Paws and profits: UC Davis avian specialist wins international practitioner award, and more updates

A University of California, Davis (UC Davis) exotic animal medicine specialist has received an international award for his contributions to avian veterinary medicine, and the university’s California Raptor Center has appointed two co-directors following the retirement of its longtime director. Read on for details about each individual.

David Sanchez-Migallon Guzman, LV, MS, DECZM (Avian), DACZM, DECZM (Small Mammal), 2026 T.J. Lafeber Avian Practitioner of the Year, Association of Avian Veterinarians

David Sanchez-Migallon Guzman, LV, MS, DECZM (Avian), DACZM, DECZM (Small Mammal), chief of the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital’s Companion Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service, has been named the T.J. Lafeber Avian Practitioner of the Year by the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV). The award was presented at the 47th Annual AAV Conference & Expo in Austin, Texas, by Ted Lafeber III, DVM. The award recognizes an outstanding veterinarian advancing the quality of health care for companion and/or free-ranging birds, with recipients selected based on clinical excellence, innovation, promotion of the profession, and significant contributions to the field’s knowledge base.¹

Guzman earned his Licenciado en Veterinaria from the University of León in Spain in 2002, completed internships in avian medicine in the UK and at Tufts University, and earned his MS in veterinary medical sciences from Louisiana State University in 2008, where he also completed his zoological medicine residency. He joined UC Davis in 2010 and became a full professor in 2020, and in 2023 was named service chief and Messmer Family Presidential Chair in the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery Service. He has authored or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications.¹

Other UC Davis recipients of the award include Michelle Hawkins, DVM, in 2023 and Joanne Paul-Murphy, DVM, in 2014.¹

Hugues Beaufrere, DVM, PhD, DABVP (Avian), DECZM (Avian), DACZM, and Michael Ziccardi, DVM, MPVM, PhD, co-directors, California Raptor Center, UC Davis

UC Davis has appointed Hugues Beaufrere, DVM, PhD, DABVP (Avian), DECZM (Avian), DACZM, and Michael Ziccardi, DVM, MPVM, PhD, as co-directors of the California Raptor Center (CRC), succeeding longtime director Michelle Hawkins, DVM, who retired after leading the center since 2012. Beaufrere will oversee clinical and rehabilitation efforts, including medical care and welfare of rehabilitation and ambassador birds, and will lead and expand the CRC’s research program in raptor medicine, rehabilitation, welfare, and conservation. Ziccardi will lead administrative operations, including management oversight, compliance, and facilities management. The two will partner on strategic planning, fundraising, budgeting, communications, and public education.²

Beaufrere is an associate professor in zoological medicine at UC Davis, board-certified in avian medicine and zoological medicine, with clinical and research interests centered on raptors, parrots, and other birds, with a particular focus on lipid disorders and cardiovascular disease. He spent eight years at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph before joining UC Davis in 2021.² Ziccardi is director of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center and director for the California Veterinary Emergency Team, and has acted as an oil spill response veterinarian and oiled wildlife response director during more than 50 spills nationally and internationally since 1996.²

References

1. UC Davis Exotics Specialist Wins International Avian Practitioner of the Year Award. News release. UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. October 6, 2026. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-exotics-specialist-wins-international-avian-practitioner-year-award
2. Dr. Hugues Beaufrere and Dr. Michael Ziccardi Appointed Co-Directors of the California Raptor Center. News release. UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. September 9, 2026. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/dr-hugues-beaufrere-and-dr-michael-ziccardi-appointed-co-directors-california-raptor-center