The Verocai Parasitology Lab traveled to Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, for the 71st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists (AAVP). Our team showcased a diverse collection of presentations highlighting the exciting research underway at Texas A&M. We had a fantastic time learning, sharing ideas, and connecting with colleagues across the parasitology community. Explore the presentations and awards below to see what we’ve been up to.

Presentations:

Anna Schmieding: Assessing prevalence of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in rats from three different regions of Texas (Oral presentation)

Brian Reiber: Understanding canine gastrointestinal parasites co-infections in Chad: Impact on Guinea Worm diagnostic and One Health implications (Oral presentation)

Cassia Matos Ribeiro: Detection ofAngiostrongylus cantonensisin synanthropic rodents and marsupials from Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil (Poster presentation)

Guilherme G. Verocai: Vector-borne pathogens and molecular detection ofDirofilaria immitisandOnchocerca lupiin dogs from Chad, Sub-Saharan Africa (Oral presentation)

Guilherme G. Verocai: Cytokine profiles of dogs experimentally infected withDracunculus medinensis (Oral presentation)

Guilherme G. Verocai: A One Health evaluation of filarioid nematodes associated with Ixodid ticks collected from domestic dogs in Chad (Oral presentation)

Maureen Kelly: Enhanced molecular diagnosis ofOnchocerca lupiusing droplet digital PCR in clinically suspected companion animals (Oral presentation)

Tiana Sanders: Case series of angiostrongyliasis from a zoological facility in Houston, Texas, USA (Oral presentation)

Tiana Sanders: Surveillance for macrocyclic lactone (ML)-resistant isolates ofDirofilaria immitisfrom shelter dog populations in Texas (Oral presentation)

Awards:

Congratulations to members of the Verocai Lab who were recognized for their outstanding contributions at the conference:

• David Young Graduate Student Leadership Excellence Award – Maureen Kelly
• CAPC Graduate Student Award in Zoonotic Disease – Matthew Kulpa
• 2nd Place Best Student Paper Presentation – Tiana Sanders
• 3rd Place Best Student Paper Presentation – Anna Schmieding

AAVP 2026!

Brian’s Presentation

Guilherme’s Presentation

Cassia’s Presentation

Tiana and Anna

Maureen

Maureen and Mathew

Maureen, Tiana, Anna, and Matthew

Dr. Verocai recently went to Philadelphia as an invited speaker of the One Health in Action (OHiA) initiative at University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (PennVet). The hosts were a Verocai Lab alumni, former NCVP resident and postdoc, Dr. Caroline Sobotyk, who is now the Assistant Professor of Clinical Parasitology at PennVet, and Dr. Stephen Cole, Assistant Professor of Clinical Microbiology. This two-day visit had a packed itinerary including a trip to the New Bolton Center (NBC) located in Kennett Square. There, Dr. Verocai gave a seminar titled “Helminth parasites of North American ungulates: from biodiversity to drug resistance” directed to wildlife- and large animal-oriented faculty. The seminar shared results from Verocai Lab projects focusing on parasites of the North American Bison. This included gastrointestinal nematodes and resistance to benzimidazole anthelmintics led by Kaylee Kipp (PhD Student) and our findings on a previously uncharacterized species of the lungworm genus Dictyocaulus, led by Hannah Danks (4th year vet student), who started working in the lab as a 1st year vet student apart of VMSRTP and continued to be involved for many semesters after. In addition, Dr. Verocai had the opportunity to meet with various OHiA faculty members, those involved with the Wildlife Futures Program, and tour through the Large Animal Hospital and PADLS, the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System. Back in Solar Eclipsed(!) Philly, Dr. Verocai met with Dr. Jenni Punt, Professor and Associate Dean of One Health, and participated in a Panel Discussion on “Zoonotic parasitic diseases and the impact of globalization and climate change on parasite transmissions” with vet student members of the One Health Club and the Parasitology Club.

The second day included a breakfast with vet students, a tour of PennVet’s Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital and the Microbiology/Parasitology Diagnostic Laboratories, and meeting with renowned researchers in Parasitology. To close this fruitful visit, Dr. Verocai delivered another seminar – “Zoonotic Helminths in Action in the US and Abroad”. This One Health-focused presentation highlighted our contributions to the knowledge on a few zoonotic helminths emerging in the US. Among these are our findings on the Onchocerca lupi led by Maureen Kelly (PhD Student), the eye-worm Thelazia callipaeda, and the rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which are the result of collaborative projects with different academic institutions. The second part of the seminar emphasized our involvement and contributions to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, funded by The Carter Center, in which we focus on the discovery of diagnostic biomarkers and optimizing diagnostic tools for detection of Dracunculus medinensis infection in animal hosts. Much of our successes come from the outstanding work of Dr. Hassan Hakimi (postdoc) and the joint effort of the entire lab, including past and current members.

