Veterinarian caring for animals sent to space is honored by LSU

There aren’t many veterinarians who can say that they have sent their patients into space. However, David Moore, DVM, DACLM, a 1980 graduate of the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine (LSU Vet Med), can say just that and so much more.

Recently named LSU Vet Med’s 2021 Distinguished Alumnus, Moore was a veterinarian for the rats and squirrel monkeys that flew in NASA’s Spacelab 3 mission. As a project manager and clinical veterinarian at the NASA Ames Research Center, he supervised animal care, ensuring regulatory compliance during the mission, according to LSU.

“David exemplifies our values of innovation, compassion, and integrity. I am honored to present him with the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine Distinguished Alumnus Award,” said Oliver Garden, dean of LSU Med Vet, in a university press release.

Moore taught for 35 years at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and developed a laboratory animal residency program at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, where he also established the university’s research compliance office. Additionally, he established a laboratory and companion animal curriculum in the Virginia Tech Animal Science Department. In 2019, he was awarded emeritus status by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

Moore has devoted his career to teaching scientists how to comply with regulations designed to ensure ethical research, according to LSU.

“There is the expectation that scientific research is always conducted truthfully, accurately, and is above reproach. … Violations lead to bad science and undermine public confidence. Progress for public good suffers,” Moore said in the release.

As a young man, Moore encountered a biomedical research lab in which rabbits were not appropriately cared for and lived in abysmal conditions. That’s when he vowed to earn the credentials necessary to protect those animals and others like them, according to LSU.

“I decided I was going to become a veterinarian and shut them down. I wanted to be a voice for animals that could not speak, to be an advocate for them,” he said in the release.

Ultimately, someone else dealt with the problem laboratory that set Moore in the direction of his lifelong career ensuring compliance with ethical care standards for animals.

“An animal that is in pain is not going to yield valid research data—data that is intended to advance human health. It doesn’t help society if research is invalid,” Moore said in the release.

Moore also serves as a compliance consultant for Revivicor, a biotechnology company that has paved the way for the successful experimental xenotransplants of porcine heart, lungs, and kidneys in humans, according to LSU.

On the international stage, Moore wrote the successful technical proposal for a company that provided training in epidemiology methods for Middle Eastern physicians, and he provided guidance and assistance to the individuals who created the Indian College of Laboratory Animal Medicine for specialty board certification of lab animal veterinarians in that country.

According to the university, Moore’s career has been a testament to the quality of the students and training provided by LSU Vet Med, which is Louisiana’s only veterinary school.

Reference

LSU Vet Med honors 2021 Distinguished Alumnus David Moore. News release. Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. February 7, 2022. Accessed February 15, 2022.