Dr. Mary Rossano

Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Sciences
University of Kentucky
Room 611 W.P. Garrigus Building
Lexington, KY 40546-0215
Phone: 859-257-7552
FAX: 859-323-1027
E-mail:  Mary.Rossano@uky.edu

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Education:

Date	Degree	Institution	Field
2003	Ph.D.	Michigan State University	Epidemiology/Parasitology
1999	M.S.	Michigan State University	Animal Science/Epidemiology
1994	B.S.	Michigan State University	Animal Science
1991	Cert.	Michigan State University	Horse Management

 

Major Research Interests:

Equine epidemiology: surveys and observational studies of outcomes of management practices and factors associated with health, performance, profitability and environmental impact.

Current position:

7/07 – Present: Assistant Professor, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Kentucky.
70% teaching, 30% research.

Courses taught:

• ASC 320 Equine Management, lecture and laboratory
• ASC 320, Section 201, Introduction to Equine Management, online version through Distance Learning Programs (Fall and Spring semesters)
• GEN 109 Horse Behavior and Handling
• Co-instructor for ASC 101 Domestic Animal Biology

Previous professional positions:

12/04 – 7/07: Project Director, FINS study (Effects of organochlorines on male infertility), Department of Epidemiology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University. Manager of a multi-center NIH-funded study on the effects of environmental contaminants on male fertility.

4/04 – 11/04: Postdoctoral Fellow at the Comparative Enteric Disease Laboratory, Michigan State University, under the direction of Dr. Linda Mansfield.

2/00- 12/03: Graduate Assistant at the Population Medicine Center, Michigan State University. Designed and implemented a controlled field intervention study and an experimental infection study of the effect of daily pyrantel tartrate in preventing infection with Sarcocystis neurona (the causative agent of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM)).

1/98- 2/00: Parasitology Research Aid, Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, Michigan State University. Worked on development of new western blot antibody test for EPM and performed daily clinical testing.

1995-97: Graduate Assistant at the Population Medicine Center, Michigan State University. Designed and implemented a cross-sectional survey study of health problems in U.S. dressage horses. Designed and implemented an extensive cross-sectional study of anti-S. neurona antibody seroprevalence in Michigan equids.

Patents:

2000 Immunoassay for equine protozoal myeloencephalitis in horses. Linda S. Mansfield, Alice J. Murphy, Mary G. Rossano. U.S. patent number 6,153,394.

2002 Antigen test to detect equine protozoal myeloencephalitis in horse serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Linda S. Mansfield, Mary G. Rossano, Alice J. Murphy, Ruth A. Vrable. U.S. patent number 6,344,337

2002 Immunoassay for equine protozoal myeloencephalitis in horses. Linda S. Mansfield, Alice J. Murphy, Mary G. Rossano. US patent number 6,489,148.

Funded Projects:

2005-2007:
MSU Michigan Equine Survey: Development, Delivery and Analysis. Co-investigators: Dr. Christine Skelly, Dr. Mary Rossano, Dr. John Kaneene, Dr. Christopher Wolf, Mr. David Kleweno.

$105,850 total funding from the following sources:

• $50,000 from the State of Michigan Agriculture Appropriations Budget
• $42,500 from the MSU Animal Initiative Industry Coalition
• $10,000 from the Michigan Horse Council
• $500 from Brighton Trail Riders’ Association
• $500 from Pontiac Lake Horsemen’s Association
• $500 from Proud Lake Trail Riders’ Association
• $500 from Michigan Equine Partnership
• $500 from Ms. Nancy Corrion
• $300 from Michigan Draft Horse Breeders Association
• $250 from Michigan Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners’ Association
• $200 from Augusta Township Mounted Patrol
• $100 from Highland Equestrian Coalition
  
  Survey results may be viewed in summary at: http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Michigan/Publications/Current_News_Release/nr0804.txt
  

Honors and Awards:

American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists

• 2003 Intervet Graduate Student Research Award –a national award for outstanding performance in graduate study of veterinary parasitology

Michigan Horse Council

• 2001 Catalyst Award for contributions to the Michigan horse industry through efforts to establish a self-funded equine promotional program and for instituting the Michigan Horse Council philanthropy program.

