University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine

10/07/2026

Cutest calf 🐮 A sneak peek of our senior regalia photos, happening this week at CVM! 👀🎓

Fourth-year student Katie Gates will graduate with both her DVM and MPH degrees this spring as part of ’s combined-degree program with the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, and she’s got her little bovine bestie Fern right alongside her ♥️😍🌾🐊

10/06/2026

What a fantastic tribute in memory of a true shelter medicine visionary, Rich Avanzino 🐾❤ What’s more special, are the memories shared through the people he impacted most.

From our Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida, “Richard Avanzino Saw the Future of Shelter Medicine and Helped Build It” ▶ https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/2026/09/30/richard-avanzino/

Richard Avanzino spent his career asking the animal welfare field to imagine things that did not yet exist.

When Rich began his career, Shelter Medicine as we know it today didn’t exist either. But he understood that if shelters were going to save animals who were sick, injured, or behaviorally challenged, they needed veterinarians with specialized knowledge of the unique challenges of shelter populations.

Under his leadership, Maddie's Fund invested in building that expertise, supporting Shelter Medicine education at veterinary colleges across the country, including the University of Florida.

UF's Dr. Julie Levy, who first met Rich when she was a veterinary student, reflected on the generations of veterinarians and shelter professionals who have carried that work forward:

“Rich dropped a pebble, and its ripples will compound his impact for generations to come.”

Rich Avanzino died Sept. 20 at age 84. We remember a visionary who saw what Shelter Medicine could become, and helped build the systems needed to make that vision possible.

Read our tribute to Rich and his extraordinary legacy: https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/2026/09/30/richard-avanzino/

10/02/2026

🦇🦇 The Science of the Spooky: Bats, Boos and the Evolution of Infectious Diseases

October means Halloween is right around the corner and Dr. Jim Wellehan is embracing spooky season on this archived episode of Animal Airwaves Live. An expert on the evolution and ecology of nondomestic animal pathogens, with an emphasis on molecular diagnostics and pathogen discovery, Wellehan talks bat pathogens, the evolution of infectious diseases and the overall clinical impacts of those diseases on wildlife animals, populations and ecosystems. Despite the bad rap that bats get for their association with disease outbreaks, he explains the important role bats play in supporting agriculture, their history of co-existing with viruses and how flight patterns and adapting to new pathogens have been factors in their evolution.

🎙📲🔊 Listen to today's archived episode from 1-2 p.m. on WUFT Media, 89.1 FM, or online now: https://podcasts.ufhealth.org/the-science-of-the-spooky-bats-boos-and-the-evolution-of-infectious-diseases/

09/28/2026

Reminder about University of Florida Alumni Association's 40 Under 40 class! Applications close in ONE WEEK: October 5, 2026.

🐊🧡 The search is ON for the next class of ! UF is looking for the trailblazers, the innovators, the Gators who are making a difference, and the brightest young alumni who are LEADING THE GATOR WAY in their professions and communities.

We hope Gator Vet Nation will represent! 🐾🐈

Apply to join the prestigious group today ▶️ https://connect.ufalumni.ufl.edu/events/40gatorsunder40

09/28/2026

09/28/2026

So cool! Proud to say the two anesthesiologists for Bakari's check-up were ours! Talk about a vital role. Bravo to 's Dr. Sarah Shippy and anesthesia resident Dr. Alexa Acevedo 🐊 The week prior, Dr. Enzo Vettorato and anesthesia resident Dr. Megan Gates cared for Zawadi 🩵

Thank you for your compassion, care, expertise and commitment to safety during procedures and routine check-ups to ensure ALL animals live their healthiest, happiest lives possible 💙

09/27/2026

Saturdays in The Swamp! >>>

🐊🐊😍😍

Big chomps from CVM Congregator & DVM Class of 2029 student Isa Franco for a Big W Saturday against Ole Miss in The Swamp 😎🤌🏽🎉

🐊🏈

09/25/2026

🐊 UF CVM 50th Fridays

Then and now.

A visual reflection of the growth, innovation and progress at the last 50 years. From the May 1975 groundbreaking of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital to the opening of our Veterinary Hospital at the World Equestrian Center in May of 2022: a lot of science and a lot of soul within these walls, and many amazing clients, students, faculty, staff, clinician-scientists, house officers and supporters who've walked through the doors and left their mark on our college and hospitals the past five decades 🌟