Dionne Benson, ’11 DVM, was recently appointed Chief Veterinary Officer for The Stronach Group. For the past seven years, Benson has been the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for the internationally-renowned Racing Medication and Testing Consortium (RMTC) in Lexington, KY.

The position will include directing safety and welfare, as well as veterinary research initiatives for all of The Stronach Group facilities across the country. Benson also serves on several veterinary committees within the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) and was instrumental in working with the California Horse Racing Board to refine the medication rules for horses racing at Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields to be consistent with, or in some cases stricter than, most of the IFHA standards.

Alphonso Lago, DVM, '09 PhD, owns DairyExperts, a herd health consulting and research company in Tulare, Calif., and recently hired Kruthika Patel, MVSc, '19 MS, as a research associate.

Jun Han, DVM, ’08 PhD, professor of virology in the Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine at China Agricultural University College of Veterinary Medicine, will soon lead research and international affairs as the Associate Dean of the China Agricultural University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Chris Pachel, '02 DVM, DACVB, CABC, visited campus in March to teach a special course on animal behavioral challenges and work with the Animal Behavior Club. Pachel is the owner and primary clinician for the Animal Behavior Clinic in Portland, OR. He completed a one-year clinical residency at the U of MN Veterinary Medical Center in 2005.

Melissa Milstein, ’18 DVM, PhD student, assisted in the rescue of two dogs near Lake Elmo, Minn., over the winter and was honored for her outstanding actions by the Washington County Sheriff Department on April 19.

Mikayla Schroeder, ’17 DVM, started a new position as surgical oncology intern at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Jing Du, ’17 PhD, is a postdoctoral scientist with Susan Quaggin, MD, at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill.

In it’s February issue, The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association highlighted equine researchers and practitioners who have recently garnered awards for their achievements. Out of the eight veterinary professionals, Sian Durward-Akhurst, BVMS, ’16 MS, a doctoral candidate in the Comparative and Molecular Biosciences graduate program, was featured for receiving the 2018 Equus Foundation Research Fellow grant of $5,000 for her research in equine genetics.

Durward-Akhurst anticipates the completion of her PhD this fall. Her research is focused on identifying potential causative mutations for highly detrimental—likely Mendelian—diseases in horses by developing and using the first database of genetic variation across the equine population. The research aims to help veterinary professionals understand genetic variants and allow them to group genetically similar patients together. Durward-Akhurst is advised by Molly McCue, DVM, MS, PhD, professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine and interim associate dean for research.

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Ultrarunner Jasmin Paris was a small animal intern at the CVM’s Veterinary Medical Center in 2010. She recently became the first woman to win the 268-mile Montane Spine Race, a nonstop challenge from Edale in Derbyshire, England, to Kirk Yetholm, Scotland. Paris broke the course record by 12 hours. The race took her 83 hours, 12 minutes, and 23 seconds to complete.

Paris gave birth to a daughter 14 months ago. During the four-day race, she had just over seven hours of rest time, during which she had to eat, sleep, and breastfeed her daughter. Paris already holds the women's records for the UK's three premier 24-hour mountain running challenges.