Final Conference Program

Click here for the complete SBR 2024 Conference Program

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Evening Receptions

Opening Dinner Reception

The opening reception will be held on Friday evening (June 14th) in the Tripp Commons Room and Tripp Deck overlooking Lake Mendota waterfront. The floor, ornately painted ceilings and rich, wooden panel walls preserve the room's original look from 1928. Come enjoy dinner and drinks, and kick off the conference.

Building Community Mixer

This event on Saturday evening (June 15th) is open to all and is designed to welcome individuals new to the field and to stimulate networking, collaboration, and team building among researchers from all backgrounds. The session will include a "Speed Mentoring" activity wherein trainees and newcomers will have designated time to network with multiple established investigators.
Evening Poster Reception

The Poster Session will be held over food and drinks on Sunday evening (June 16th) in the Great Hall. Later in the evening, the Travel Awards winners will also be recognized for their accomplishments.
Early-Stage Researcher/Trainee Mixer

Back by popular demand, this mixer on Monday evening (June 17th) is for students, postdocs, medical residents, pre-tenured faculty, and anyone who considers themselves early-stage or junior. Come enjoy a few drinks and snacks while networking with fellow early-stage researchers in a relaxed setting!

Field Specific Sessions

 * Session Co-Chairs are shown below

  • Aging Research
      Amanda L. Ziegler, DVM, Ph.D. | Research Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
       Vicente Andrés García, Ph.D. | Group Leader & Director, Basic Research Department, Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), Madrid, Spain.
      David Harris, MD | Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
      Michael Sturek, MS, Ph.D. | Chief Scientific Officer, CorVus Biomedical, LLC & CorVus Foundation, Inc, Crawfordsville, IN, USA.
       Cecilia W. Lo, Ph.D., FAHA | Distinguished Professor and F. Sargent Cheever Chair of Developmental Biology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

  • Cell Therapies & Regenerative Medicine
      Timothy J. Kamp, MD, Ph.D., FACC | Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine | Director, Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
       Jorge Piedrahita, Ph.D. | Randall B. Terry, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine | Director, Comparative Medicine Institute College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.

  • Drugs & Devices
      Matthew M. Niemeyer, MD | Assistant Professor | Director of Clinical Operations, Division of Interventional Radiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
       Lars Friis Mikkelsen, DVM, MLAS, EMBA | Founder and CEO, LarSolution | Co-Founder, The Nordic PreClin Network, Frederiksberg, Denmark.

  • Eye Research
      David M. Gamm, MD, Ph.D. | Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences | RRF Emmett A. Humble Distinguished Director McPherson Eye Research Institute | Sandra Lemke Trout Chair in Eye Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
       Maureen McCall, Ph.D. | Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA.

  • Immunology & Immunotherapy
      Raimon Duran-Struuck, DVM, Ph.D., DACLAM | Associate Professor, Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
       Rebecca Richards, MD, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant, Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.

  • Infection Research
      Robert Striker, MD, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
       Michael Welch, DVM, Ph.D. | Research Veterinarian, Carthage Innovative Swine Solutions, Carthage, IL, USA.

  • Medical Imaging
      Qun Zhao, Ph.D. | Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy & Bioimaging Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
       Alan B. McMillan, Ph.D. | Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.

  • Neurology & Neurosciences
      Maxwell Boakye, MD, MPH, MBA, FACS, FAANS | Professor of Neurosurgery | Mabel Wise & Wilma Wise Nelson Endowed Chair | Chief of Spinal Neurosurgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA.
       Candace L. Floyd, Ph.D. | Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.

  • Obesity & Metabolic Disorders
      Michael Sturek, MS, Ph.D. | Chief Scientific Officer, CorVus Biomedical, LLC & CorVus Foundation, Inc, Crawfordsville, IN, USA.
       William G. Schrage, Ph.D. | Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.

  • Oncology
      Jason Chiang, MD, Ph.D. | Interventional Radiology, UCLA Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
       Lobna Elkhadragy, Ph.D. | Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Radiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

  • Orthopedics
      Matthew A. Halanski, MD | Division Chief, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine | Herbert J. Louis Endowed Chair in Orthopedics, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
       Corinne R. Henak, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering , University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.

  • One Health – Dual Purpose with Dual Benefit
      Daniela Rajao, DVM, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Department of Population Health, Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center, University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine, Athens, GA.
       Neil Vezeau, DVM, MPH | Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer | Public Health Veterinarian, USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service, Maui, Hawaii, USA.

  • Pig Models of Pediatric Development
      Sharon M. Donovan, Ph.D., RD | Professor and Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair in Nutrition and Health | Director of the Personalized Nutrition Initiative, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.
       Teresa A. Davis, Ph.D. | Professor, Pediatrics-Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine / USDA Children's Nutrition Research Center, Houston, TX, USA.

