2024 Fall Newsletter

A Brief Message from AAVI President
Leela Noronha, President

As we share this Fall edition of AAVI’s semi-annual newsletter, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunity to serve as your 2024 AAVI President. This marks my final contribution to the newsletter in this role, and I’ve deeply appreciated the privilege of leading an organization that has inspired and supported me since I joined as a graduate student.   
 
Starting January 1, 2025, Dr. Sheela Ramamoorthy will step into the role of AAVI President. I am excited to support Dr. Ramamoorthy and the Board as I transition to serving as Past-President. It has been an honor to be part of AAVI’s leadership, and I remain committed to advancing our shared mission in the coming year. 
 
Participate in Shaping AAVI’s Future: In the coming weeks, you’ll have the opportunity to elect AAVI’s future leaders. Your participation is crucial—please take a moment to cast your vote. Also, we have embarked on a comprehensive review of AAVI’s Bylaws. More details about the process are included in this newsletter. I encourage you to engage in the process and provide feedback when asked.   
 
Exciting Events at CRWAD 2025: Looking ahead to January, we’re thrilled to host the AAVI Mini-Symposium at CRWAD 2025 in Chicago, as previewed by Dr. Sheela Ramamoorthy in this newsletter. This symposium will feature leading experts in veterinary vaccinology. Further, we have several students participating in the AAVI competitions for oral and poster presentations. Overall, CRWAD has a stellar lineup of presentations around all immunology topics! This is a great opportunity to engage with innovators in our field, so be sure to attend!   
 
In Chicago, we’ll also hold the AAVI board meeting, the always-popular AAVI business luncheon for members. Read about the specifics in this newsletter and be sure to buy your luncheon tickets by January 12!    
 
Thank You for Your Continued Support: Your involvement is what makes AAVI such a great community. We encourage you to share your thoughts, comments, and suggestions with the Officers and Board. Your feedback helps us align AAVI’s activities with your interests and goals, ensuring another productive and successful year for our organization. Let’s keep working together to make 2025 another successful year for AAVI 

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CRWAD 2025 AAVI Symposium
​Sheela Ramamoorthy, President Elect

The AAVI Distinguished Immunologist Symposium will take place at CRWAD on Monday, January 20, 2025, in Salon II 7th floor, from 8:30am – 12:00pm. The theme of the symposium is “Prediction of Vaccine Success”.

AAVI Featured Speakers

•  Dr. Armin Saalmüller (2025 DVI) presenting "Immune response after vaccination - peculiarities of the porcine immune system"
  • Professor and Head of Immunology, Chair of Clinical Immunology and the Institute of Immunology at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria 
• Dr. Anne DeGroot presenting "Potentiating the application of Immunoinformatics tools to animal health"
  • Founder and CEO EpiVax, and Center for Vaccines and Immunology (CVI) UGA
• Dr. Colin Parrish presenting"Emergence and spread of viruses in new hosts - the examples of canine parvovirus and H3N8 canine influenza virus"
  • John M. Olin Professor of Virology, Cornell University
• Dr. Shayan Sharif presenting "Perspectives on vaccination as an approach for control of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses: challenges and opportunities"
  • Professor and interim associate vice-president research, University of Guelph

CRWAD 2025 AAVI Luncheon
​​Angel Abuelo, Treasurer ​

CRWAD is always a great place to blend in with like-minded immunology enthusiasts. The AAVI Board wants to continue to enhance networking opportunities during CRWAD. The 2025 AAVI Business Luncheon will occur in Labriola (across from the Marriott Hotel). This is a ticketed event with limited capacity. Please book your tickets ASAP before we run out of them: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-aavi-luncheon-tickets-987346338477. When buying your luncheon tickets, please indicate your choice of first and second course. The purchase of tickets will close on January 12, and no additions will be possible after that time. Please plan ahead!
 
