IN-DEPTH

Ben O’Kelley

DVM, DACVECC

Fighting antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat to humans and pets alike. In this presentation, we will discuss the following:

• What is AMR?

• Trends in AMR over time – in human medicine and in veterinary medicine

• Factors contributing to increases in AMR

• Stewardship actions hospitals and veterinary organizations can take to combat AMR

• Stewardship actions individual veterinary staff members can take to limit AMR

• How AMR can impact veterinary ophthalmologists

• What ophthalmologists can do to fight AMR

Dr. O’Kelley is a board-certified critical care specialist who trained at NC State, Tufts, and the Angell Animal Medical Center. After nearly a decade of working as a medical director and caring for hospitalized patients, Dr. O’Kelley has spent the past 6 years in regional leadership. He currently works as a Regional Vice President of Medicine for BluePearl. In addition to supporting over 20 hospitals in his region, Ben leads the Biosecurity and Antimicrobial Stewardship programs for all of BluePearl.

Sponsored by:

IN-DEPTH

Richard J. McMullen Jr.

DACVO, DECVO, CAQ Equine Ophthalmology (Germany)

Indo and infracyanine green-based photodynamic therapy for equine ocular and adnexal diseases

• Background and overview of photodynamic (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT)

• How indo- and infracyanine green-based PDT/PTT found their way into equine ophthalmology

• Applications of indo- and infracyanine green-based PDT/PTT in equine ophthalmology

  • Corneoscleral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)

  • Immune mediated keratitis (IMMK)

  • Corneal tissue welding

  • Eyelid and periocular neoplasia (SCC and sarcoids)

• Where do we go from here?         

  • Discussion of current and future research projects

• Conclusions

• Questions

Richard McMullen, Dr. med. vet. graduated from the veterinary medicine faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) of Munich, Germany in 2002. He also obtained his doctorate from LMU in 2005 evaluating the role of equine adenoviruses in cases of putative viral keratitis or keratopathies. In 2006 he obtained advanced certification in equine ophthalmology, in Germany (Zusatzbezeichnung Augenheilkunde Pferd), which was followed by a residency in Comparative Ophthalmology at North Carolina State University (NCSU), in Raleigh, North Carolina, from 2006 to 2009. He remained on faculty at NCSU as an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology from 2009 until November 2012. Dr. McMullen is a Diplomate of both the American and European Colleges of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO and ECVO). From January 2013 to October 2016 he ran the Equine Ophthalmology Service at the Equine Clinic Munich-Riem. He joined the faculty of Auburn University in January, 2017 and remained there until October 2023. While at Auburn he established a stand-alone Equine Ophthalmology Service and was promoted to full professor with tenure. In January, 2024 Dr. McMullen returned to Europe and took a position as an Equine Ophthalmologist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.