Training Programs

Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO

Facilities and Resources
The Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology (MIP) annually receives more than $16 million in extramural research support. Our research programs, and those of Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, have attained national and international recognition. As a result, the annual total funding base for these programs compares favorably with any other college of veterinary medicine in the world.

The MIP Department is made up of over 60 faculty, well recognized in their area of expertise. One measure of our faculty's credentials is the number of individuals certified by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP); 14 of our faculty are board certified in either veterinary anatomical and/or veterinary clinical pathology--the greatest concentration of such individuals in any university in the world. Our faculty are involved in teaching at the undergraduate, graduate and profession veterinary medical curricula, in biomedical research in pathobiology, microbiology and immunology; and in anatomical pathology; and clinical pathology service to the Diagnostic Laboratory and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

The MIP Department has faculty located in five different facilities at Colorado State University, including the Pathology and Microbiology Buildings on the main campus, the Arthropod-borne and Infectious Disease Laboratory and the Biohazard Research Building (a Biosafety level-3 facility) at the Foothills Campus, and the Veterinary Teaching Hospital/Diagnostic Laboratory. These buildings include outstanding research, classroom, and office space accommodate modern biomedical research and educational activities including the graduate training program.

Clinical Pathology Laboratory - Three ACVP board certified clinical pathologists direct at this facility.

Colorado State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory - Sixteen faculty members from the MIP department direct necropsy, surgical pathology, bacteriology, microbiology, parasitology, and toxicology/chemistry services for the State of Colorado and Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Graduate Programs
The MIP Department has graduate education opportunities for two general categories of students. First, MS and PhD research training is available to post-BS students. These opportunities are varied and include both Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant appointments, the latter being dependent upon establishing a faculty sponsor within the department. Second, is post-DVM education in pathobiology, microbiology, and laboratory animal/comparative medicine. Post-DVM students usually pursue two components that are combined in a training program. These include research training that leads to the PhD degree and residency training in anatomic or clinical pathology, microbiology or laboratory animal/comparative medicine. The residency training prepares graduate trainees for the AVMA sanctioned board examinations, leading to board certification in either anatomical or clinical pathology by the American College of Veterinary Pathology (ACVP), The American College of Veterinary Microbiology (ACVM), or the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM). The time for the combined residency/PhD program includes a two-year (microbiology) or three-year (pathology and laboratory animal medicine) residency followed by two to three years of PhD dissertation research.

Research
Departmental research programs and resources provide excellent opportunities for training in fundamentals of modern investigative pathobiology, microbiology and immunology. We place emphasis on a multi-disciplinary approach to research problems. Other traits we emphasize in research training programs are development of proficiency in independent thought, research design, and written and oral presentations of research findings.

The departmental Graduate Education Committee assists students in the selection of a major advisor and provides periodic evaluation of progress towards goals. A major advisor is selected by the end of the second semester for post-DVM Residency/PhD students. The remainder of the graduate advisory committee is compiled with the help of the major advisor. Participation in the research activities of individual laboratories and attendance at departmental research seminars are activities which help identify research training opportunities.

Interpretive Diagnostic Expertise Training
Diagnostic service activities are an experience-based opportunity to acquire residency training in anatomical or clinical pathology, microbiology or laboratory animal medicine by providing diagnostic support for animals at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and University research animal facilities. Department faculty and residents perform necropsies, surgical biopsies, clinical laboratory analyses and microbiology services in support of one of the best teaching hospital accession loads in the country. Laboratory animal services include those at Colorado State University and in other facilities like the University of Colorado Medical Center. Residency training in pathology is concentrated in the first three years of the combined training program which culminates in the opportunity to take the certifying examination administered by the ACVP. Service responsibilities decrease to allow a transition into more intensive research training.

Teaching
Students participate in the teaching programs of the department. This includes assisting with instruction in the professional veterinary medicine curriculum. While teaching does not comprise a major component of the training program, instructional experience helps develop communication skills essential to all scientific endeavors.

Program Requirements

Courses

Each student and graduate advisory committee designs an individualized graduate program. This ensures that graduate training is tailored to suit the needs of the individual's program. The departmental approach to curriculum places less emphasis on didactic course work and greater emphasis on structured activities designed to aid trainees to "learn by doing."

