Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine (Pathology)

Minimum required student availability: 4 consecutive weeks, 6 weeks recommend.

Prerequisites: Candidate in good faith has taken all available local clinical rotations in pathology.  Also recommended that the candidate has had prior research experience and or taken advantage of research and/or pathology electives or experiences elsewhere.

Description of Experience:

Based in the Laboratory of Investigative Pathology (Davis Lab) and supported by the department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab and the Biosecurity Research Institute, this program is designed to:

• Engage students and residents at their level of learning

• Transfer knowledge and skills to them of relevance to infectious disease research and diagnosis

• Enable them to explore career options in infectious disease research and diagnostics, in particular infectious diseases investigative veterinary pathology.

  (Investigative or experimental veterinary pathology is defined as a branch of veterinary medicine dealing with the essential nature of disease, especially changes in animal tissues and organs that are a cause of or are caused by disease.)

The VIPPID DVM clinical rotation (externship) has a core set of universal topics that are covered to varying degrees during each individualized experience:

• What is investigative veterinary pathology?

• Career opportunities in infectious disease investigative veterinary pathology

• Experimental design of animal studies for good pathology outcomes

• Tissue processing for histology

• Immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence - finding specific proteins and nuclei acids in your tissues and cells

• High containment pathology techniques

• Gross lesion interpretation

• Histopathological lesion interpretation

• Different microscopy techniques

• Image processing

• Individual research project

Related experience/qualifications of PI and key personnel

PI: A. Sally Davis runs the Laboratory of Investigative Pathology in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology at Kansas State University (KSU) College of Veterinary Medicine. She is trained in both veterinary pathology and virology. She was specifically hired to start a research and teaching program in investigative (experimental) pathology at KSU. Within a few of months of her arrival as new faculty at KSU in late 2014, Dr. Davis started training undergraduates in digital microscopy and immunohistochemistry techniques.  She leveraged training approaches she had developed for training post-baccalaureate students while she was a research fellow at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  Dr. Davis has extensive experience in curriculum development and delivery of training in a wide variety of subject matters to diverse audiences. Previously, Dr. Davis established a multiple-module, global training program in computer science that was rolled out in over 10 countries and to 200+ people. 

Co-PI: Derek Mosier

My qualifications for this project are 25 years of experience as an American College of Veterinary Pathologists-certified pathologist doing diagnostic work and collaborating on research projects that require gross or histological interpretations and evaluations of tissue changes. I have been the coordinator of the anatomic pathology training program at Kansas State University for over 15 years

Co-PI: Raymond R. R. Rowland

Raymond “Bob” Rowland is a professor in the Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology department of Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Rowland’s research interests center on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), African swine fever virus (ASFV), classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV). Dr. Rowland’s research is supported by funding from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Pork Board (NPB) and various other entities. Besides research, Dr. Rowland is actively involved in the training of graduate, undergraduate and DVM students. He is the coordinator of the DVM/PhD dual degree program in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Rowland is co-director of the PRRS Host Genetics Consortium (PHGC), a multi-year project devoted to understanding the genetics of the interaction between PRRSV and the pig host. Other research-related activities include executive director of the annual PRRS Symposium.

Available resources and facilities:

• Participant projects will be crafted from active projects in the Laboratory of Investigative Pathology (LIP) including collaborative projects with investigators at KSU, the NIH and the USDA.
• BSL-3 training needs of participants will be met by the BRI: http://www.bri.k-state.edu/
• We will work with the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KSVDL) for the histology components of the program: http://www.ksvdl.org/laboratories/histopathology/
• Hands-on laboratory experiences will take place in the LIP lab, which has dedicated bench space for immunohistochemistry and related assays, ~600 sq ft.
• Dr. Davis runs a fluorescence microscopy suite, which houses a Nikon Structured-Light Imaging System Eclipse 90i with OptiGRID optical sectioning capability and a Photometrics CoolSNAP HQ2 as well as a Nikon Eclipse TE2000-E with two Photometrics cameras, a CoolSNAP HQ2 and a QuantEM: 512SC. Both systems are configured with a variety of Plan Apo oil, water and dry objectives and are differential interference contrast capable.
• For confocal microscopy, we will use the KSU CVM’s Confocal Core http://www.k-state.edu/cobre/confocal_core/.
• For bright-field microscopy, there are multiple scopes throughout the department including multi-headed microscopes that will be used for teaching purposes.
• The CVM has a certified medical illustrator, who can help with course material illustrations.
• For the didactic portions of the program, we have access to the classroom facilities at the CVM.
• For digital microscopy, we have an Aperio GL dry and oil slide scanner, Indica Lab’s Halo digital microscopy analysis system and access to a higher capacity slide scanner in the KSVDL.
• Multiple software packages will be used for image processing, including Bitplane Imaris Suite and DataColor’s Chromacal for image optimization.
• For electron microscopy work, there are two cores at KSU: http://nicks.ksu.edu/equipment/ and https://www.k-state.edu/microscopy/.
• We have storage space for multiple terabytes of image files and their regular back-up.

