Dr. Michael Oglesbee and IDI Discovery Theme Faculty Present at RAV3N Annual Meeting

Dr. Michael Oglesbee, DVM, PhD, DACVP, director of Ohio State's Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) and professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, delivered the keynote at this year’s Research Alliance for Veterinary Science and Biodefense BSL-3 Network (RAV3N) Annual Meeting held August 13-15, 2024, on Ohio State’s Wooster Campus. Dr. Oglesbee’s presentation, entitled “Mobilizing Interdisciplinary Networks to Prevent Pathogen Emergence,” highlighted the IDI’s role in enhancing Ohio State’s infectious diseases interdisciplinary research networks through its thematic programs, funding mechanisms, Discovery Theme faculty, and the IDI Genomics and Microbiology Solutions Lab (IDI-GEMS). 

Two IDI Discovery Theme faculty members contributed their expertise to the meeting. Dr. Anastasia Vlasova, associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), presented “Gnotobiotic Large Animal Research: Achievements and Challenges”. Dr. Scott Kenney, also an associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, CFAES, served as a panelist for the Transboundary and Emerging Diseases panel discussion. In addition, Dr. Juliette Hanson, director, Plant and Animal Agrosecurity Research (PAAR) Facility, CFAES and IDI member, provided opening remarks at the meeting.

The RAV3N is a collaborative community of 20 academic and federal institutions, including the USDA and the CDC, to establish strategic and coordinated approaches for collective large-animal biocontainment infrastructure and science capacity to improve bio-surveillance, diagnostics, and countermeasure developments against high-consequence pathogens of veterinary importance.