This year’s BSAVA PetSavers Award Winners Are….
The BSAVA PetSavers Veterinary Achievement Award
This award is presented to the first named author of the most valuable peer-reviewed research paper published following a BSAVA PetSavers grant, in the previous 12 months. The BSAVA PetSavers Management Committee votes on this and determines the most valuable research with respect to veterinary practice. Winners of this award receive prize money of £1000, two BSAVA manuals of their choice and a certificate. The awards are made at BSAVA Congress.
2024 winner
Matthew James from Dovecote Veterinary Hospital won the 2024 prize for his paper Approach to initial management of canine generalised epileptic seizures in primary-care veterinary practices in the United Kingdom published in the July 2022 issue of the Journal of Small Animal Practice. Read our summary of the study here.
2023 winner
Ellyn Groat was the 2023 winner for her paper UK dogs eating raw meat diets have higher risk of Salmonella and antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli faecal carriage, which was published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice (JSAP). The work was carried out as an undergraduate student project at the University of Liverpool, under the supervision of Dr Vanessa Schmidt. This research was thought to have a high impact on a globally important public health issue.
2022 winner
Professor Ross Bond from the RVC won the 2022 award for his paper Transverse sectioning in the evaluation of skin biopsy specimens from alopecic dogs, which was considered to be a well-structured study that used robust methodology to investigate the benefits of including transverse sectioning of skin biopsies from alopecic dogs alongside the routinely used vertical sectioning technique. The two sample processing methods were shown to be highly complementary, with transverse sectioning providing enhanced assessment of the hair growth phase, and follicular structure and architecture. The findings suggest a relatively simple change to current sample processing that will provide additional diagnostic information, and fundamentally improve the pathological assessment of skin samples from dogs with alopecia with no additional risk for the patient.
“I am very pleased to receive this award and would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of the co-authors on the study: Anke Hendricks, Janet Paterson-Kane, Kim Stevens and Harriet Brooks-Brownlie. My own association with BSAVA PetSavers stretches back to 1992 when their predecessor (Clinical Studies Trust Fund) kindly funded my PhD, and I have been most fortunate to have received a number of grants from them since. BSAVA PetSavers funding fills an important niche, given their interest in work of direct relevance to veterinary practice. This study was a total blast to perform, and it is most rewarding that BSAVA PetSavers found it to be of value.” Ross Bond
The BSAVA PetSavers Clinical Abstract Award
This award is presented to the first author of the most valuable Clinical Research Abstract funded by a BSAVA PetSavers grant, presented at the preceding year’s BSAVA Congress. The BSAVA PetSavers Grant Awarding Committee votes on this, taking into account factors such as the suitability of the method to answer the hypothesis, the explanation of findings and presentation skills. Winners of this award receive prize money of £300, two BSAVA manuals of their choice and a certificate. The awards are made at BSAVA Congress.
2024 winner
Student vet Shauna Creamer won the 2024 award for presenting her abstract An investigation into the antimicrobial properties of canine skin microflora at BSAVA Congress 2023. This project was carried out at the University of Liverpool under the supervision of Dr Vanessa Schmidt.
2023 winner
Emily Blackwell is the winner for her presentation of an abstract entitled ‘Exploring recording of adverse drug reaction reporting in veterinary free-text clinical narratives’ at BSAVA Congress 2022. This work was carried out as an undergraduate student project at the University of Liverpool under the supervision of Heather Davies.