The Department of Biomedical Sciences (BMS) in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) is a major locus for biomedical education including undergraduate, graduate, veterinary and post-doctoral training and for translational biomedical research at Colorado State University.

BMS houses more than 30 specialty research laboratories that allow students to gain hands-on learning experiences tailored to their interests and goals in human and animal health and disease. Faculty members’ interests run the gamut from reproductive biology and endocrinology to molecular neuroscience and cardiovascular physiology. The department is also home to the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory and its world-renowned Equine Reproduction Laboratory.

The robust research taking place within BMS was on full display at CVMBS Research Day 2022, an annual symposium that showcases leading-edge student research and innovative research approaches, connects local researchers and scientists, and enhances collaboration and communication between basic and clinical researchers.

At Research Day 2022, BMS earned the “Golden Pipette” award for being the department in the college whose students earned the highest scores. To highlight one example, BMS Ph.D. student Rachel Maison won first place in the advanced stage clinical research oral presentation category for her innovative study testing feral swine blood samples for the presence of anthrax antibodies in and around the “anthrax triangle,” an area of southwest Texas where high numbers of anthrax cases have occurred in domestic livestock and farmed deer populations. This promising research, never before done in the U.S., was featured on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention podcast and its March 2022 Zoonoses & One Health Updates webinar as well as on CSU Source and provides an important tool for better monitoring and responding to the dangerous pathogen.

“Rachel’s work is a stellar example of how important it is to bring together humans, animals, and the environment when assessing the threat of zoonotic diseases,” said Angela Bosco-Lauth, Maison’s adviser and an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. “From management practices to invasive species to environmental conditions, we can’t ignore the impact that each factor has on disease risk.”

Maison’s work aims to help improve the management of and response to anthrax through serosurveillance, a process of testing blood samples for the presence of antibodies against a specific disease that can help experts predict potential outbreaks and plan vaccination efforts. “Identifying risk factors and educating stakeholders and the general public about anthrax is really useful,” Maison said. “This disease is a concern for many livestock owners in endemic regions, so it’s important to bring this information to those people and also to keep a better handle on where anthrax is hiding—I’m excited to see what comes of this in the future.”

BMS is led by Dr. Bret Smith as Department Head and Dave Mornes as Business Officer. Lynn Kaatz and Maura Link make the unit’s research administration run smoothly on both the pre- and post-award side. At OSP, BMS is supported by Team 2 – Trisha Southergill and Kelly Bergeron.

Read more news and updates about the forefront research efforts taking in place in BMS.