Rate My Professor Patricia Pesavento

Patricia Pesavento is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis. A Veterinary Medicine faculty member, she specializes in Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology. She received her PhD in Cellular and Developmental Biology from Harvard University in 1994, her DVM from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2000, completed residency training at UC Davis, and became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 2004. Pesavento joined the UC Davis faculty in 2006 in a clinical position, transitioned to research faculty in 2008, and advanced to full Professor. She has held leadership roles including Chair of the Faculty (2020-2021) and Chair of the Integrative Pathobiology Graduate Group.

Pesavento's research as an anatomic pathologist and molecular virologist focuses on novel viral discoveries, pathogenesis of persistent infections, and disease patterns in animal shelters, at the human-wildlife interface, and in the food chain. Her laboratory has characterized 22 novel viruses, including amdoparvoviruses in red pandas, foxes, fisher cats, skunks, and other carnivores; canine diarrhea-associated viruses such as amdo-, kobu-, sapporo-, and circoviruses; neurotropic astroviruses in bovine and ovine species; canine and avian papillomaviruses; and oncogenic polyomaviruses in raccoons, bears, red pandas, alpacas, and rats. Current efforts target amdoparvovirus persistence, RacPyV-associated neuroglial tumors, and circovirus diseases in dogs and bears. She has contributed to FIP vaccine development and received the inaugural SOCK FIP Endowed Chair in Feline Infectious Disease Research. Key publications include 'Faecal virome of cats in an animal shelter' (2014), 'Common and Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Animal Shelter' (2014), 'Circovirus in Tissues of Dogs with Vasculitis and Hemorrhagic Enteritis' (2013), 'Divergent Astrovirus Associated with Neurologic Disease in Cattle and Sheep' (2013), 'Feline Infectious Peritonitis mRNA Vaccine Elicits Both Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses in Mice' (2024), and 'Amdoparvovirus-associated disease in red pandas (Ailurus fulgens)' (2024). With 136 publications and over 8,600 citations, her work advances understanding of emerging zoonotic threats.