May 2008

Veterinary scientist honored with Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Gerhard Schurig, dean of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, was named a 2007 Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Distinguished Service Award winner for service to agriculture late last year. He received his award in February at the VFBF Presidents’ Conference in Roanoke.

Prior to becoming dean in 2004, Schurig served as VMRCVM associate dean for research and graduate studies, as director of Virginia Tech’s Institute for Biomedical and Public Health Sciences and as a senior researcher and former director of the school’s Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases.

Schurig joined the faculty in 1978, and is recognized worldwide for his work in developing vaccines against bovine brucellosis, a livestock disease that causes reproductive problems in cattle and undulant fever in humans. He invented the RB-51 vaccine, responsible for virtually eradicating the cattle disease in the United States. Schurig currently is working on a project with the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command to develop a vaccine to protect people from brucellosis.