Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., (BIVI) announces the recipients of the first annual Equine Research Awards. This year, BIVI awarded a total of $75,000 ($25,000 to each recipient) to fund three separate studies regarding equine rhinitis virus (ERV) for completion in 2012.

The BIVI Equine Research Awards are open to veterinarians, diagnosticians, and public and private researchers in the United States and Canada. The awards are designed to help advance the diagnosis, treatment and understanding of equine diseases and will focus on one specific disease area each year. For 2011, the equine disease of focus was ERV, and the winning research proposals address a wide variety of issues surrounding ERV diagnosis, symptomatology, and treatment.

Following are the 2011 research award recipients and their research proposals, which were recognized at the American Association of Equine Practitioners Conference in San Antonio, Texas:

• Melissa Mazan, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, Tufts University – Is Equine Rhinitis Virus Associated with Exacerbation of Inflammatory Airway Disease?
• Nicola Pusterla, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, the University of California, Davis – Prevalence of Nasal Shedding of Equine Rhinitis Virus in Healthy Horses and Horses with Respiratory Signs
• Andres Diaz-Mendez, DVM, the University of Guelph – Response of Equine Airway Epithelium to Equine Rhinitis A Virus Infection and Surveillance

The proposals were reviewed and selected by an independent review board consisting of noted equine veterinary academicians and practitioners throughout the United States