New Faces on the PVM Faculty Dr. Alice Chun-Ju Chang joined the Department of Basic Medical Sciences as an assistant professor of cancer biology and pharmacology February 6, 2012. Dr. Chang received her Ph.D. degree from the University of California. She also holds a pharmacy degree from National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. Dr. Chang did her postdoctoral training in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her current research is focused on revealing critical molecular mechanisms by which the tumor microenvironment regulates epigenetic status of breast cancer stem cells. Dr. Jer-Yen Yang joined the Department of Basic Medical Sciences March 1, 2012 as an assistant professor of cancer and developmental biology. Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His scholarship has been primarily focused on studying the signal transduction in RTK (Receptor Tyrosine Kinase) involved in breast and lung cancer progression. Dr. Yang did his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Matthew Scott at Stanford University, where he studied the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway in neuronal development and medulloblastoma (MB), a pediatric brain tumor, using mouse models. His current research is focused on revealing critical molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of Hh activity in neuronal and cancer development. Dr. Niwako Ogata, assistant professor of companion animal behavior, came to Purdue from Tufts University, where she completed a residency in animal behavior, and served as a research associate. Dr. Ogata earned her B.V.Sc. degree (DVM equivalent) at Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University in Tokyo, Japan in 1990. After working as a general practitioner in Tokyo and Osaka, she earned a Diploma of Applied Animal Behavior and Animal Welfare in 1997 from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. She then served as a small animal clinical behaviorist consultant and referral veterinary behaviorist in Japan before earning her Ph.D. in veterinary medical science at the University of Tokyo in 2007. Her areas of interest include pursuing mental health and well-being in companion animals and translational research between the human psychiatric field and veterinary behavior. Dr. Ogata’s appointment in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences was effective January 3, 2012.
Dr. GuangJun Zhang joined the Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty as the John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Assistant Professor of Genetic Research, Genetic Epidemiology and Comparative Medicine. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. in comparative genetics from the University of Florida and completed post-doctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in cancer genomics using zebrafish models. His research focuses on comparative genomic approaches to identify genetic alterations that drive cancer development and on the biological consequences of aneuploidies and polyploidies in cancer. Dr. Zhang’s appointment in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology was effective June 25, 2012. Dr. Hsin-Yi Weng joined the Department of Comparative Pathobiology as assistant professor of analytical/clinical epidemiology January 3, 2012. Dr. Weng received her veterinary degree (BVM) from National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan. She also holds a Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis. Her prior experience includes working as a small animal veterinarian in Taiwan, and serving as a Public Health Epidemiologist at the Louisiana State Department of Health. She also held the positions of epidemiology specialist at the University of Illinois and surveillance epidemiology specialist at the University of California. Her research interests include assessment of economic factors affecting companion animal welfare, development of statistical models for risk assessment and disease/syndromic surveillances. Dr. Ralph Millard joined the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences faculty as clinical assistant professor of small animal surgery August 13, 2012. Dr. Millard earned his DVM degree at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2006 and went on to complete a small animal medicine and surgery internship at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center. He also did a small animal surgical internship at the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center in Dallas, Texas, and completed a post-doctoral small animal orthopedic research fellowship at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 2009. He returned to Kansas State University to complete his small animal surgery residency there in July, 2012. He obtained board certification with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2013. His research interests include open fractures and minimally invasive fracture repair techniques.
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