VERO Faculty Awarded For Research, Teaching By CVMBS, TVMA
Story by Megan Myers, CVMBS Communications
Three faculty members from the Texas A&M Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach (VERO) program were recognized for their research and teaching excellence at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (CVMBS) 2022 Honors & Awards Ceremony.
Drs. Paul Morley, Benjamin Newcomer, and Matthew Scott received awards during the ceremony on March 25. Morley traveled to College Station to attend the event in person and accepted awards on Newcomer and Scott’s behalf.
“We are very proud of all that Drs. Morley, Newcomer, and Scott have accomplished for the VERO program and the recognition of this work at the CVMBS 2022 Honors & Awards Ceremony,” said Dr. Susan Eades, CVMBS associate dean for administration, Canyon campus. “These accomplishments exemplify the excellence in research and teaching performed by the great faculty in the VERO program. The teamwork and dedication demonstrated each day is powerful.”
Dr. Paul Morley
Morley, VERO’s director of food animal research, received the Outstanding Research Leader Award and the Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA) Research Award for his research achievements and exceptional record of extramural funding and publications.
“Dr. Morley is leading an outstanding research team working to address health issues important to the cattle industries of the Panhandle,” Eades said.
His research interests include antibiotic resistance, infectious diseases in food animals, and improving infection control and biosecurity to manage health risks that are important in veterinary medicine, agriculture, and public health. He has contributed to 40 publications since the beginning of 2019.
Morley earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Washington State University in 1989 and a Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1995. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and joined the VERO program in 2019.
Dr. Benjamin Newcomer
Newcomer, a CVMBS clinical associate professor, received the TVMA Teaching Award for his contributions as an educator.
As a dairy cattle veterinarian, he has a special interest in training students in the practical aspects of dairy science and dairy production management.
“Dr. Newcomer is not only an accomplished dairy cattle veterinarian but an excellent classroom and clinical teacher who impacts the education of veterinary and undergraduate students every day,” Eades said.
Newcomer received his DVM from the University of Florida in 2002 and practiced dairy production medicine for several years in California. He joined the Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008 as a clinical instructor while pursuing a Ph.D. in bovine infectious disease, and then joined the VERO program in 2020.
Dr. Matthew Scott
Scott, a CVMBS assistant professor of microbial ecology and infectious disease, received the Outstanding Young Faculty Research Award for his record of excellence in research, publications, and funding.
“Dr. Scott, in a very short time, has launched important projects evaluating risks of diseases affecting the cattle industry,” Eades said.
His work is focused on bovine respiratory disease (BRD), the leading disease complex in cattle, in an effort to develop pipelines for investigating and mitigating risk of BRD in high-risk settings, such as feedlots. He has received funding for multiple projects from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture.
Scott earned his DVM in 2018 and a Ph.D. in veterinary medical science – infectious diseases in 2021, both from Mississippi State University, before joining the VERO program in 2021.
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Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu, 979-862-4216