Mariana Ionita, DVM, PhD, is no stranger to the Gluck Equine Research Center. A resident of Romania, Ionita has been a visiting scientist in the Parasitology program four times since 2006 and completed her fourth visit to the Gluck Center at the end of August.

Ionita is part of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest in Romania, where she is a lecturer and teaches animal biology and veterinary parasitology. However, she has spent her summer vacations doing research at the Gluck Center, which she said “is worth the time to sacrifice my vacation to do research here.”

Ionita has worked in the labs of Gene Lyons, PhD, and Dan Howe, PhD, each year. Since Ionita’s first visit here, Lyons spent about a week in Romania to get an understanding of the teaching and research programs there.

“She has a classical parasitology background, so she’s unique with knowing molecular biology as well,” Lyons said. “It is important to have both the classical and molecular background to improve the understanding of various aspects of parasites, including their drug resistance, which is a major problem in the world