On September 14 and 15, the Michigan State University (MSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, along with MSU Campus Animal Resources and the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, hosted the 6th Biennial Agricultural Animal Consortium.
The conference brought together veterinarians, farm managers and staff, and attendees interested in agricultural animal medicine and practices. Given the virtual format, the programming was free to registrants, and there were representatives from 27 states and 4 countries. Financial support for the virtual consortium was provided through the Thomas M. Ford Memorial Endowment for Laboratory Animal Medicine Education, established in 2019.
Dr. Jim Ford, the son of Thomas M. Ford, introduced the lecture and gave a background on his father and the family’s endowment to MSU. Dr. Thomas M. Ford graduated with two degrees from the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, a doctor of veterinary medicine degree in 1957, and a master’s degree in microbiology in 1958. After earning his degrees, Dr. Thomas M. Ford was hired by Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, Illinois as their first Laboratory Animal Veterinarian in 1967. He spent his entire corporate career with Abbott – AbbVie, retiring in 1995. Dr. Thomas M. Ford was considered a pioneer in the field of Laboratory Animal Medicine, training at the Bowman Gray Medical School in North Carolina and at the University of Michigan, and became a Diplomate in the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM) in 1965.
The family of Dr. Thomas M. Ford created the Thomas M. Ford Memorial Endowment for Laboratory Animal Medicine Education in his memory to further education for others in the field of laboratory animal medicine and animal care. In the introduction of his father, Dr. Jim Ford reflected, “As a proud alum of MSU and a diehard Spartans fan, I know he would be delighted about this fund and by the first inaugural keynote lecture.” To date, this is the largest known endowment specifically for laboratory animal medicine education at any veterinary college.
Dr. Dana Gaddy, professor of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences at Texas A&M University, presented the keynote session as the Inaugural Thomas M. Ford Lecture in Lab Animal Medicine. Her presentation was titled, “Practicalities of Using Gene Editing in Sheep to Study Human Musculoskeletal Diseases: Our experience with hypophosphatasia.” Additional invited speakers represented faculty and veterinarians from the University of California-Davis, Cornell University, University of Florida, and Iowa State University, as well as Michigan State.
Other sessions during the Consortium included topics on small ruminant and honeybee medicine, AAALAC accreditation for agricultural sites, disaster planning for farms, aquaculture, training of farm teams, and virtual tours of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – Agricultural Research Service and MSU farm areas.
The College of Veterinary Medicine is grateful to the Thomas M. Ford family for their support and to the faculty, staff, and speakers for participating in this successful conference.