Sarah Sillman

Sarah Sillman, assistant professor, UNL School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Assistant Professor
402-472-8503
SARAH.VITOSH@UNL.EDU

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Faculty Profile

About

Dr. Sarah Sillman is a veterinary diagnostic pathologist at the Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center (NVDC) in Lincoln, NE. She provides animal pathology services (tissue histology and necropsy) through the NVDC and works collaboratively with researchers to collect and interpret data related animal tissue injury and disease. She also co-teaches VMED 672 Veterinary Systemic Pathology and participates in departmental graduate and professional residency training.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2018
  • D.V.M., Iowa State University, 2012
  • Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Pathologists, 2016

Professional Responsibilities and Activities

  • Veterinary diagnostic pathologist: conduct animal necropsies, histopathology examinations, and interpret diagnostic laboratory testing and clinical pathology data to make disease diagnoses.
  • Faculty supervisor: virology/serology section in NVDC.
  • Research: contribute to research teams focusing on advancing our understanding of diseases of pigs and research teams working broadly in biomedical sciences.
  • Teaching: development and delivery of curriculum for teaching pathology to veterinary professional students, with a focus on integrating case-based practice. Mentoring and education support for undergraduate, graduate, and veterinary professional students and veterinary anatomic pathology residents.

Publications

Vitosh-Sillman S., Loy J.D., Brodersen B.W., Kelling C.L., Doster A.R., Topliff C., Nelson C., Bai J., Schirtzinger E., Poulsen E., Meadors B., Anderson J., Hause B., Anderson G., Hesse R.A. 2016. Experimental infection of conventional nursing pigs and their dams with Porcine Deltacoronavirus. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation 28 (5): 486-97. doi: 10.1177/1040638716654200.

Vitosh-Sillman S.J., Brodersen B.W., Harris S.P. Pathology in Practice (Inclusion body rhinitis in a pig). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. February 1, 2017; 250 (3), 293-295. doi: 10.2460/javma.250.3.293.

Vitosh-Sillman S.J., Loy J.D., Brodersen B., Kelling C., Eskridge K., and Schmidt A.M.. Effectiveness of composting as a biosecure disposal method for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV)-infected pig carcasses. Porcine Health Management. 2017; 3: 22. doi: 10.1186/s40813-017-0068-z.

Stevens E.E., Miller D.N., Brittenham B.A., Vitosh-Sillman S.J., Brodersen B.W., Jin V.L., Loy J.D., and Schmidt A.M. Alkaline stabilization of manure slurry inactivates porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. Journal of Swine Health and Production. 2018; 26 (2): 95-100. https://www.aasv.org/shap/issues/v26n2/v26n2p95.pdf

Huber L., Giguere S., Berghaus L.J., Hanafi A., Vitosh-Sillman S., and Czerwinski S.L. Development of septic polysynovitis and uveitis in foals experimentally infected with Rhodococcus equi. PLOS ONE. 2018 Feb 7;13(2):e0192655. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192655. eCollection 2018.

Sillman S.J., Lee S.T., Claborn J., Boruch J., and Harris S.P. 2019. Fall panicum (Panicum dichotomiflorum) toxicosis in three juvenile goats. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation Jan; 31(1): 90–93. doi: 10.1177/1040638718820083.

Sun, H., Sur, J.-H., Sillman, S., Steffen, D. J., Vu, H. 2019. Design and characterization of a consensus hemagglutinin vaccine immunogen against H3 influenza A viruses of swine. Veterinary Microbiology 239, 108451.

Chaudhari J., Liew C.S., Workman A.M., Riethoven J.M., Steffen D., Sillman S., Vu H.L.X. Host transcriptional response to persistent infection with a live-attenuated porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus strain. Viruses. 2020 Jul 28; 12(8) ):817. doi: 10.3390/v12080817. PMID: 32731586; PMCID: PMC7474429.

Chaudhari J., Liew C.S., Riethoven J.M., Sillman S., Vu H.L.X. Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus Infection Upregulates Negative Immune Regulators and T-Cell Exhaustion Markers. J Virol. 2021 Oct 13; 95(21):e0105221. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01052-21. Epub 2021 Aug 11. PMID: 34379512; PMCID: PMC8513478.

Stults, A. M., Sollars, P. J., Heath, K. D., Sillman, S. J., Pickard, G. E., & Smith, G. A. (2022). Bovine Herpesvirus 1 Invasion of Sensory Neurons by Retrograde Axonal Transport Is Dependent on the pUL37 Region 2 Effector. Journal of Virology, 96(9), e0148621. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01486-21.

Location

115G NVDC
4040 East Campus Loop North
Lincoln, NE 68583-0907

Appointment

90% Research, 10% Teaching

Research Areas

  • Pathology
  • Virology

Professional Interests

  • Porcine enteric and respiratory disease pathology
  • Pathology education and assessment

Professional Society Memberships

  • American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians
  • American College of Veterinary Pathologists
  • Nebraska Veterinary Medical Association