Anatomic pathology residents honored at national meeting

Two anatomic pathology residents from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine were honored recently during the 2012 meeting of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in Seattle.

Sophie Wickins, B.V.Sc., a third-year resident, received the 2012 C.L. Davis Foundation Scholarship Award for Veterinary Pathology. Since 1976, the foundation has made this award to postgraduate students or residents-in-training in veterinary pathology to recognize scholarship.

Each institutional member of the foundation that conducts a formal training program in veterinary pathology may participate in the award program by selecting one or two graduate students or residents-in-training in veterinary pathology in their second year or later to receive the award.

Wickins attended veterinary school at the University of Sydney, Australia. She is interested in fish pathology and did her veterinary school honors project on histopathology of infectious agents in ornamental fish in New South Wales.

Angelique Leone, V.M.D., also a third-year resident, received a young investigator award in the natural disease section for her poster, “Giant Cell Meningoencephalomyelitis in a Pregnant Andalusian Mare.”

Leone worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a molecular toxicologist for six years prior to attending veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from veterinary school in 2010, she began her residency in anatomical pathology at UF.

“In veterinary school, my clinical interests were primarily focused on zoo and pet exotic animals,” Leone said. “This has continued into my pathology residency, as I am frequently a visitor to the zoological medicine ward.” Her current research interests include investigating the lesions associated with iron storage disease in captive adult Egyptian fruit bat with Dr. Lisa Farina.

This work was recently presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Association for Zoo Veterinarians in Oakland, Calif.“Next year I am very excited to continue my pathology training as a clinical instructor at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in association with UF, so technically I can still call myself a Gator,” Leone said.