President Ann Weaver Hart announced the UA Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree program claimed its new home, UA Oro Valley, according to a UA News press release.
The new facility was selected because of the new campus’ proximity to Innovation Park, which holds global bioscience businesses Sanofi and Ventana Medical Systems.
“This campus will bring hundreds of students and their families, as well as university faculty and staff, to our community, enriching our diversity, adding to the talented workforce and bolstering our momentum as a desirable community in which to live, work, play and learn,” said Oro Valley Mayor Satish Hiremath.
The campus will support a new UA initiative tied to One Health, a worldwide effort to simultaneously address diseases and improve the health of both humans and animals. According to Hart, most serious human diseases have developed as animal diseases, including Ebola, H1N1 and Avian Influenza.
The UA plans to utilize “supercomputer-driven predictive analytics” to find and diagnose these threats to human health, according to UA News’ press release.
The program will begin at the new facility in 2017, which according to UA News, is expected to save UA students up to $250,000 in tuition in comparison to other programs of the same caliber.
The DVM program will specifically focus on preparing its graduates for jobs within the bioscience industries by utilizing data analysis techniques created through the UA’s iPlant initiative.
UA Oro Valley is currently undergoing renovation, but should be operational in 2016, according to the press release.
“The [UA] veterinary medical education program promises to be rigorous and unique among American programs,” said Shane Burgess, UA vice president for veterinary sciences. “Students will be able to start as soon as they have their prerequisites and attend year-round. Both translate into reduced costs and a faster time to degree, putting graduates in the workforce sooner. This is good for our students and Arizona’s economy.”
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