Three members of the California Animal Health & Food Safety (CAHFS) lab team received awards at the recent virtual meeting of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians/United States Animal Health Association. Congratulations to Drs. Kris Clothier and Omar Gonzalez Viera, and Mindy Plunkett.

Dr. Clothier received the BIOMIC Award for Excellence in Diagnostic Veterinary Microbiology, which recognizes a distinguished scientist for research accomplishments in the field of Diagnostic Microbiology that result in new scientific findings that have application for the betterment of veterinary medicine. Her nomination materials emphasized her work related to antimicrobial resistance, her emphasis on mentorship, and her ability to bring an applied/practitioner perspective to diagnostic microbiology.  Clothier is the Section Lead for Bacteriology at CAHFS.

Dr. Viera's Trainee Diagnostic Pathology award was for his presentation titled "Infectious bronchitis virus prevalence, characterization, and strain identification in California backyard chickens".  Viera is in the 3rd year of his Pathology residency at CAHFS.

Mindy Plunkett serves as supervisor of Receiving at CAHFS-Davis. She received the AAVLD Outstanding Performance Award for Diagnostic Service, which honors a member of an AAVLD laboratory that has performed their duties on behalf of their clients in an outstanding fashion. This may be at the bench conducting diagnostic tests, or by performing a variety of essential laboratory management services such as clerical, fiscal, physical facility or quality system work. Plunkett’s nomination materials emphasized all the work that she and her section did to facilitate receipt of samples throughout the 2018-2020 virulent Newcastle Disease outbreak in California.

"We are so pleased to see our CAHFS team members recognized nationally for their outstanding achievements,” said Ashley Hill, one of the co-directors for CAHFS. “We are fortunate to have dedicated, service-oriented, and knowledgeable people such as Mindy and Drs. Clothier and Viera. We benefit from their amazing skills every day!"