Designed to match individualized program based on each's students interests.  Typically, there will be a series of hands on learning experiences, an individual project and a culminating work product such as a report or presentation that cover several of the objectives below.

Hours vary but minimum 40/week.  The days per week closely match normal business hours with flexibility for extended hours or weekends based on types of experiments underway.  Shadowing and supported hands on activity moving to independent work experience based on participant's level of experience and competency as assessed during rotation as well as the participant's learning objectives.  Additionally, the extern will participate in all lab meetings and relevant seminars concurrent with their visit.  Finally, online training (~3 hours) to be finished prior to arrival and tailored to extern's objectives there will be some pre-requisite reading.

Sample objectives follow:

What is investigative veterinary pathology?: Define veterinary investigative pathology within the context of a wider understanding of the field of veterinary pathology and understand your immediate next career steps in this field.

Career opportunities in infectious disease investigative veterinary pathology: Aware of specific career tracks and opportunities in academia, corporate and government employment for veterinarians engaged in investigative pathology.

Experimental design of animal studies for good pathology outcomes:

• Summarize the key steps in the management of animal study tissues from animal euthanasia to research publication. Articulate key controls needed in animal studies for good pathology outcomes.
• Practice designing an animal study to investigate a given hypothesis, considering aspects of the disease and the animal species being studied.

Tissue processing for histology:

• Become proficient at recognizing tissues and organs, both normal and diseased, within the context of a specific project, species and agent.
• Apply this knowledge and safe trimming technique to current studies.

Immunohistochemistry (IHC), in situ hybridization (ISH) and immunofluorescence (IF):

• Explain the basic concepts of IHC. Conduct a basic IHC protocol with guidance at the bench and review the results on the appropriate microscope with the instructor.
• With assistance, complete an IHC/IF project including protocol design, execution, troubleshooting and optimization for a marker on a tissue target.

High containment pathology techniques:

• Appreciate the difference between necropsy in animal BSL-2 vs. BSL-3 and laboratory work at BSL-2 vs. BSL-3.
• Option to attend the BRI BSL-3 training program (contingent on seat availability).

Gross lesion interpretation:

• Shadow trimming and appreciate changes in size, color, texture in formalin-fixed tissues.
• Appreciate the range of lesions seen in transboundary diseases of concern to the US.
• Enhance ability to recognize tissues and organs.
• Become proficient at recognizing formalin-fixed tissues and organs, both normal and diseased.
• Be able to describe the lesions but not necessarily attribute a set of lesions to a certain disease. 
• Recognize major lesions associated with important transboundary animal diseases.

Histopathological lesion interpretation:

• Appreciate the diversity of changes that can occur in tissues due to disease and due to processing artifact.
• Within the context of an assigned project, become proficient in the histology of one or more tissues.
• Apply histology and pathology knowledge to the identification of normal and diseased tissues on the bright-field microscope.
• Recognize the histopathological pattern of some typical infectious disease responses.
• Determine the histopathological pattern in the tissue and come up with a reasonable DDX, at least at the level of category of agents, e.g. viral, bacterial, etc. 

Different microscopy techniques:

• Know the difference between and general purpose of different types of microscopes: e.g. bright-field, epifluorescence, confocal, electron microscopes (EM).
• Appreciate the tradeoffs of different microscopy techniques to address a given research question.
•  Discuss the tradeoffs of different microscopy techniques to address a given research question and determine a good fit with rationale to support your choice.

Image processing:

• Understand the general work-flow for image processing from image capture on the microscope to publication.
• With guidance, gain hands-on experience with a given image processing workflow, project-driven.

Individual research project:

• Devise and present a research approach for a given infectious disease research question based on the current literature and understanding of research techniques.
• Conduct experiments for a given research question, options include designing the first approach for a new project, de novo assay design, or assisting with optimization or extension of an already started project. This project can be IHC, histopathology or image analysis based.  Other possibilities include ISH, IF and allied pathology assays.

There is no specific housing provided by the program.  Students are responsible for making individual arrangements.  However, opportunities are readily available within the KSU CVM student and resident population.

1800 Denison Ave
Manhattan, KS 66503
United States