More than $110,000 in clinical research grants have been awarded to six principal investigators at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) at Virginia Tech through the 2007-08 distribution of Veterinary Memorial Fund research grants.

This represents an increase of over $20,000 from the previous year.

Founded in 1984, the Veterinary Memorial Fund is a program jointly operated by the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association (VVMA) and the VMRCVM that helps bereaved pet-owners address their grief and raises money to improve the quality of healthcare available for future generations of companion animals.

Proposals were selected for funding on the basis of contemporary clinical importance by a committee comprised of veterinarians in private practice and VMRCVM faculty-members.

"This program serves as a good example of the translational medicine/research programs we are building throughout the college," said Dean Gerhardt Schurig. "Working closely with practitioners in the field to identify current animal healthcare challenges, we are able to focus the power of university research in a way that produces solutions, quickly and effectively."

Professors and grant requests that have been funded include the following:

==> Dr. David Panciera, professor, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences," Effect of Phenobarbital Administration in Dogs with Seizure Disorders on Adrenal Function," $14,896.

==> Dr. Ian Herring, associate professor, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, "Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Levels in Aqueous Humor of Normal Dogs with Intraocular Disease," $14,240.

==> Dr. Otto Lanz, associate professor, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, "Comparison of In Vitro Pullout Strength of Positive Profile End-Threaded Pins, Self-Tapping Cortical Bone Screws, and Cancellous Bone Screws Implanted in the Canine Caudal Cervical Spine," $13,986.

==> Dr. Michael Leib, professor, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, "Effects of Prednisone Alone or Prednisone with Ultralow-Dose Aspirin on the Gastroduodenal Mucosa of Healthy Dogs," $20,584.

==> Drs. Tisha Harper, assistant professor, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, and Dr. Peter Shires, former VMRCVM professor, "Effect of Post Surgical Rehabilitation on TTA and TPLO Stabilized Canine CCL Deficient Stifles," $14,982.

==> Dr. Don Waldron, professor, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, "Evaluation of Epidural Morphine and Incisional Bupivacaine for Analgesia Following Hemilaminectomy in the Dog," $20,442.

Dr. Panciera was also awarded second year funding for "Efficacy and Safety of Iopanoic Acid for Treatment of Experimentally-Induced and Naturally-Occurring Hyperthyroidism in Cats,"$11,608.

One of the principal benefits of the Veterinary Memorial Fund is that the way it links community veterinarians around the state with college researchers in a way that directly serves animals and their owners, Schurig noted.

When a companion animal passes away, the practitioner makes a financial donation to the fund. The dean of the VMRCVM then sends a letter of condolence announcing the memorial to the bereaved.

Then a team of private practitioners and college researchers work together to identify the kind of research that needs to be done to address urgent veterinary healthcare issues in the field, proposals are evaluated and funded, and the work is completed, Schurig said.
 
Founded in 1984 by the college and the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association, the fund is one of the oldest such funds in the nation. Since its inception, the fund has raised almost $1 million that has been used to fund more than 100 clinical research programs.

The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) is a two-state, three-campus professional school operated by the land-grant universities of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and the University of Maryland at College Park. Its flagship facilities, based at Virginia Tech, include the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, which treats more than 40,000 animals annually. Other campuses include the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Va., and the Avrum Gudelsky Veterinary Center at College Park, home of the Center for Government and Corporate Veterinary Medicine. The VMRCVM annually enrolls approximately 500 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and graduate students, is a leading biomedical and clinical research center, and provides professional continuing education services for veterinarians practicing throughout the two states. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.