Journal Award Winner Minisode: Transforming Bovine Health

Join us on Veterinary Vertex as we celebrate the achievements of Dr. Lilli Heinen, an AJVR Student Award winner, whose groundbreaking work is transforming the bovine industry. Hosted by Lisa Fortier and Sarah Wright, this episode takes you into Lilli's world, exploring her award-winning AJVR article on predictive models for Bovine Respiratory Disease outcomes in feedlot cattle. Lilli shares her journey during her clinical year at Kansas State and how her unexpected award win has fueled her motivation and validated her passion for research. Discover how this young talent's dedication to large animal medicine is making waves in the field and inspiring future researchers.

Lilli’s story embodies resilience and ambition, illustrating how setbacks can become stepping stones to success. She opens up about how her mentors encouraged her to pursue research that truly mattered to her, igniting a passion that has guided her career path. With insights into the industry's need for skilled clinicians and researchers, this episode highlights the vital role of young talents like Lilli in advancing veterinary medicine. Tune in to hear how Lilli is committed to contributing meaningful research to the bovine sector, proving that passion and persistence can indeed lead to unexpected and rewarding outcomes.

Open access AJVR article: https://doi.org/10.2460/ajvr.24.06.0169

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Transcript

Sarah Wright: 0:00

You're listening to Veterinary Vertex, a podcast of the AVMA Journals. In this episode we chat with AJVR Student Award winner, Lilli Heinen.

Lisa Fortier: 0:14

Welcome to Veterinary Vertex. I'm Editor-in-Chief Lisa Fortier, and I'm joined by Associate Editor Sarah Wright. Today we have Lilli joining us. Lilli, congratulations again and thank you so much for taking your time to be with us here today.

Lilli Heinen: 0:29

Thank you so much for having me. It's been an honor to receive this award and be on this podcast.

Sarah Wright: 0:36

All right, let's dive into how you felt when you found out that you won this award. So, Lilli, you are a student award winner for your AJVR article Evaluation of Predictive Models to Determine Final Outcome for Feedlot Cattle based on information available at First Treatment for Bovine Respiratory Disease. What was your reaction when you found out that you were nominated, and then when you found out you had won?

Lilli Heinen: 1:00

Well, I was in the midst of my clinical year at Kansas State and I hadn't been really attentive to my graduate work for that whole year, so I was surprised when I was nominated. And then when I heard that I was nominated, I was like, well, that's really nice, but I'm sure there's a lot of other manuscripts that were being submitted for nomination and I'm sure that they were going to win. So, when I found out I won, I was even more surprised. This paper actually had previously been rejected from publication in another journal and so I was just excited to have it published in AJVR. Certainly, was not expecting it to win an award, so it was a really happy surprise for me.

Lisa Fortier: 1:50

That sounds a little bit Lilli, like some imposter syndrome going on.

Lilli Heinen: 1:56

Yes, definitely, being a vet student came with its own challenges as far as imposter syndrome, and then, on top of that, doing a graduate program. There's a lot of times that I felt like I don't know, maybe I wasn't good enough to be in this position. So having that be validated and winning an award like this really solidified that I'm in the right field.

Lisa Fortier: 2:11

You certainly are. You know, as Sarah said, we got a lot of nominations this year, and so congratulations again. You're very much deserving of this award.

Lilli Heinen: 2:21

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Lisa Fortier: 2:23

Yeah, what sparked your research interest in BRD?

Lilli Heinen: 2:27

I've always been interested in large animal medicine, had always had an interest in cattle, even though I never grew up with them. When I started vet school I was interested in doing research. I just wasn't sure what area I was really interested in, but I knew I wanted to do something with cattle. When I started working as a research intern with the current group that I'm with now, I discovered how much research there is about BRD and how much more work there is to do, and that really drove my passion for that topic and I've enjoyed it ever since.

Lisa Fortier: 3:02

Yeah well, we're very fortunate to have you, and so is the bovine industry. We need more clinicians and researchers, as you well know.

Lilli Heinen: 3:09

Yes, definitely.

Lisa Fortier: 3:11

We're so excited at AVMA and JAVMA to implement this initiative to recognize and encourage growing clinicians and researchers. How has winning this award affected your outlook on your career path?

