About

Sarah Ho is the CVM Director of Student Engagement at the College of Veterinary Medicine at NC State University. Her role involves fostering student development and engagement within the college community. The page highlights her contact information and her position, emphasizing her leadership in student involvement and support, but does not provide specific details about her research focus, academic background, or key contributions in the field of veterinary medicine.

Research topics

• Animal science
• Biology
• Medicine
• Veterinary medicine
• Virology
• Internal medicine
• Genetics
• Immunology
• Biotechnology
• Pharmacology
• Anesthesia

Selected publications

• Additional file 5 of Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 5

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 6 of Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 6

  PublisherDOI

• Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  otherOpen access

  Abstract Surgical castration is a routine management procedure in swine production that raises welfare concerns due to pain, inflammation, and risk of post-procedure complications. Topical products are commonly applied to castration wounds, but their efficacy in promoting healing and reducing inflammation has not been systematically evaluated. This study investigated and compared the efficacy of five commercially available antiseptic and barrier topical products on wound healing, inflammatory responses, and growth performance in piglets undergoing surgical castration. One hundred and ninety piglets, 3–5 days-old of age, were evaluated under the following treatments: Iodine, Oinkment®, PhytoCare®, Vetericyn®, Zinc Oxide, or intact controls (NoCast). Treatments were applied immediately after castration (D1). Body weights were recorded at baseline (D0; day before castration) and at weaning. Blood samples were collected on days 0 (baseline), 7, and 14 for analysis of prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) and haptoglobin. Infrared thermography (IRT) was used to assess surface temperature. Histological evaluation of wound healing was performed on subsets of piglets on days 7 and 14. No treatment effects were observed on body weight or pre-weaning survival; castrated piglets grew similarly to intact controls. Concentrations of PGE₂ declined over time (P < 0.001) but did not differ between treatments, suggesting it may have limited utility as an inflammatory biomarker in neonatal pigs. Haptoglobin concentrations increased across all groups by days 7 and 14, including intact controls, indicating minimal specificity for castration-related inflammation. In contrast, IRT consistently distinguished castrated from intact piglets, supporting its potential as a non-invasive indicator of inflammatory responses. Histological evaluations showed expected time-dependent healing progression, with epidermal thickness correlating with wound severity, but no treatment effects were found. None of the tested topical products were superior to others in regard to wound healing or reduced systemic inflammation under a single-application protocol. While safe and without adverse effects on growth, benefits are unclear when compared to a traditional iodine treatment. The current standard operational procedure for castration requires piglets to receive Iodine after castration to reduce infection risk. Future research should explore no treatment option, repeated applications, microbial wound presence, and behavioral indicators to better evaluate post-castration wound-care strategies.

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 2 of Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 2

  PublisherDOI

• Route of Adenovirus Type 5-Vectored Influenza Vaccination Shapes Systemic and Mucosal Immunity in a Maternal-Neonatal Pig Model

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-03-13

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Influenza A virus can cause severe complications in pregnant women and infants, yet no influenza vaccines are approved for infants younger than six months. To address this, novel maternal vaccination strategies are needed to increase global access and coverage in these vulnerable populations. This study evaluated a hemagglutinin (HA) A/California/2009 (H1N1)-based human adenovirus 5 (huAd5) vector vaccine, adjuvanted with a TLR3 agonist, for its ability to induce influenza-specific passive immunity from pregnant and lactating pigs to their piglets following different immunization routes. Influenza naïve pregnant dams were vaccinated via oral, intranasal (IN), or intramuscular (IM) routes three weeks prepartum and boosted four weeks later. Serum, colostrum and milk samples were collected longitudinally to assess HA-specific antibody induced by vaccination. H1N1-Ca/09 neutralizing antibodies were evaluated in serum and IFNγ producing cells were assessed in blood, spleen and lymph node cells. IN and IM routes elicited robust serum HA-specific antibody responses when compared to control animals at one- and four-weeks post-boost, whereas the oral route resulted in poor antibody induction across all samples tested. Piglets nursing from IN and IM vaccinated dams showed a significantly higher level of HA-specific antibodies in serum at 2-3 weeks post-partum compared to control piglets. Notably, IN immunized dams and their piglets showed significantly elevated influenza neutralizing antibodies compared to controls. This work demonstrated that both IN and IM immunization with a huAd5-vectored vaccine robustly induced maternal influenza-specific immunity that supported passive transfer to nursing piglets, with IN immunization resulting in superior transfer of neutralizing antibodies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Additional file 4 of Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 4

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 3 of Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 3

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 3 of Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 3

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 4 of Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 4

  PublisherDOI

• Additional file 6 of Topical wound-care products and their effects on healing, inflammatory biomarkers, and growth in piglets undergoing castration

  Figshare · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Material 6

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Zvonimir Poljak

  University of Guelph

  4 shared

• Robert Friendship

  North Carolina State University

  4 shared

• Helena Grgić

  University of Guelph

  3 shared

• Melissa Buzinhani

  Universidade de São Paulo

  3 shared

• Declan C. Schroeder

  University of Minnesota

  3 shared

• Renata Cristina Gobbi de Oliveira

  3 shared

• M. Yamaguti

  Universidade de São Paulo

  3 shared

• Jorge Timenetsky

  Universidade de São Paulo

  3 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Field of Study

  University of ...

  2010

• M.S., Field of Study

  University of ...

  2006

• B.S., Field of Study

  University of ...

  2004