Seminars and conferences are an important part of training. All graduate students attend the research seminar series. Students in the residency training program register for the Microscopy Seminar and weekly review conferences in anatomical and clinical pathology, microbiology and laboratory animal medicine.

All graduate students present at least one seminar each year as part of the departmental research seminar series, beginning in year 2. The first seminar is a protocol seminar in which any preliminary findings are described along with an explanation of the planned research program. Each year thereafter, a short progress seminar summarizes the experimental results of the research program. In the last year, an overview final seminar is presented in conjunction with the dissertation defense.

Examinations

Doctoral students must pass both a preliminary PhD examination and a final oral PhD examination. The preliminary examination is taken after completion of the majority of formal course work. This examination includes both written and oral portions and is intended to evaluate readiness for beginning a research program. The final examination occurs at the conclusion of the research work and focuses on the dissertation.

The areas in which it is important to develop skills include:

• Knowledge common to the specific medical specialty
• Specialty knowledge relevant to the area of proposed research
• Ability to apply knowledge base and synthesize new ideas
• Communication - orally and in writing
• Ability to creatively approach and solve research problems; experimental design
• Reading and interpretation of contemporary scientific literature

Financial Assistance
Applicants with a DVM degree are eligible for three-year Colorado State-funded residency positions in both anatomical and clinical pathology. Beginning salary starts at approximately $30,200/year. In addition, funding for graduate research assistantships is available through investigator-initiated research grants and federal contracts. Graduate assistantships in this department generally provide a monthly stipend and tuition.

Staff

Faculty:

