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Veterinarian Professional Advisory Committee 2005 Awards Presented
 
CAPT David A. Ashford Receives Veterinarian of the Year Award
 
CAPT William Stokes, CAPT David A. Ashford, and
CDR Yvette Davis
CAPT William Stokes, CAPT David A. Ashford, and CDR Yvette Davis The Veterinarian of the Year Award was presented to CAPT David A. Ashford, Senior Veterinary Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CAPT Ashford was nominated for his outstanding work in support of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the Veterinary category.

During his distinguished career, CAPT Ashford has supported HHS by responding to large-scale public health emergencies: assisting the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene following the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks; acting as coordinator and assistant to the directors of CDC following the anthrax attacks; and deploying to Southern Sudan during an active civil war conflict. CAPT Ashford has also played an important role in public health policy and guidance at both the national and international levels; contributing to the 2005 World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for Anthrax; 2004 WHO Guidance on Public Health Response to Biological and Chemical Weapons; several morbidity and mortality weekly report articles on monkeypox; guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health Care Facilities; the CDC terrorism emergency plans for anthrax and brucellosis; guidelines and interim guidelines for the use of the anthrax vaccine in the United States; and CDC guidance for biological terrorism. He has also contributed widely to the body of public health knowledge, authoring or co-authoring over 130 internal and peer-reviewed publications and including critical anthrax briefs to the Surgeon General and members of Congress.

 
Further, CAPT Ashford contributes to the Veterinary category by mentoring students and junior veterinary officers. He is an adjunct professor at Emory University School of Public Health and the University of Georgia Veterinary College, and is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association mentoring association. He has served as Chairman of the Recruiting subcommittee of the Veterinary Professional Advisory Committee for the past 2 years and has served as a promotion board member. CAPT Ashford has also served as a representative to the American Veterinary Medical Association's Council on Public Health and Regulatory Veterinary Medicine, the American Association of Public Health Veterinarians, the National Academy of Sciences, and other professional organizations.
 
LCDR Pat Klein Receives Veterinary Officer Responder of the Year Award
 
  CAPT William Stokes, LCDR Pat Klein, and   CDR Yvette Davis
CAPT William Stokes, LCDR Pat Klein, and CDR Yvette Davis The Veterinary Officer Responder of the Year Award has been awarded to LCDR Pat Klein, Food and Drug Administration, for her exemplary career contributions to disaster response. LCDR Klein began her U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps career in 2002 by responding to the Avian Influenza outbreak in Virginia where she conducted farm disease surveillance. Since that deployment, she has become a leader in veterinary deployment capacity, serving on the Veterinary Professional Advisory Committee as co-Chair of the Commissioned Corps Readiness Force Subcommittee in 2003 and as Chair in 2004. During her tenure, LCDR Klein led the committee to develop a new “Public Health Veterinarian” deployment role, enabling veterinary officers to respond to a larger scope of disasters and utilize their full capabilities as public health practitioners. LCDR Klein also conducted analyses to inform the Veterinary category of barriers to Basic Readiness qualification among veterinary officers. Due to her efforts the Veterinary category achieved 53 percent Basic Readiness, exceeding the Surgeon General’s expectations.
 
LCDR Klein has also shared her career experiences with the veterinary and other responding officers, lecturing at multiple professional conferences on the veterinarian’s role in disaster response. She brings to these lectures not only her response experience with the Corps but also the experience gained through previous training, education, and experience as Team Commander of her Veterinary Medical Assistance Team. As Team Commander, LCDR Klein deployed team members to the Republican National Convention and the multiple hurricane disasters in Florida in 2004.
 
LCDR Klein has been actively involved in disaster response since 1984, and has made significant contributions to veterinary disaster response efforts for nearly 20 years, including wildlife rescue during oil spills, disease surveillance and depopulation during the Foot-and-Mouth Disease outbreak in the United Kingdom, and Urban Search and Rescue dog veterinary care following the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks. She is a member of the Executive Committee for the Maryland State Animal Response Team (SART) and is working to develop the first SART team in Maryland.
 
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