Cruse, Machado chosen as University Faculty Scholars for 2024
Dr. Glenn Cruse, a mast cell biologist, and Dr. Gustavo Machado, an infectious disease modeler, of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine were among the NC State University faculty members honored.
Two faculty members with outstanding research accomplishments at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine have been named University Faculty Scholars for 2024.
Dr. Glenn Cruse, a mast cell biologist in the college’s Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, and Dr. Gustavo Machado, an infectious disease modeler in the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, were among the NC State University faculty members chosen for the honor, announced Monday.
“We are so proud of Dr. Cruse and Dr. Machado and the work they do that truly represents our college’s goal for leading life-changing research,” says Dr. Kate Meurs, dean of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. “They are both also exceptional mentors and leaders as well. I am grateful to the leadership at NC State University for creating the University Faculty Scholars program to help us recognize our outstanding faculty.”
Launched in 2012, the University Faculty Scholars program recognizes outstanding academic achievements and teaching, service and scholarship contributions. Honorees carry the title through their NC State employment. Scholars are nominated by individual colleges and reviewed by senior faculty.
“Being honored as a University Faculty Scholar speaks volumes to not only the culture at NC State University, but also at the CVM specifically,” says Cruse, an associate professor of immunology who arrived at NC State in 2016. “Despite working in a field with a strong human focus, the collaborative culture at the CVM and the amazing faculty have opened my research to veterinary applications and enabled fantastic interdisciplinary collaborations that have truly enriched my research.”
Cruse’s research focuses on mast cells that drive inflammatory processes in asthma, atopic dermatitis and allergic diseases. In addition to these common diseases, his lab also studies mast cell proliferation diseases, such as mastocytosis and mast cell leukemia, which are rare but often devastating.
Machado, an associate professor of transboundary disease epidemiology, says he is incredibly grateful to be recognized as a University Faculty Scholar this year because it means he and his team are doing research that is solving societal problems.
“This award signifies that our efforts are making a meaningful impact in food animal production epidemiology, especially in enhancing our understanding of swine disease dissemination and the development of new control strategies to improve the health of swine farms in North Carolina and nationally,” says Machado, who has been at NC State since 2018. “However, I also see it as a reminder of the responsibility I have to continue striving for excellence and making positive contributions to our NC State community.”
Machado’s research focuses on food animal production epidemiology and developing novel disease control strategies at multiple scales to reduce the burden of endemic and emerging diseases. His research lab specializes in mathematical models of livestock diseases that help control and eliminate them. In 2019, Machado developed the Rapid Access Biosecurity App, which builds interpretable models so industries and veterinarians can make informed decisions on disease control efforts.
Both honorees cited the supportive and collaborative culture of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine as critical to their successes.
“I am grateful to all of the great faculty I have had the pleasure of working with throughout the whole of the CVM and also the Biomedical Engineering Department members housed at the CVM,” Cruse says. “I would also like to recognize the outstanding work of Kultaran Chohan in the NC State Office of Research Commercialization. Both were instrumental in the translational arm of my research and in creating industry partnerships that have been so important to my research program and our current work moving therapeutics towards clinical trials.”
Machado had particular praise for his mentorship from Meurs, who was the associate dean for research at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine before being promoted to dean in April 2023.
“Dean Meurs has supported me and my team a lot, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to her for all she has done,” Machado says. “Without her support, I don’t think I would have been able to develop such an impactful research program.”
Previous CVM honorees include Ben Callahan, associate professor of microbiomes; Margaret Gruen, associate professor of behavioral medicine; Santosh Mishra, associate professor of neuroscience; Mike Nolan, associate professor of radiation oncology and biology; Liara Gonzalez, associate professor of gastroenterology and equine surgery; Cristina Lanzas, professor of infectious disease; Casey Theriot, associate professor of infectious disease; Lauren Schnabel, professor of equine orthopedic surgery; Ke Cheng, the Randall B. Terry Jr. Distinguished Professor in Regenerative Medicine; Troy Ghashghaei, professor of neurobiology; Jody Gookin, FluoroScience Distinguished Professor in Veterinary Scholars Research Education and professor internal medicine; Sid Thakur, professor of molecular epidemiology and the executive director of NC State Global One Health Academy; and Nanette Nascone-Yoder, associate professor of developmental biology.
