SCORE 2025 Highlights Student Research Success at OVC
The Summer Career Opportunities and Research Exploration (SCORE) program offers OVC’s undergraduate and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students the chance to strengthen their research and communication skills. Through workshops and mentorship, students learn how to translate complex scientific ideas into clear, accessible language, helping them share their work with audiences both within and beyond the academic community. SCORE not only highlights the innovative projects taking place at OVC each summer but also prepares participants for future careers as confident researchers and professionals.
“The SCORE Program empowers students by giving them an opportunity to share their research and build meaningful connections within the OVC community,” says Shannon Cote, Academic Coordinator. “The lightning-style presentations give them the chance to refine their communication skills and gain valuable feedback, while also developing confidence and skills that will continue to support their success throughout their academic journey and future careers.”
This year’s program culminated in an oral presentation competition where students delivered three-minute summaries of their projects, followed by questions from a panel of judges made up of faculty and graduate students.
Kudos to all the participants of the SCORE 2025 program for their outstanding research contributions this summer at OVC.
The top presenters of this year’s SCORE competition are:
DVM Student Category
1st Place (tie): Bianca Marini
Project: Is that Normal? Determining the Typical Activity Patterns of Holstein Dairy Calves
1st Place (tie): Ryleigh Wentworth
Project: Snaccidents Happen: Rodenticide Exposure in Mammals
2nd Place: Eva Gharabaghi
Project: Owner Attitudes Towards Toothbrushing in Pets: Understanding Current Barriers and Motivations
Undergraduate Student Category
1st Place (tie): Katey Kozak
Project: Investigating the Role of Beta-Glucan in Equine Asthma: A Study of Macrophage Cell Responses
1st Place (tie): Molly Zavershnik
Project: The Impact of Reduced Chemotherapy Exposure on VEGF/VEGFR-2 Mediated Ovarian Angiogenesis
2nd Place: Madeline Vukovic
Project: Probing Pocket Death: Postmortem Investigation of Periodontal Disease in Dogs
Select SCORE participants also shared their work at conferences beyond the University of Guelph. Eva Gharabaghi and Dev Parekh presented their research at the Veterinary Scholars Symposium in Washington, D.C., on August 7–9, 2025. Celine Said and Anaya Bhushan will present at the Canadian Emerging Veterinary Scholars Summit in Calgary from October 23–25, 2025.
This year’s SCORE presentation judges included Drs. Janet Beeler-Marfisi, Ivana Blagojevic, Judith Koenig, and Samantha Payne, along with graduate students Luiza Stachewski Zakia, Bianca Garlisi, Alex Moskaluk, Gabrielle Roland, and Olivia Gibson.
The SCORE organizing committee remained largely the same as last year: Drs. Courtney Schott, Diego Gomez-Nieto, Jennifer McWhirter, Ian Tobias, Keriann McGoogan, as well as Shannon Cote and Taylor Scully.
