Dr. Virginia M. Venturina, Director of the Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (CenTrAD) and Project Leader of two Global Partnership for Animal and Zoonotic Diseases (GPAZDS)-funded projects, and Dr. Romeo S. Gundran, Professor at the College of Veterinary Science and Medicine (CVSM) and Project Staff, represented Central Luzon State University (CLSU)—the sole recipient of USDA-Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL) research funding in the Philippines through the GPAZDS program—during the International Symposium on Transboundary and Emerging Zoonotic Diseases hosted by the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas, USA, from April 28 to 30, 2025.

At the symposium, Dr. Venturina, on behalf of the project team, presented the poster highlighting the research findings from CLSU’s USDA-funded project titled “Surveillance and Management Strategies for African Swine Fever (ASF) in Central Luzon, Philippines,” highlighting the university’s science-based interventions to mitigate ASF’s impact on the country’s livestock sector. Meanwhile, Dr. Gundran served as a presenter and panelist in the session “Opportunities and Challenges in Surveillance and Control of Emerging Zoonotic Diseases.”

Following the symposium, Dr. Venturina and Dr. Gundran were invited by the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ISU-VDL) in Ames, Iowa, for a visit from May 1 to 2, 2025. The visit was part of the ongoing implementation of the CLSU-ISU Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), supported by the United States Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) through the GPAZDS initiative.

During the ISU visit, the CLSU scientists were hosted by Associate Professor Dr. Luis G. Giménez-Lirola for a technical tour of ISU-VDL’s high-volume diagnostic operations, which process approximately 1.7 million samples annually. The visit also featured a demonstration of the ISU Laboratory Information Management System (ISULIMS) and an overview of ISU’s veterinary education tools, facilities, and teaching methodologies. These engagements aim to deepen collaborative research and academic exchanges between CLSU and ISU under their established MOU.

This international engagement affirms CLSU’s expanding role in fostering global scientific collaboration, advancing veterinary public health, and building capacity in transboundary animal disease research and diagnostics.