Lilli Heinen: 3:24

I've always enjoyed research. I've always enjoyed the research that I'm doing for my graduate program. However, I did have some doubts that the industry would care as much as I did about my research topic, but this award has shown me that not only do people find this interesting, they want more research in this area. There's a need, like you said, for people in the bovine industry who are also interested in doing research, who understand the data and understand what the producer needs. So, being able to win this award and feel good about the research that I'm doing is that much more motivating to continue my graduate program, finish out and then join the industry as a young researcher.

Sarah Wright: 4:11

That's actually a perfect segue into our next question. So, Lilli, how did your training prepare you to write this manuscript?

Lilli Heinen: 4:18

I would say that, throughout my training, my mentors have always encouraged me to focus on research that I was very passionate about. I've always been told that you're never going to enjoy the research that you don't care about. So, my training has made me passionate about this topic. I've also learned to evaluate journal articles and you know how we publish research critically and that, in turn, has made me more critical with myself and, I think, being it's taught me to be disciplined, to do good research, to write well and to really provide solid research, for which we can, you know, build principles of medicine on and really give back to the industry.

Lisa Fortier: 5:09

Yeah, I like what you said, Lilli, about having a passion. I read today and I hope I don't mess this up Success doesn't bring you happiness. Happiness brings you success. So, love what you do.

Lilli Heinen: 5:19

Yeah, absolutely, and I've I've felt that way honestly ever since I started college and chose this career path.

Lisa Fortier: 5:25

Oh, wow, that's awesome. Thank you for sharing that.

Lilli Heinen: 5:28

Yeah.

Lisa Fortier: 5:33

Lilli, if you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

Lilli Heinen: 5:35

That's a really tough question and I feel like my answer is going to be maybe a little bit strange. But I'd want to read people's minds. I just want to know what people are thinking, not just about myself, but I also want to know just about the situation and be able to read people and think that you know, kind of adjust the situation based on that. Just know what everybody's thinking at all times.

Sarah Wright: 6:01

Does that apply to animals too, Lilli?

Lilli Heinen: 6:03

Yeah, that would be great If I could read animals' minds. Be the best veterinarian in the world, I think.

Lisa Fortier: 6:09

That's pretty brave of you to want to know when somebody has a snap judgment of you, and you walk into the producer's area. I don't know if I want to know that.

Sarah Wright: 6:20

So, Lilli, what advice would you share with veterinary students that are hoping to publish manuscripts?

Lilli Heinen: 6:26

I would say choose your co-authors wisely. Choose your research group wisely and this kind of goes back to what we were talking about earlier, picking a research topic and a research group that you feel passionate, working towards and with. I think you can't do anything well if you don't like it and if you have a hard time working with the people that are around you, then maybe you're not in the right place. And when I started my graduate program, I was very picky about where I was going to do my PhD, because I wanted not only to perform research that I was passionate about, but also work with people that I really liked and had a similar mindset to me.

Lilli Heinen: 7:08

I would also say not to be afraid to ask for feedback. Writing a paper is really weird if you've never written in a scientific manner. It's a very specific way of writing and it's not intuitive. So if you can't do it the first time, you should never feel bad about that, and receiving feedback and being able to take constructive criticism is a skill in and of itself, and if you're able to do that, there's really nothing holding you back from writing a good manuscript.

Sarah Wright: 7:41

Yeah, feedback is so important. It's how we grow. I always made a point at the end of all my externships and clinical rotations to ask for feedback, even if it was just like a week or two weeks, just to grow as a clinician and also as a scientist too.

Lilli Heinen: 7:53

Yeah, exactly.

Sarah Wright: 7:55

So, thank you again, Lilli for being here today and congratulations on your AJVR student award.

Lilli Heinen: 8:04

Thank you so much. I'm honored to receive this award. Thank you for having me, and a big shout out to my mentors at the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University. They've been integral in getting me to this point and I'm very, very proud to be working with them.

Sarah Wright: 8:20

Congratulations again to all of our journal award winners. If you're listening and you have a student, intern or resident author that you're thinking of nominating, nominate them today. Please see our website for further instructions. You can read Lilli's manuscript in AJVR using your favorite search engine. I'm Sarah Wright, joined by Lisa Fortier. We want to thank each of you for joining us on this episode of the Veterinary Vertex Podcast. We love sharing cutting-edge veterinary research with you and we want to hear from you. Be sure to leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or whatever platform you listen to.