Aggie Pathologists Represent Texas A&M, Win Award At National Meeting
Story by Megan Myers, CVMBS Communications
More than a dozen representatives of the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VBMS) recently attended and brought home an award from the 2022 annual meeting of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) in Boston.
From Nov. 12-15, a group of VMBS faculty, residents, and students attended the internationally recognized, One Health-themed meeting to learn about the latest developments in the field of pathology and share their own research findings.
Dr. Mayane Faccin, an anatomic pathology resident, received a third-place Young Investigator Award for her poster “Myosin Heavy Chain Myopathy in Two Quarter Horses.”
“The ACVP meeting was an amazing opportunity to know other pathologists, learn about their diagnostic routines and research, and meet up with friends from previous meetings or externships I have been to,” Faccin said. “Receiving an award in such a big conference places the receiver and their institution in the spotlight, and I am happy that I can show the terrific work that is been performed by the pathology service at Texas A&M.”
Myosin heavy chain myopathy (MYHM) is a genetic disease of the muscle that causes immune-mediated muscle atrophy and necrosis, most often in horses less than 5 years old. It is often triggered by an associated infectious disease, such as strangles.
“Last year, two cases of this condition were diagnosed through our necropsy service. In one of the cases, the affected filly had pneumonia associated with Actinobacillus equuli as the potential triggering factor, which has never been associated before with myosin heavy chain myopathy,” Faccin said. “This condition (MYHM) is not very commonly diagnosed, as it requires genetic testing. Therefore, it is important to disseminate this information to the pathology community so they can be aware of it and how the diagnosis can be achieved.”
In addition to Faccin, the other VMBS representatives at the meeting included Department of Veterinary Pathobiology faculty members Drs. Yava Jones-Hall, Brian Porter, Karen Russell, and Dominique Wiener; Gastrointestinal Laboratory faculty members Drs. Joao Cavasin and Paula Giaretta; pathology residents Drs. Dallas Clontz, Richie Dulli, Clinson Lui, and Sarita Neupane; veterinary students Jonathan Behlen, Alexandra Bettencourt, Nicole Glenn, and Sarah Jacobson; and former intern Dr. Rachel Whitfield, who is now a clinical pathology resident at the University of Florida.
Jones-Hall, an associate professor and director of the VMBS Research and Diagnostic Histology Laboratories, was also a presenter at the meeting; her session, “The Nuts and Bolts of Digital Pathology in Practice,” focused on sharing practical issues in digital pathology and how they can be overcome.
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Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu, 979-862-4216