One Health, One Parasitology…

This summer the Verocai Lab returned to Lexington, KY for the 68th annual American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists Meeting. Not only did Verocai Lab bring a variety of diverse parasitology work to share, many lab members were the recipients of prestigious awards and scholarships! We are very proud of our whole team and had an amazing time reconnecting with our colleagues in the field! Take a look below for all the details on the amazing work by the lab.

Oral Presentation:

Poster Presentation:

Awards:

The Verocai Lab Team

Maureen giving her award-winning work on heartworm detection

Former superstar lab member Carol!

Colleagues Dr. Andrew Peregrine and Dr. John Gilleard

Matt giving his presentation on the cryptic parasites of cervids

Refueling and ready to learn!

Hassan Hakimi and Kaylee Kipp both entered the poster/oral competition at this year’s VMBS Research Trainee Symposium and both were awarded distinguished awards including: the People’s Choice for Best Flash Talk (Kaylee Kipp), and 3rd place best poster (Hassan Hakimi). Please join us in congratulating their hard work and great science communication skills! Great job guys!

Congratulations to Kaylee for giving a great talk at the Texas Bison Association (TBA) annual conference in Waco, Texas! Kaylee presented management strategies and how they relate to controlling parasite populations in ranched bison. She also wrote an article on the topic that was published in the TBA 2023 journal magazine! Great job, Kaylee!

To read Kaylee’s article in the 2023 TBA magazine, click the link below!

Texas Bison Association 2023 Journal Magazine

Multiple current and former members of the Verocai Lab showed out at the American Heartworm Society’s Triennial Symposium this year! This included:

• Dr. Guilherme Verocai
  • Temporal patterns of Dirofilaria  immitis–derived microRNA populations in serum of experimentally infected dogs in the search for novel diagnostic biomarkers
  • Probe-based qPCR as an alternative Knott’s test when screening dogs for heartworm infection in combination with antigen detection tests 
• Dr. Caroline Sobotyk (recent resident and postdoc with Dr. Verocai; now clinical assistant professor at UPenn)
  • Detection of Dirofilaria immitis via integrated serological and molecular analyses in coyotes from Texas, USA (oral)
  • Assessing the field performance of a cell-phone based video-microscope for diagnosing heartworm infections in dogs (poster)
• Dr. Kaitlyn Upton (veterinary student researcher with Dr. Verocai; now large animal intern at University of Tennessee)
  • Heartworm, Dirofilaria immitis, in carnivores kept in zoos located in Texas, USA: Risk perception, practices, and prevalence 
• Dr. Meriam Saleh
  • Evaluation of urine for Dirofilaria immitis antigen detection in dogs
• Dr. Sarah Lane (veterinary student researcher with Dr. Verocai; now veterinarian at Oak Forest Animal Hospital in Houston, TX)

You can read more about the event in the VMBS News article that was just recently published. Congratulations everyone!

Recently Dr. Meriam Saleh was invited to share her parasitology expertise with members of the Livestock Guardian Dog Program at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in San Angelo, TX. She presented a webinar on common intestinal parasites that can infect livestock guardian dogs. Producers from across the United States were able to attend the one-hour session and learn more about how dogs are infected with these parasites and how to prevent them in their livestock guardian dogs. To learn more about the Livestock Guardian Dog Program you can check out their website.

The Verocai Parasitology Lab proudly represented at the 30th International Conference of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP 2025) this August in Curitiba, Brazil! This was a global gathering of veterinary parasitologists that meets every two years. Our team presented five exciting projects, including:

Dr. Tiana Sanders – Molecular Characterization of Spirometra Isolates across the USA (Poster)

Maureen Kelly – High Seroprevalence of Selected Vector-Borne Pathogens in Dogs from Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands (Oral)

Ian Daniel – An open-source MALDI-TOF MS Reference Database for the Identification of Major Tick Vectors in North America (Oral)

Dr. Gui Verocai – two oral presentations covering

• High Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites of Dogs from Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, including the Zoonotic Ancylostoma ceylanicum and

• Comparative Performance of the Novel, Point-of-Care Pluslife MiniDock Dirofilaria immitis/Dirofilaria repens Detection Test with the Modified Knott’s test in Dogs

Beyond the scientific sessions, our team experienced Curitiba’s remarkable blend of innovation and nature, from its stunning botanical gardens to its pioneering urban wildlife parks featuring capybaras. The eco-friendly conference venue provided the perfect setting for advancing veterinary parasitology research.

This conference energized us with new collaborations and fresh insights that will shape our research for years to come. We’re already looking forward to WAAVP 2027 in Berlin, Germany!