2003		Dissertation Completion Fellowship, The Graduate School, Michigan State University.
2001-2002		Graduate Office Fellowship, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University.
1999		Graduate Office Fellowship, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University.
1992-94		Michigan Livestock Industry Foundation Scholarship
1991		MoorMan Scholarship

Professional Advisory and Review Activities:

January, 2006-present		Veterinary Parasitology, Editorial Advisory Board
2003-present		Journal of Parasitology ad hoc reviewer
2002-2006		Veterinary Parasitology ad hoc reviewer
2002		USDA Animal Health Formula Funds grant reviewer

 

Professional and Scientific Societies:

Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis Society
American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists

• 2001-2002 Graduate Student Representative to Board of Directors
  

Professional Advisory and Review Activities:

• 2006-present Veterinary Parasitology, Editorial Advisory Board
• 2002-2006 Veterinary Parasitology Ad Hoc Reviewer
• 2003-present Journal of Parasitology Ad Hoc Reviewer
• 2002 USDA Animal Health Formula Funds Grant Reviewer
  

Refereed Publications:

1. Ramamoorthi RV, Rossano MG, Paneth N, Gardiner JC, Diamond MP, Puscheck E, Daly DC, Potter RC, Wirth, JJ. An application of multivariate ranks to assess effects from combining factors: metal exposures and semen analysis outcomes. In press, Statistics in Medicine.
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2. L. S. Mansfield, S. Mehler, K. Nelson, H.M. Elsheikha, A.J. Murphy, B. Knust, S.M. Tanhauser, P.M. Gearhart, M.G. Rossano, D.D. Bowman, H.C. Schott , J.S. Patterson. Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) harbor Sarcocystis neurona and may act as intermediate hosts. In press, Veterinary Parasitology.
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3. Julia J. Wirth, Mary G. Rossano, Douglas C. Daly, Nigel Paneth, Elizabeth Puscheck, Rachel C. Potter, Michael P. Diamond. Ambient manganese exposure is negatively associated with human sperm motility. Epidemiology. 2007. 18:270-273.
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4. Thomas Mullaney, Alice J. Murphy, Matti Kiupel, Julia A. Bell, Mary G. Rossano and Linda S. Mansfield. Evidence to support horses as natural intermediate hosts to Sarcocystis neurona. Vet Parasitol. 2005. 133:27-36.
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5. Rossano MG, Schott II HC, Kaneene JB, Murphy AJ, Kruttlin EA, Hines MT, Sellon DC, Patterson JS, Elsheikha HM, Dubey JP, Mansfield LS. Effect of daily pyrantel tartrate in preventing Sarcocystis neurona infection in experimentally challenged horses. Am J Vet Res. 2005. 66:846-852.
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6. Rossano MG, Schott II HC, Murphy AJ, Kaneene JB, Sellon DC, Hines MT, Hochstatter T, Bell J, Mansfield LS. Parasitemia in an immunocompetent horse experimentally challenged with Sarcocystis neurona sporocysts. Vet Parasitol. 2005. 127:3-8.
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7. Porter MB, Long M, Gosche DG, Schott HM 2nd, Hines MT, Rossano M, Sellon DC. Immunoglobulin M-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay testing of cerebrospinal fluid and serum from horses exposed to West Nile virus by vaccination or natural infection. J Vet Intern Med. 2004. 18:866-70.
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8. Rossano MG, Kaneene JB, Schott II HC, Sheline KD, Mansfield LS. Assessing the agreement of western blot antibody test results of paired serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples from horses tested for Sarcocystis neurona infection. Vet Parasitol. 2003. 115:233-238.
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9. Rossano MG, Kaneene JB, Marteniuk JV, BanksBD, Schott II HC, Mansfield LS. A herd-level analysis of risk factors for antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona in Michigan equids. Prev Vet Med. 2003. Feb 15;57:7-13.
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10. Rossano MG, Murphy AJ, Vrable RA, Vanzo NE, Lewis SK, Sheline KD, Kaneene JB, Mansfield LS. A cross-sectional study of serum antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona in cats tested for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2002. 221:511-4.
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11. Kruttlin EA, Rossano MG, Murphy AJ, Vrable RA, Kaneene JB, Schott II HC, Mansfield LS. The effects of pyrantel tartrate on Sarcocystis neurona merozoite viability. Vet Therapeutics Vol 2, No 3, Summer 2001.
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12. Mansfield LS, Schott II HC, Murphy AJ, Rossano MG, Tanhauser SM, Patterson JS, Nelson K, Ewart SL, Marteniuk JV, Bowman DD, Kaneene JB. Comparison of Sarcocystis neurona isolates derived from horse neural tissue. Vet Parasitol 2001. 95:167-78.
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13. Rossano MG, Kaneene JB, Marteniuk JV, Banks BD, Schott II HC, Mansfield LS. The seroprevalence of antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona in Michigan equids. Prev Vet Med. 2001. 48:113-28.
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14. Rossano MG, Mansfield LS, Kaneene JB, Murphy AJ, Brown CM, Schott II HC, Fox JC. Improvement of western blot test specificity for detecting equine serum antibodies to Sarcocystis neurona. J Vet Diagn Invest 2000. 12:28-32.
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In Review:

1. Elizabeth E. Puscheck, Mary Rossano, Rachel Potter, Doug Daly, RV Ramamoorthi, Michael P. Diamond, Nigel Paneth and Julie Wirth, PhD. Life style factors in infertile couples: effects on semen parameters. Submitted to Fertility and Sterility.