Don Abt, VMD - IAAAM Brief Obituary

Written by Dr. Greg Lewbart

We share the heartbreaking news that Dr. Don Abt passed away on Wednesday 27 July. Many IAAAM members owe much, if not their entire career to Don, and few would argue about his deep and lasting impact on aquatic animal medicine. A native New Englander, Don obtained a BS in Zoology from the University of Massachusetts and is a 1961 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. For 3 years, he taught anatomy at Penn and worked on bovine lymphosarcoma. After doing graduate work in biostatistics and epidemiology,

Don taught both of these subjects to Penn veterinary students before becoming the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs where he was instrumental in implementing the novel core-elective curriculum. For the next 19 years, Don continued to teach and serve in the Associate Dean’s role. In the fall of 1989, Don and his loving wife Sandy moved to Falmouth, MA (his adopted hometown) and he became the Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Medicine and Pathology at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. Don served in this role until 1999. Certainly, all of this would make for a full academic career and then some. But Don had another job, and for many reading this posting, a most important one. Don was the founding Director of the AQUAVET® program that began in 1976 and has helped train many of the current and future leaders in our field. Don held the role of AQUAVET® Director for 25 years and officially retired in 2001 as Professor Emeritus of Aquatic Animal Medicine and Pathology. But retirement didn’t slow Don down. He continued teaching in the AQUAVET® program and having a positive and lasting impact on the hundreds of students that were lucky enough to learn from and spend time with him (especially at the famous end-of-course clambakes he hosted every year!). Don was also an IAAAM President, a lifetime IAAAM member, and the first recipient of the William Medway Award for Teaching Excellence. Don leaves a strong and lasting legacy and was so proud of everyone in our field and how far aquatic animal medicine has come.

Rest in Peace, Dr. Abt.

Don is survived by his wife Sandy, son David and wife Debby, daughter Debbie (also a veterinarian) and husband Bill.

Dr. Sam Houston Ridgway, DVM, PhD, DACZM - 1936 - 2022

IAAAM joins NMMF and the entire marine mammal medicine community in honoring the distinguished life and career of our founding President, Dr Sam Ridgway.

Please see the link below for information regarding a memorial service as well as how to support the NMMF Ridgway Fund in his memory.

Rest easy Dr Ridgway.

https://www.nmmf.org/ridgway/

Members - Update Your Profile

If your contact information has changed, be sure to fill out a Profile Update form at https://iaaam.squarespace.com/iaaam-update-profile to be sure we have your current email, phone number, etc.

Dr. Lei Yamasaki (1980-2021)

The Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association regretfully reports the unexpected passing of Dr. Lei Sachiko Yamasaki, D.V.M., M.S. on May 8, 2021.

Lei was born and raised in Honolulu, HI, graduated from Roosevelt High School, and earned a B.A. in Zoology (with a Marine Options Program Certificate) at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. She completed an M.S. degree in Animal Sciences also at UHM, and she received her DVM from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, CA. During her years as a student, she participated in many programs that led to cherished friendships and future collaborations, including Hanauma Bay, Oceanic Institute, HDOA Aquaculture Development Program, AquaVet I/II, Los Angeles Zoo, University of Arizona Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory, USGS Honolulu Field Station, USDA APHIS/Veterinary Services, and the University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory.

Following graduation, she returned to Hawaii to work at Moana Technologies, LLC and in 2012 joined the Hawaii Department of Agriculture as the Aquaculture Veterinary Medical Officer. At HDOA, she supervised the Hawaii Shrimp Health Certification Program and provided dedicated diagnostic and regulatory services to support the aquaculture industry that she loved. She worked on projects relating to the presence of Nile tilapia and Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis in Hawaii and molecular and histologic diagnostics for fish/shrimp/oyster pathogens. She supported education and aquaculture in the community as a Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair judge, Technical Committee member for the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture, Advisory Subcommittee member on invertebrate and aquatic biota for the State of Hawaii, and many other events with endless energy and a smile that lit up every room.

Lei was a lifelong scholar and never tired of pursuing new projects or learning new things. Yet she still managed to carve time out to enjoy the natural beauty of the world through her hobbies of surfing, hiking, fishing, traveling, conservation, and animal rescue. She was a dedicated and respected veterinarian whose love of animals was evident in the menagerie of animals that she cared for over the years: her beloved Simon, Emma, Mao, Copper, Atsila, and many others.

Lei will be forever remembered and missed by her family (parents Michael and Joann, sister Ann), friends, and colleagues from around the world.

John B. Gratzek (1931-2020)

Dr. Gratzek ( Minnesota,'56), 89, Athens, Georgia, died November 22, 2020. A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists, he was professor emeritus and department head in the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine from 1966 until retirement in 1993.

Following graduation, Dr. Gratzek attended The University of Wisconsin where he completed his masters (1959) and Ph.D. (1961). He launched his academic career at Iowa State University. In 1966, he moved to Athens, Georgia where he worked closely with the aquarium and catfish industries to investigate fish diseases and husbandry problems. He helped to integrate the study of fish diseases into veterinary medicine by coordinating workshops and presenting seminars internationally. He authored or co-authored nearly a hundred publications, articles, abstracts, and books primarily focused on fish diseases and husbandry. He was awarded an Honorary Life Membership by the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine for his contributions.

