Dr. Tara Snook, Dermatologist, joins VCS

Welcome to Dr. Tara Snook who joins our faculty as an Assistant Professor of Veterinary Dermatology (75% effort) effective September 10, 2007.  Dr. Snook received her DVM from Iowa State University and completed her Rotating Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Internship at Bay Area Veterinary Specialists in California.  Dr. Snook also successfully completed a Dermatology Residency at the University of California-Davis in 2006.  Since then she has served as a Dermatology clinician at the Louisiana Veterinary Referral Center in Mandeville.  Dr. Snook is married to Dr. Eric Snook, a resident and PhD candidate in  Pathobiological Sciences.  We are very pleased to have both of them here at the SVM!  Dr. Merchant is thrilled to have Dr. Snook join the Dermatology team.

Dr. Romain Pariaut, Cardiologist, joins VCS 

We also welcome Dr. Romain Pariaut as an Assistant Professor of Veterinary Cardiology effective September 15, 2007.  We recruited Dr. Pariaut eariler this year while he was serving a Senior Veterinarian position in the Cardiology Service at the University of California-Davis.  He completed his Studies of Veterinary Medicine (DV) at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Lyon, France and defended his Doctoral Thesis at the Medical School of Lyon in 2002.  He completed an Internship in Small Animal Medicine & Surgery and a Specialty Internship in Emergency & Critical Care Unit, both in the School of Veterinary Medicine in Lyon, France and then served there as a Clinical Instructor in the ECC Unit.  Dr. Pariaut completed a residency in Cardiology at Cornell University and served as a staff veterinarian and Cardiology consultant in Lyon, France.  Dr. Pariaut is a double-board certified Diplomate in ACVIM (Cardiology) and ECVIM-Cardiology/Companion Animals.  We are truly delighted he has joined Dr. Keith Strickland, Associate Professor, in our Cardiology Service in VCS and the Teaching Hospital.

Dr. Patricia Queiroz, Anesthesiologist, joins VCS 

VCS welcomes Dr. Patricia Queiroz, Assistant Professor of Anesthesology and Pain Management.  Dr. Queiroz completed her residency in anesthesiology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  She graduated from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and also completed a residency and Master of Science degree in anesthesiology at the Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil.  Dr. Queiroz joins Drs. Anderson da Cunha (service chief) and Lauren Beebe in the Anesthesiology Service in the VTH&C.  We are very happy to have Dr. Queiroz as part of our VCS Faculty.

Dr. Dennis McCurnin recieves AVMA President's Award

At the 144^th Annual Convention of the American veterinary Medical Association, Dr. Dennis D. McCurnin received the AVMA President’s Award for having a positive impact on animal, human or public health, veterinary organizations, and the profession.   Dr. McCurnin is the immediate Past-President of the Southwest Veterinary Symposium in Dallas, and the 2000-2007 Chair of the AVMA Convention Management and Program Committee.  He has served on a number of AVMA committees and on four working committees of the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues.  From 1990-2006, he served as Director of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital and Clinics.  He is the founding and co-editor of "Clinical Textbook for Veterinary Technicians" now in the 6th edition.  He has held various faculty positions at Iowa State University and Colorado State University and from 1970-1976, he owned a three-person small animal practice in Phoenix. 

Pet Food Recall: Updated 7/16/2007 Melamine, a substance used as a fertilizer and in the production of plastics, such as kitchenware and whiteboard surfaces, has been found in tested samples of recalled pet food from Menu Foods. The substance was also identified in urine and tissue samples taken from sickened cats and from the kidney of one cat that had eaten the recalled food.  Melamine is primarily used in Asia as a fertilizer but is not approved for that use in the United States.

Louisiana State University awarded the President’s Higher Education Community Service Award For Excellence in Hurricane Relief Service

Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA
Sean O’Keefe, Chancellor
34,128 Students

Click here for more details.

Louisiana State University launched an immediate, extensive response to Hurricane Katrina. An estimated 5,000 students contributed 25,000 hours of service. The largest field hospital in U.S. history was set up at LSU’s Baton Rouge campus, where more than 3,000 students and hundreds of faculty and staff pitched in to assist medical staff, help with logistics, and offer comfort and companionship to the approximately 6,000 patients who were among the 15,000 evacuees who arrived at the campus.

LSU and its School of Veterinary Medicine provided animal rescue by taking the lead in what was the largest pet rescue in U.S. history. Working with local and out-of-state volunteer veterinarians, they cared for nearly 2,800 rescued pets and large animals. In addition, the LSU Veterinary Medicine Equine Clinic established the Horse Hurricane Helpline shortly after Katrina with faculty, staff, and students fielding calls around the clock to support rescuing horses, mules, goats, and potbellied pigs.

The university postponed classes the week after the hurricane, and students continued to offer their free time once classes resumed. In addition to the on campus activities, LSU established the New Orleans Recovery Project, resulting in three busloads of LSU students, faculty, and staff traveling to New Orleans to work with homeowners to repair hurricane-damaged homes. Later, 50 students participated in a service-learning project that trained unskilled participants from the 9th Ward, who built three houses in a month.

The Katrina Volunteer Hotline that LSU established operated for 13 days, fielding 6,495 calls. The hotline helped LSU Residential Life to house 550 displaced students, found 100 matches for displaced families in the LSU community, and also helped families locate relatives.

The LSU projects met real community needs through a strong collaboration among faculty, staff, students, and community members that brought order to an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.