The College of Veterinary Medicine today announced that it has hired Dr. Jesse Hostetter to lead its renowned veterinary pathology department. Hostetter currently serves as professor and director of comparative pathology service and graduate education in the Department of Veterinary Pathology at Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames, Iowa, roles he has served in since 2012. He has been on faculty at Iowa State since 2001, when he started as an assistant professor. He served as the chair of the Immunobiology Graduate Program at ISU from 2011-2014. In addition, he serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa and Kansas State University.
An active researcher, Hostetter has authored or co-authored more than 60 publications. His research centers on intestinal disease in cattle and the majority of his work has been on bovine paratuberculosis. The Hostetter lab explores cattle immune responses after infection with Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, specifically identifying immune factors associated with control of disease progression. One goal of this work is to identify strategies for the design of new and effective vaccines against paratuberculosis in cattle. He is also involved in the Center for Food Safety and Public Health at Iowa State and has served as a consulting anatomic pathologist for gastrointestinal biopsies at Texas A&M’s Gastrointestinal Laboratory.
He holds a DVM and PhD, both from Iowa State and is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (anatomic pathology). In his new role at UGA’s CVM he will lead the pathology department and serve as Executive Director of the Athens and Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories.
“We are thrilled to Dr. Hostetter join us here at UGA,” said Lisa Nolan, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at UGA. “He is respected as a teacher, researcher and leader and is widely known through the veterinary community for being collaborative and innovative, qualities that we were seeking in our next pathology department head. I am excited about the leadership he will bring to our College community.”
In addition to hiring Jesse Hostetter, the College has also hired his spouse, Dr. Shannon Jones Hostetter. An outstanding faculty member and clinical pathologist at Iowa State, she will be working with Dr. Scott Brown, associate dean for academic affairs, facilitating active learning and professional skills training. Shannon is an associate professor of clinical pathology at Iowa State and director of their Veterinary Clinical Pathology Laboratory. She has been on faculty at ISU since 2010. An accomplished teacher, she was awarded Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2012 and 2016 and the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Zoetis Distinguished Veterinary Teacher Award in 2015. In 2017, she received the Iowa State University Award for Early Achievement in Teaching.
Her record in research and service is also exemplary. Her PhD research centered on the role of Shiga toxin (Stx) production and dissemination in proinflammatory cytokine alterations observed in clinically-affected patients, and has since used her training in infectious disease research and clinical pathology to establish a successful collaborative research program. She is the author or co-author of 19 publications and oversees between 50-100 clinical cases per week.
She holds a DVM and PhD, both from Iowa State University, and a BS in biology from Washington and Lee University. She is a diplomate of the Veterinary College of Veterinary Pathologists (clinical pathology).
“Shannon Hostetter is going to be a true asset to our College,” said Dr. Brown. “Her teaching record is stellar, as is her research and service experience. We couldn’t ask for a better addition to our faculty.”
The couple will begin work in Athens in the summer of 2019.
