The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation (GJCRF) has announced a slate of 17 research projects that will be funded during 2011. The slate includes nine projects to be launched this year and eight which are in their second year of funding, with a total allocation of $841,023.

The foundation is the leading source of private funding for veterinary research specifically for the horse, and the 2011 funding brings its totals since 1983 to $18.1 million to fund 279 projects at 40 universities.

Among new projects to be launched this year with GJCRF funding is work addressing equine piroplasmosis, a blood parasite disease that was widely believed not to exist in North America before an outbreak appeared in the U.S. in 2010. Robert Mealey, DVM, PhD, of Washington State University is beginning a two-year project aimed at identifying the immune responses necessary to protect horses against piroplasmosis.

Among additional subjects addressed by the new projects are avoidance of supporting-limb laminitis and early detection of laryngeal neuropathy (roaring)