Pulse - July 2021 - 17

UC DAVIS UPDATE
UC Davis Celebrates Dr. Jane Sykes'
Tenure as Chief Veterinary Medical Officer
Rob Warren, UC Davis VMTH Communications & Marketing Officer
D
r. Jane Sykes, chief veterinary medical officer
(CVMO), has stepped down from her leadership
role at the UC Davis veterinary hospital following
the completion of her 5-year term. Under her leadership,
which expired June 30, the hospital reached new heights
of success and continued to grow its reputation as one
of the pre-eminent clinical facilities in the country. The
School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) is currently conducting
a search for her replacement.
As CVMO, Dr. Sykes had administrative responsibility for the
management and fiscal integrity of the hospital, ensuring the academic
quality of the clinical learning environment for DVM students
and house officers, and the provision of clinical care and
operational efficiency of all academic and clinical service activities.
She was also responsible for ensuring the ethical and professional
conduct of the more than 1,000 hospital faculty and staff members;
compliance with the California Veterinary Medicine Practice
Act; and creating a culture of inclusion in support of diversity
that embraces the UC Davis Principles of Community. During her
term, Dr. Sykes also completed a Master of Business Administration
degree from the University of Georgia.
During her tenure, Dr. Sykes took on a critical role with the
Veterinary Medical Center (VMC) Facilities Planning Committee,
as UC Davis looks to the future of the hospital, envisioning
a state-of-the-art VMC to be constructed on campus in the coming
decade. The VMC campaign will bring a world-class veterinary
facility to UC Davis - one that optimizes patient care, collaboration,
clinical advancements, and translational research.
The school is well into Phase I of the VMC campaign, having
completed several growth projects and accomplished other initiatives
under Dr. Sykes' leadership, including:
* Expanded patient care access by renovating outdated space into
five new examination rooms in the hospital's Small Animal Clinic
(SAC), where clinical space is at the most premium in the hospital.
* Maintained accreditation by the American Animal Hospital
Association, a distinction less than 15% of animal hospitals in the
United States and Canada achieve.
* Increased the nation's largest house officer program to 127 positions
in 39 advanced training disciplines. The program has drawn
participants from dozens of countries and nearly all 50 states.
* Supported an increase in the hospital's annual caseload to more
than 60,000 patients.
* Created the Feline Treatment and Housing Suite, an all-in-one
facility that allows clinicians and technicians to treat and house
cats in a state-of-the-art treatment center and hospitalization ward.
* Created a new minimally invasive operating room in the SAC.
* Worked to secure funding for several new pieces of equipment,
including a cardiology fluoroscopy unit, a navigational
PULSE
JULY 2021
Jane Sykes, BVSc (Hons), PhD, MBA, DACVIM
neurosurgery system, a diagnostic imaging service fluoroscopy
unit, endoscopy equipment, and multiple ultrasound units for
both small and large animals.
* Implemented many initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic
to remain open 24/7 as the primary resource for Northern California
animal owners.
* Led the hospital's Disaster Response Committee through several
wildfire seasons that saw sudden influxes of dozens of
burned and injured patients, many times when the hospital was
at or near capacity.
* Oversaw the completion of the new Large Animal Support
Facility, as well as the relocation of blood donor animal pastures,
to facilitate future needs of the VMC.
* Co-led the VMC's All Species Imaging Center project to fruition
(including equipment selection), currently in the construction
bidding process.
" It was an honor to lead one of the foremost veterinary hospitals
in the country, " said Dr. Sykes. " I was thrilled to support
our team of talented and caring clinicians, staff, and students in
bringing cutting-edge veterinary care to animal owners throughout
California and beyond. As our new Veterinary Medical Center
becomes a reality, I have no doubt that we will be able to accelerate
the rate we make medical breakthroughs and dramatically
improve the health and well-being of animals. "
A faculty member since 2002, Dr. Sykes previously served as
interim director of the hospital, director of the SAC, chief of the
Small Animal Internal Medicine Service, and biosecurity officer of
the SAC. Outside of UC Davis, she was president of the specialty
of Small Animal Internal Medicine within the American College
of Veterinary Internal Medicine and is now president-elect
of the college. Dr. Sykes also served as president and now secretary-treasurer
of the International Society for Companion Animal
Infectious Diseases, an organization she founded in 2006. She will
remain as a professor in the SVM. P
17
Pulse - July 2021

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