Sixteen new projects and 10 continuing projects at 17 universities, as well as two career development awards, have been granted $2,693,312 in expenditures approved by the board of directors of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. The 2025 slate of research brings Grayson's totals since 1940 to more than $44.4 million to underwrite more than 450 projects at 48 universities.
“I'm very proud of Grayson's commitment to furthering the research and development of projects that affect all horses, no matter their breed or discipline,” said Jamie Haydon, president of Grayson. “We are equally ecstatic that we could offer our two career development awards to this year's recipients, continuing to cultivate a future for young researchers.”
The new projects are: Can Smartphone-Based Sensors Provide Reliable And Repeataable Lameness Data, Melissa King, Colorado State University; Chimeric VP7-VP4 MVA-Vectored Equine Rotavirus Vaccines, Mariano Carossino, Louisiana State University; Ex Vivo DFTS Adhesion Model To Evaluate Therapies, Lauren Schnabel, North Carolina State University; Effects Of SGLT2i On Triamcinolone-Induced Equine ID, Teresa Burns, The Ohio State University; Finite Element Analysis Of SDFT Microdamage Sushmitha Durgam, The Ohio State University; A Molecular Study On Hemorrhagic Anovulatory Follicles, Eduardo Gastal, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; Improving a VapA mRNA Vaccine For R. Equi In Foals, Noah Cohen, Texas A&M University; Organoid Model For Equine Placentitis Research, Pouya Dini, University of California-Davis; Genetics Of Cervical Spine Malformations In The Horse, Carrie Finno, University of California-Davis; Pharmacokinetics And Efficacy Of Pregabalin In Horses, Heather Knych, University of California-Davis; Characterization Of Antibodies Against Equine IL-31, Rosanna Marsela, University of Florida; Characterization Of Laminitis Using PET, Dianne McFarlane, University of Florida; Effects Of Inflammatory Cytokines On MSC Homing, John Peroni, University of Georgia; Racehorse Stride Changes And Workload During Training, Peta Hitchens, University of Melbourne; Synthetic Proteoglycan Replacement For Osteoarthritis, Kyla Ortved, University of Pennsylvania; Wearable Biometric Sensor Development, American Association of Equine Practitioners.
Dr. Erica Secor was awarded the Storm Cat Career Development Award, a $20,000 grant given to an individual considering a career in equine research. A 2013 graduate from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Secor is attending Cornell as a Ph.D. student. Her proposed study involves defining the immune cell populations present in naturally occurring equine Osteoarthritis and the response to intra-articular therapeutics, expands on the limited knowledge regarding immune cell populations within equine joints with osteoarthritis.
The Elaine and Bertram Klein Career Development Award was given to Dr. Shannon Connard. First given in 2015, the award grants $20,000 to a prospective equine researcher.
Connard received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2017 from the University of Georgia, she went on to pursue an internship at Louisiana State University followed by a large animal internship and residency at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine. She is a postdoctoral fellow/Ph.D. candidate in the Comparative Medicine and Translational Research Training Program at North Carolina State University and her current research is dedicated to the advancement of regenerative therapies for equine musculoskeletal injuries.
For details on the new projects, click here.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
