Students from Cummings School and Tufts Medical School Host Cad Ex 2026

In early May, 50 D.V.M. students from Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University traveled to Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston to participate in the Ninth Annual Cadaver Exchange (Cad Ex). Sponsored by the Students for One Health Club at Cummings School and the newly established One Health Student Club at Tufts Medical School, the conference featured a day of interactive activities and presentations.

After assembling at the Medical Education Building and the DeBlois Auditorium, veterinary, medical, and dental students spent the morning giving short presentations on the cardiac, pulmonary, and renal systems—this year’s Cad Ex body system focus. Cummings School students presented on the following topics: Comparative Cardiology (Emily Lee, V29, Cara Kaminski, V29); Congenital Cardiac Disease (Hannah Nelson, V28, Renee Semple, V29); Avian Respiratory Systems (Olivia Fitzgerald, V28); Crash Course to Kidneys in Veterinary Species (Jessica Valentine, V28, Kyrian Carley, V28); Heartworm Disease (Natalie McCarthy, V28); Emergency Management of Congestive Heart Failures (Jisoo Kim, V28, Hannah Lavoie, V28, Lauren Ng, V28). Each presentation was excellent, well researched, and perfectly designed to fit the short presentation time of about 10 minutes with time for questions. After the morning session, the medical school provided lunch for the attendees, who spent the time in a “mingle and meet” session. It was great to see students from the three schools sitting together and conversing about their journeys through school and their plans and careers after.

The afternoon session moved across the street to the Biomedical Research & Public Health Building, where students spent the afternoon in the anatomy lab. Cummings School students displayed a variety of specimens related to the systems focus, manning specific stations. One station, for example, featured bovine, porcine, equine, canine, and feline kidneys. Another station showcased the lungs of those same species, and another displayed heart specimens. All stations featured both wet preserved and plastinated specimens. The avian station was especially popular, featuring seldom seen offshore birds, including a northern gannet and Corey’s shearwater, as well as a parrot and a woodpecker. The birds were used to show respiratory systems, especially with the sea birds, as northern gannets lack external nares (they are located in the mouth), and the shearwater has a unique tube-nose arrangement. One of the biggest hits was a dolphin kidney and an arrangement of various animal skulls to show a variety of dentition related to diet and the natural history of each species.

An after-hours event was held at Rock & Rye, a local hangout for Tufts Boston students. The Students for One Health Club from Cummings School sponsored a buffet and more mingling amongst the three schools continued over food, drinks, and games.

Thanks to Amelia Graves, V28, and Olivia Fitzgerald, V28, for organizing the event on the veterinary school side, as well as transporting the specimens back and forth between Grafton and Boston. Finally, thanks to all the students, staff, and faculty involved from the medical and dental schools on the Boston campus.