Source: South Dakota State University
Jane Hennings, head of South Dakota State University’s Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Department and Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory director, received the Distinguished Research Alumnus award from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. The award was presented during the college’s Points of Pride Research Day on Oct. 10. As a feature of the day’s events, Hennings presented a seminar on “Detection and Persistence of Viruses in Semen using Arteriviruses as a Model.”

Hennings has been on the SDSU faculty since 1996, and received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a DVM from the University of Minnesota. Her research at SDSU began in 1990 where she worked on the initial characterization of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and developed one of the first molecular tests, which was a polymerase chain reaction-based test that was used in describing PRRSV in boars and semen. As a result of her research in molecular diagnostics, she helped to launch the Molecular Diagnostics section of the ADRDL.

The U of M Points of Pride Day recognized the efforts of researchers who have demonstrated outstanding research achievements to advance knowledge in their field of expertise and organizations that contribute to and enhance the College of Veterinary Medicine’s overall research mission.