  • Rare Diseases
      Mahmoud Abou Alaiwa, MD | Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine-Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA.
       Vicki Swier, Ph.D. | Staff Scientist, Sanford Health, Sioux Falls, SD, USA.

  • Surgical Innovation
      Liaohai Chen, Ph.D. | Research Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
       Robert C. Rostomily, MD | John S. “Steve” Dunn, Jr. and Dagmar Dunn Pickens Gipe Chair in Brain Tumor Research, Department of Neurosurgery, Houston Methodist, Houston, TX, USA.

  • Xenotransplantation
      Dixon Kaufman, MD, Ph.D., FACS | Ray D. Owen Professor | Director, UW Health Transplant Center, Division of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
       Eckhard Wolf, DVM | Professor, Center and Department of Biochemistry Molecular Animal Breeding and Biotechnology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.

Plenary Sessions

 * Session Co-Chairs are shown below

  • Genetic Engineering and Embryology
    This session will focus on recent advances in genetic engineering and embryology technologies, and how they are being applied to efficiently develop the next generation of biomedical swine models.

      Matthew B. Wheeler, Ph.D. | Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
       C. Dustin Rubinstein, Ph.D. | Director of Advanced Genome Editing Laboratory, Biotechnology Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI, USA.


  • Developing New Porcine Tools
    Although the availability and utilization of porcine biomedical models has increased in recent years, the availability of porcine resources and reagents has lagged in comparison to those available for human and rodent research. This session will focus on how we can address current limitations in resources and reagents to meet the needs of porcine biomedical researchers.

      Harry Dawson, Ph.D. | Research Chemist, Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, USA.
       Kyle Schachtschneider, Ph.D. | Vice President, R&D, Services , Sus Clinicals Inc., Chicago, IL, USA.


  • ESI/DEI Research Session
    New this year, the Early-Stage Investigator/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Session is a scientific session specifically featuring speakers and chairs that are early-stage investigators (e.g., postdocs, medical residents, pre-tenured faculty) and/or are from underrepresented backgrounds. Speakers and chairs for this session may also be conducting research relevant to the health of underrepresented or underserved populations. To boost continued discussion, this session will be followed by the Early-Stage Researchers and Trainees Mixer, which was extremely popular at SBR 2022.

      Adrienne M Antonson, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor , Department of Animal Science , University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
       Caitlin Vonderohe, DVM, Ph.D. | Instructor of Pediatrics-Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, US.


  • Interactive Session: State of the Field and Future Direction
    With the renewed interest in biomedical swine models, this session will be an interactive discussion between attendees and a panel focusing on the current state of the field, unmet needs and opportunities, and challenges that lie ahead.

Breakfast Sessions

 * Session Co-Chairs are shown below

  • Oinkology™ — Techniques for Biomedical Swine Research
    Research utilizing porcine models holds great promise for improving patient outcomes; however, the lack of experience and expertise may be a barrier to entry for many researchers. This session will introduce and discuss methodological and programmatic considerations for efficient and effective use of porcine models.

      Raimon Duran-Struuck, DVM, Ph.D., DACLAM | Associate Professor, Pathobiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
       Dhanansayan Shanmuganayagam, Ph.D. | Founder and Co-Director, Center for Biomedical Swine Research & Innovation | Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery and Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.


  • Model Validation: Defining Phenotyping & Pathology Standards
    It is important to validate that swine models effectively mimic human disease. This session will focus on best approaches for defining phenotyping and pathology standards for biomedical porcine models.

      Maureen T. O’Brien, DVM, MS, DACVP | Veterinary Medical Officer, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
       James R.L. Stanley, DVM, MS, DACVP | Vice President, Research Pathology, Veranex, Inc., Worcester, MA, USA.


  • Biomedical Minipigs
    Minipigs are commonly used in biomedical research for their human-like size and ability to better replicate human pathophysiology. The session will focus on recent advances in biomedical minipig models and future vision.

      Lars Friis Mikkelsen, DVM, MLAS, EMBA | Founder and CEO, LarSolution | Co-Founder, The Nordic PreClin Network, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
       Lawrence B. Schook, Ph.D. | Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor Emeritus, Animal Sciences and Radiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.


  • Regulatory Requirements for Building Domestic & Global Collaborations
    This session will focus on regulatory considerations for porcine biomedical models that need to be taken into account when collaborating on both the national and international stage.

      Lars Friis Mikkelsen, DVM, MLAS, EMBA | Founder and CEO, LarSolution | Co-Founder, The Nordic PreClin Network, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
       Lawrence B. Schook, Ph.D. | Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor Emeritus, Animal Sciences and Radiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.