Postdoctoral fellow Tomas Lugo helped the fourth-year students excel in laboratory research – newfound experience that strengthens their future in veterinary medicine.
Kayden Tanner received an unexpected birthday surprise this year.
The fourth-year student at Texas Tech University’s School of Veterinary Medicine woke up to an email in May that his paper about a rare equine disorder was published in the international journal Animals.
Not only that, but the work he authored, “Genomics in Equine MEED: Whole-Genome Sequencing and Target Mutation Identification,” was selected as the featured article. This is evidence of the contribution he has made to the field of veterinary science, as he was able to sequence the whole genome of the chronic wasting disease in horses and share that information publicly.
Those findings provided insight into the potential underlying cellular mechanisms of multisystem eosinophilic epitheliotropic disease (MEED), which is so severe and progressive that horses are usually euthanized within one year of diagnosis. The data can be used to further understand the disease and even develop therapeutic strategies.
“We were pretty pumped,” Tanner said. “I’m new to the whole research game, so I don’t know a lot about it, but when Tomas saw that it was featured he was pretty excited about it. So that made me excited about it.”
Tomas Lugo is a postdoctoral fellow under Thu Annelise Nguyen, the associate dean for research and a professor of toxicology. His enthusiasm matched the pride of a mentor, because while Tanner was unfamiliar with research, Lugo was able to share his expertise as part of the first cohort of the School of Veterinary Medicine’s One Health Sciences doctoral program.
This advising began last fall, when Nguyen encouraged Lugo to assist Tanner in addition to another fourth-year student, Marshall Mays – both of whom wanted to gain experience in the laboratory by furthering Nguyen’s research.
Lugo not only answered questions and provided coaching to the pair but also created the modeling and computational approach that earned him a star next to his name as the corresponding author of Tanner’s paper. This is an honor no student has achieved before at the School of Veterinary Medicine.
And just days later, Lugo found himself celebrating as a corresponding author yet again, when Mays discovered his paper, “Evaluating the synergistic effects of cisplatin and tamoxifen in canine osteosarcoma cells,” would be published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science. This research has One Health implications, as it offers a potential treatment for the form of bone cancer in dogs.
“I was in shock,” Mays recalled. “I mean, I was excited, but I just had to take a second to make sure that this was real because it has taken so much work.
“But Tomas has been awesome. I really couldn’t have gotten the project done without him. Tomas is one of those people that if you show some interest and you really show him that you care, he will as well. He was really there for us.”
Nguyen is proud of Lugo’s commitment to the students as he helped them transition from quiet observers to inquisitive minds who were conducting experiments. She also applauds the dedication displayed by Tanner and Mays: showing up to school at 6 a.m. and even working through a week of Christmas break.
“This is a big deal for veterinary scholars because they had never worked in science before,” she said. “For Tomas and me, it’s our job to do this. But for trainees to get this done in the time span they did is huge. They both put hundreds of hours into these papers.”
These research projects don’t just further the understanding of diseases that affect horses and dogs, but bolster applications that will help Tanner and Mays earn the internships they need to one day become surgeons.
Tanner is thankful his research has led to connections that will not waver moving forward.
“Tomas has helped us through this whole process and been there for us when we needed him, and he’s been a really good friend,” Tanner said. “He will always be somebody I depend on and lean on in the research aspect.”
“Then Annelise, the same thing. She threw us a bone when nobody else would, was there for us, wanted to see us succeed and gave us every opportunity to do so. For that, I’ll forever be grateful to her.”
As for Lugo, being able to guide two inexperienced researchers to publication confirms he can push a project through to completion as he applies for grants from federal and private institutions. He feels reassured that he’s chosen the right career path – to become a professor leading his own lab one day.
“It was really good seeing them mature over time, just like me,” Lugo said. “I was more focused on one task, but after I gained more confidence, I was thinking about the bigger picture. So, it was a great learning experience for everyone, and that’s my main goal – to make great opportunities not just for myself, but for the students.”