He is survived by his wife Kathleen, two sons, two daughters, and seven grandchildren. His daughter, Dr. Ann Gratzek, is a veterinary ophthalmologist in California, and his daughter-in-law, Dr. Megan Gratzek is a general practitioner in Minnesota.

Memorials may be made to the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, 501 DW Brooks Drive, Athens, GA 30602

FDA Office of Minor Use & Minor Species Animal Drug Development Newsletter

The first issue of the FDA Office of Minor Use & Minor Species Animal Drug Development Newsletter is now available on the FDA website at https://www.fda.gov/media/143500/download. Please feel free to share this and also to send us any feedback you may have. Thank you so much and please stay safe,

Meg Oeller, DVM
FDA/CVM/HFV-50
Office of Minor Use & Minor Species
Animal Drug Development

CPAC Committee Information

Dear All,

Attached is a brief note from Dr. Don Stremme who is a CPAC committee member representing zoos and wildlife. Since many of us (most of us, most likely) don’t know much or anything about this so he has written up a brief summary of what it is all about and how it may affect you. Please read the attached and see how it may affect you and your career.

Regards,
Michael B Briggs, DVM, MS
President/International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine

Note from Dr. Stremme about CPAC

Jeanette F. Ridgway, Ph.D. 1939 – 2020

Dear Friends,

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Jeanette Ridgway, beloved wife of Sam Ridgway for almost 60 years passed away last week. Jeanette loved all the members that makeup IAAAM and attended meetings with Sam whenever she could. She gratefully shared the IAAAM Lifetime Achievement Award with Sam in Long Beach a couple of years ago.

Please take a moment to send Sam an email (sam.ridgway@nmmpfoundation.org) and let him know how much he and Jeanette mean to each of us!

Sincerely,
The IAAAM Board

[Obituary - Jeanette Ridgway]

2020 STUDENT TRAVEL AWARD WINNERS

This year, there were five recipients of the 2020 Student Travel Awards:

• Erica Chang - Veterinary Student, University of California Davis, “Genetic and Virulence Diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae Recovered from Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)”

• Molly Martony – Aquatic Animal Medicine Resident, University of Florida, “Establishing Ultrasonographic Criteria for Metastasis in the Superficial Cervical Lymph Nodes of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) with Squamous Cell Carcinoma”

• Zachary Ready – Veterinary Student, Purdue University, “Total Ear Canal Ablation and Lateral Bulla Osteotomy (TECA-LBO) for Successful Surgical Management of Otitis Media in Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina)”

• Michelle Rivard – Aquatic Animal Medicine Intern, Mystic Aquarium, “Investigation of Prevalence, Predisposing Factors and Clinical Presentation of Megaesophagus in Stranded Phocids”

• Izzet Saticioğlu (International awardee) – Post-doctoral Fellow, Erciyes University, “Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of the Possible Novel Flavobacterium Species Isolated from Farmed Trout”

Congratulations to each of these students!

The Student Liaison Committee was highly impressed with the quality of student research that is underway, and we are all looking forward to the student award competition at the upcoming meeting in Tampa, FL.

IAAAM Remembers Greg Bossart, V.MD., Ph.D.

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share that Greg Bossart lost his courageous battle with pancreatic cancer on November 19, 2019. Greg was a world-renowned and respected veterinarian, pathologist and conservationist whose passions included marine conservation, ocean science, and the role of aquatic species as sentinels for the effects of climate change, ecosystem and human health. Most recently, Greg was the Senior Vice President and Chief Veterinary Officer at the Georgia Aquarium. He also led the Health and Environmental Risk Assessment (HERA) research projects on bottlenose dolphins. His commitment to veterinary medicine spans over three decades during which time he helped characterize the first viral disease in manatees, developed the first immunohistochemical technique for diagnosing brevetoxicosis in marine mammals and birds, and documented resurging and emerging diseases in manatees, cetacean, and birds.

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Greg Bossart

He received his VMD from the University of Pennsylvania and was a comparative pathology resident and National Institute of Health fellow in the Department of Pathology at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in immunology at Florida International University and was an Honorary Member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (Wildlife Population Health). He was a professor or faculty member as multiple medical and veterinary schools and published nearly 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters focusing primarily on the pathologic basis of disease in wild animals. His awards are too numerous to even begin to list; however, just this year, he was awarded Life Member status and received The William Medway Award for Excellence in Teaching from IAAAM.

He touched the lives of every member of IAAAM whether we knew him personally or knew of him; whether we learned directly from him or from one of his students; or whether we worked with him or utilized his knowledge via publications or presentations. We will benefit from his compassion for animals and people and his achievements in the field of aquatic animal health, pathology and conservation forever. Our thoughts are with his family and friends and with the staff of Georgia Aquarium.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made to one of three causes that are close to their hearts:

• Georgia Aquarium Research and Conservation Program www.georgiaaquarium.org/donations

• Christian Veterinary Mission www.cvm.org

• Medical Missions Ministries – Guatemala www.mmm-guatemala.com