Small animal medicine assistant professor receives campuswide honor for helping student feline club

The University of Florida Student Activities Center recently named Julie Levy, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor at UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine, as “Organization Advisor of the Year” for her efforts to help veterinary students who aspire to become feline practitioners.

“This is given to an organization advisor who goes above and beyond her normal duties, and Dr. Levy certainly does that for our group,” said Lisa Centonze, a veterinary student and president of UF’s student chapter of the American Association of Feline Practitioners.

Last year, the club was named the top student organization of the year from among 500 campus organizations. At the time, Levy received an honorable mention in the “Advisor of the Year” category. Club activities include continuing education lectures, feline clinical rounds and field trips. Hands-on labs also give veterinary students the opportunity to perform procedures they otherwise might not, such as declawing and tendonectomy.

Club members have volunteered their time with Operation Catnip, a program cofounded by Levy and dedicated to solving the feline overpopulation problem in the community.

Levy’s research and clinical interests center on feline infectious diseases, neonatal kitten health and humane alternatives for cat population control.

She founded two university-based feral cat spay/neuter programs, including Operation Catnip, which have sterilized more than 10,000 cats since 1997, when Levy came on board as a faculty member. These programs form the basis for research on feral cat issues, including infectious diseases, caretaker characteristics, colony dynamics and anesthesia protocols.

Levy maintains an active program investigating zona pellucida vaccines for potential immunocontraception in cats.

“Not only is Dr. Levy a brilliant professor, skilled veterinarian and respected advisor, but she actively works to relieve the suffering of homeless cats who don’t have an owner or anyone to advocate for them,” said Centonze. “She truly is an inspiration to all of us, especially the members of the feline club.”

Levy is an assistant professor of small animal medicine. She received her D.V.M. from the University of California-Davis in 1989 and a Ph.D. in immunology from North Carolina State University in 1997.