation therapy of companion-animal tumors in a veterinary school.

• Home to the first veterinary oncologist in the United States.

• Pioneered the use of geographic information systems for refining the assessment of exposures to environmental agents in epidemiological studies.

• Home to the leading health and safety consultation program in the United States.

• First in the nation to be invited to New York to manage on-site health and safety operations at the 9/11 recovery site for the World Trade Center.

• First to develop a test to evaluate the status of joint cartilage, allowing the identification of early stages of arthritis in animals and humans.

In June 2005, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded the university $40 million to establish a Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease Research.

The Rocky Mountain RCE is part of a network of only 10 centers across the nation devoted to biodefense and emerging infectious disease research and training.

In addition, the college has received three grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for research into mosquito-borne diseases and tuberculosis.

With an emphasis on infectious-disease research, the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology has the largest National Institutes of Health research budget of any department of its kind without a medical school in the nation.

During its centennial year, the college sponsored a Veterinary Medical Center Open House, March 30-31.

For more information, log onto www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/development/100yearcelebration.cfm.

Donations to the Imagine the Possibilities 100-Year Anniversary scholarship can be made by contacting the college Development Office at (970) 491-0663.

— COMPILED BY DELL RAE

MOELLENBERG, CSU