Veterinary specialists at Virginia Tech's Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center (EMC) in Leesburg, Va., have been awarded several research grants to support their efforts to improve horse health–not only for their own patients, but for all horses.

Jennifer Barrett, DVM, MS, PhD, an assistant professor of equine surgery at the EMC, received a $20,222 grant from the Virginia Horse Industry Board (VHIB) to continue her research using platelet rich plasma (PRP) to promote healing of orthopedic injuries in horses.

Barrett's new project will identify the features of PRP (a concentrated preparation of platelets made from a patient's own blood) that are critical for stimulating healing of tendons, ligaments, and cartilage in areas where healing has failed. The platelets contain and release many protein factors that are responsible for healing in the body. Thus, PRP therapy harnesses the body's own healing mechanisms to regenerate tissues that are not healing on their own.

This research is a continuation of ongoing projects to optimize regenerative medicine techniques, such as PRP and stem cell or progenitor cell therapy, to treat orthopedic injuries in horses and other species