The Board has approved a tiered system for lunch tickets, where graduate student members will have a reduced fee (subsidized by AAVI):

• AAVI general member: $45
• AAVI student member: $30
• Non-members: $60

We hope this helps increase their attendance and become more active in AAVI. We also encourage senior scientists to pay for their students' tickets (and membership). If your graduate students are not yet members, they can become members today by filling out the membership form (they can indicate in the form if you'd like the invoice for their membership dues sent to you): https://forms.gle/WWrudvh5j9ma1mHu9

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Membership Dues
​​Angel Abuelo, Treasurer ​

​The electronic invoices for the 2025 AAVI membership dues will be sent in the first week of January. The process will be identical to 2024. You will receive an electronic invoice from AAVI’s PayPal account that you can pay electronically with a PayPal account, a credit card, or Venmo. You can also forward the invoice to an assistant so they can pay it on your behalf. Similarly, students can send their membership invoices to their mentors if they support their AAVI membership. 
 
We encourage you to pay your dues as soon as possible. You will receive multiple reminders. However, per the bylaws, your membership with AAVI will cease if your dues are not paid by March 1. If you experience any issues, don't hesitate to contact the treasurer.

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14th International Veterinary Immunology Symposium (IVIS)
Tobias Käser, Vice President

IVIS 2025 Travel Stipends
​​Angel Abuelo, Treasurer ​

AAVI has received a $25,000 USDA NIFA competitive conference grant to support 10 US junior scientists (graduate students & postdocs) attending the 14th International Veterinary Immunology Symposium in Vienna, Austria (August 2025). We will email and post the announcement and details for mentees to apply for these funds on AAVI’s website – stay tuned! The travel stipends will be open to graduate students and postdocs who are (or become) AAVI members, submit an abstract for presentation at IVIS25, and meet one of the following conditions:

1. Are US citizens or permanent residents,
2. Are enrolled in a program at a US-based higher education institution regardless of nationality.

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Treasurer Report
​​Angel Abuelo, Treasurer ​

​The organization continues to be in solid financial health. As of 11/07/24, AAVI had $29,018.24 in cash reserves. The spending in 2024 increased slightly by $1,500 over planned expenses because the Board approved additional initiatives. First, we contracted a new website hosting service to improve the website and be able to make changes quickly. Second, AAVI sponsored one speaker in the Veterinary Immunology track of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) 2024 meeting as we continue to strengthen our relationships with partner organizations – and recognizing that AAI sponsors student awards in our conference.

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AAVI Proposed Bylaws Modifications 
AAVI Bylaw Committee

During 2024, we reviewed AAVI’s current Bylaws. In the process, we noted that the existing Bylaws were outdated –last changed in 2007– and no longer reflected the organization's practices. Furthermore, the Bylaws lacked uniformity and clarity about when certain processes (e.g., elections) needed to happen, creating inconsistencies as the Officers turned over. Due to the extensive changes required, the Bylaws Committee has proposed to the Board that AAVI adopt newly written Bylaws. For this, the Committee drafted new Bylaws using existing Bylaws from other national scientific organizations as a template and adapting them to AAVI’s organizational structure, size, and goals. 
 
Adopting new Bylaws is a lengthy process, and the Membership must approve those new Bylaws. Throughout this process, there will be opportunities for the Members to provide feedback and suggest modifications before the actual vote. An email with more details about this consultative process will go out to voting Members in January/February 2025. Below is a summary of the steps included in this Bylaw review process: 

1. The Bylaw Committee drafts proposed Bylaws and sends them for Board discussion and endorsement. 
2. The Board discusses proposed Bylaws and approves a version to send to the Membership for feedback. 
3. The Membership provides feedback and requests modifications to the proposed Bylaws. 
4. The Board reviews Members’ feedback and modification requests and adopts a final version of the proposed Bylaws. 
5. An electronic vote is carried out among voting Members on adopting the proposed Bylaws. 

When we send out the proposed Bylaws, we will include the current Bylaws and a document explaining the rationale for the major changes included in the new Bylaws. If you have questions about this process, please reach out to any of the members of the Bylaws Committee (Laura Miller, Ignacio Correas, and Angel Abuelo).