• Ramesh K. Akkina, BVSc, MVSc, PhD; Professor; Molecular Virology
• Thomas E. Allen, BS, PhD; Assistant Professor; Immunology
• Anne C. Avery, BA, VMD, PhD; Assistant Professor; Veterinary Immunology
• Paul R. Avery, BS, VMD, PhD; Assistant Professor; Viral Pathology
• Carolina V. Barillas-Mury, BS, MD, PhD; Assistant Professor; Host-Parasite-Insect Interactions In Tropical Disease
• *Randall J. Basaraba, BS, DVM, PhD; Associate Professor; Diagnostic Pathology, Mycobacterial Diseases, Diseases of Aquatic Animals
• Barry J. Beaty, BS, MS PhD; Professor; Virology
• John T. Belisle, BS, PhD; Associate Professor; Bacteriology
• William C. Black, IV, BA, MF, PhD; Associate Professor; Medical Entomology, Vector Biology
• *Stephen A. Benjamin, DVM; Professor; Environmental Toxicology
• Carol D. Blair, BA, PhD; Professor; Virology
• Patrick J. Brennan, BSc, MSc, MA, PhD; Professor; Bacteriology
• Robert C. Burnett, BA, PhD; Assistant Professor; Parasitology, Molecular Biology
• Charles H. Calisher, BS, MS, PhD; Professor; Virology
• Gerald A. Callahan, BS, PhD; Associate Professor; Immunopathology
• Jonathan O. Carlson, BS, PhD; Professor; Molecular Genetics
• Delphi Chatterjee, BSc, MSc, MS, PhD; Associate Professor; Bacterial Chemistry
• John M. Cheney, BS, DVM, MS; Associate Professor; CSU Diagnostic Laboratory; Parasitology
• Dean C. Crick, BSc, MSc, PhD; Associate Professor; Bacteriology
• Susan M. Deines, BS, MS; Assistant Professor; General Microbiology
• *James C. DeMartini, BS, DVM, PhD; Professor; Immunology, Viral Pathogenesis, Viral Oncogenesis
• Steven W. Dow, BA, DVM, MS, PhD; Associate Professor; Tumor Immunology
• Nancy M. DuTeau, BA, PhD; Assistant Professor; Medical Entomology
• *E. J. Ehrhart, BS, DVM, PhD; Associate Professor, Cancer biology/pathology
• Robert P. Ellis, BS, MS, PhD; Professor; Immunology, Bacteriology
• Claudia Gentry-Weeks, BS, PhD; Associate Professor; Bacteriology, Clinical Microbiology
• Robert D. Gillespie, BS, PhD; Assistant Professor; Parasitology
• *Daniel H. Gould, BS, DVM, PhD; Professor; Nutritional and Toxicologic Pathology
• Mark D. Howell, BS, PhD; Associate Professor; Immunology
• *Edward A. Hoover, BS, DVM, MS, PhD; Professor; Immunodeficiency-Inducing Retroviruses
• Doreene R. Hyatt, BA, PhD; Assistant Professor; Clinical Bacteriology
• Julia M. Inamine, BS, PhD; Associate Professor; Microbial Genetics
• Robert L. Jones, BS, DVM, PhD; Professor; Bacteriology, Clinical Microbiology
• RoxAnn R. Karkhoff-Schweizer, BS, BA, PhD; Associate Professor; Molecular Genetics
• Donald A. Klein, BS, MS, PhD; Professor; Bacteriology, Environmental Microbiology
• *E. Duane Lassen, DVM, PhD; Associate Professor; Clinical Pathology
• Anne Lenaets, BS, PhD; Assistant Professor; Immunology
• Avraham Liav, BSc, MSc, PhD; Associate Professor; Bacteriology
• James C. Linden, BS, PhD; Professor; Bacteriology, Industrial Microbiology
• *Gary L. Mason, BS, DVM, MS, PhD; Assistant Professor; CSU Diagnostic Laboratory, Infectious Diseases of Livestock
• Michael R. McNeil; Professor; Bacterial Chemistry
• *Robert W. Norrdin, BS, DVM, PhD; Professor: Musculoskeletal Pathology
• Kenneth E. Olson, BS, MS, PhD; Associate Professor; Virology
• *Christine J. Olver, BS, DVM, PhD; Assistant Professor; Red Blood Cell Receptor
• Ian M. Orme, BSc, PhD; Professor; Immunology
• Leonard D. Pearson, BS, DVM, PhD; Professor; Immunology
• *Barbara E. Powers, BS, MS, DVM, PhD; Professor; CSU Diagnostic Laboratory, Surgical Pathology
• *Patricia C. Schultheiss, BA, DVM, PhD; Associate Professor; CSU Diagnostic Laboratory; Diagnostic Pathology
• Herbert P. Schweizer, PhD; Professor; Bacteriology
• Richard Slayden, BS, PhD; Assistant Professor; Bacteriology
• Ralph E. Smith, BS, PhD; Professor; Virology
• *Terry R. Spraker, BS, DVM, PhD; Associate Professor, CSU Diagnostic Laboratory; Diagnostic Pathology
• Erica L. Suchman, BA, PhD; Associate Professor; Virology
• *Mary Anna Thrall, BA, DVM, MS; Professor; Bone Marrow Transplantation
• Richard G. Titus, BS, MS, PhD; Professor; Immunology
• Joanne Turner, BS, PhD; Assistant Professor; Immunology
• Hana VanCampen, BS, DVM, PhD; Associate Professor; Bacteriology
• Sue VandeWoude, BS, DVM; Associate Professor; Biology of Lentiviral Agents

*ACVP diplomates

Department/Program Website www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/mip/

Applications

Application to the graduate program in the Department of Pathology involves submitting:

1. Two original copies of university academic record transcripts;
2. Three letters of reference from individuals able to evaluate the candidate's abilities relative to advanced training;
3. GRE scores;
4. Biographical sketch or resume; and
5. A letter of intent stating career goals and plans for graduate work. The letter needs to be as specific as possible to facilitate recognizing areas of opportunity. An additional application to the Graduate School will be filed for persons accepted into the departmental program.

We will consider applications for admission any time, but we must receive applications for combined residency/PhD programs by November 15 of the year before the summer term in which a program may be started. Requests for additional information and application materials should be submitted to:

Coordinator of the Residency Program
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523

Departmental graduate information can be reached through the following:

(970) 491-6239 (phone)
(970) 491-0603 (fax)
Email: gradpath@colostate.edu