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Outstanding One Health-One Medicine Program: Unique Program Facilitator at University of Missouri (MU) - USA

 

 

Carolyn Henry, DVM, MS is the One Health/One Medicine Program Facilitator at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO (USA).  She says, “My interest area is comparative oncology, but as the new Provost-appointed facilitator for the One Health/One Medicine initiative at the University of Missouri, my job description now includes fostering collaboration between investigators in all areas of one health/one medicine.  I have dual faculty appointments at the College of  Veterinary Medicine and the School of Medicine and a keen interest in promoting awareness of the value of translational and transdisciplinary efforts that bridge human and animal health.” 

 

It was pointed out to Dr. Henry about a formerly posted ‘One Health in ACTION’ University of Missouri News item on this website Wednesday, June 3, 2009 entitled “Orthopedic Surgeons (a veterinarian and physician) Research Creative Hip and Knee Replacements for Dogs and Humans Together”:

 

Veterinarian James “Jimi” Cook, DVM, PhD, a University of Missouri-Columbia college of veterinary medicine professor of orthopedic surgery and physician B. Sonny Bal, MD, JD, MBA, Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery college of medicine have collaborated for over seven years on efforts to create hip and knee replacements without using commonplace biomechanical metal and plastic materials.  The technique being developed by Dr. Cook for dogs initially, involves use of laboratory grown tissue (cartilage) that can be molded into replicas of joints that require replacement.  Drs. Bal and Cook are concomitantly developing a process whereby a similar process can be adapted for humans.”

 

Dedicated to all parameters of One Health/One Medicine, she noted, “In my opinion, Drs. Cook and Bal, and their colleagues epitomize the value of translational research.”

 

Dr. Henry serves as a professor of oncology at the College of Veterinary Medicine and School of Medicine.  Her cancer research activities focus on comparative models of human disease, including canine bone, bladder and prostate cancer and on biomarker discovery and applications for cancer screening and diagnosis.  She earned a doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) and master’s degree (MS) from Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.  Dr. Henry was on the faculty at Washington State University before coming to MU in 1997.  http://www.missouri.edu/mizzou-advantage/one-health-one-medicine/index.php

 

 

As previously reported, Robert V. Duncan, PhD, Vice Chancellor for research at the University issued the following One Health endorsement to the One Health Initiative website on Tuesday February 8, 2011.  Dr. Duncan is also a professor of Physics at the University.

 

“The University of Missouri (MU) is fortunate to have a very strong program in One Health, with many of our leading physicians and veterinarians working closely together in the development of new approaches to cancer research, innovative new approaches to orthopedic medicine, and efforts to detect and respond to new disease threats, to name just a few.  Our complement of interdisciplinary centers, such as our Research Reactor, which produces more radioisotopes for medicine than any other reactor in the United States, to forefront research in in-vivo visualization and characterization of microcirculation, to our forefront role in the development of numerous transgenic animal models for medical studies that provide a national resource, MU is dedicated and capitalized to support One Health as a leader in all aspects of this discipline.”