The International Canine Health Awards returned for the seventh year to celebrate some of the world’s finest researchers and scientists whose work has had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of dogs.
The 2019 awards were run by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and included substantial cash prizes donated by Vernon and Shirley Hill of Metro Bank, to go towards new or continued research.
The awards ceremony took place on Thursday, 30th May in Windsor at the start of the 4th International Dog Health Workshop. Professor Steve Dean, Chairman of the Trustees, was master of ceremonies and offered apologies from Mr & Mrs Hill who were unable to be in Windsor, although they (and their dog Sir Duffield) sent a video message to all the attendees. Mr Hill said “We are proud to support these important awards again, to fund research that may transform canine and human health by encouraging the same visionary thinking and innovation that Metro Bank champions. At Metro Bank, ‘Dogs Rule’”.
The four categories for the International Canine Health Awards were:
- International Prize in Canine Health for outstanding contribution in the field of canine health and welfare with a prize fund of £40,000 for future projects. The award was presented to Dr Danika Bannasch who is Professor of Population Health and Reproduction at the University of California, Davis.
She has made significant contributions to our understanding of of the genetic basis of many genetic disorders. She has been responsible for the development of DNA tests for 7 canine diseases including hormonal defect hyperadrenocorticism and chondrodystrophy. - Lifetime Achievement Award with a £10,000 prize fund was won by Associate Professor Gary Johnson from the Department of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Missouri. The award citation said that Gary Johnson is proof that it isn’t necessary for a vet to wield a scalpel or dispense a medicine to make a difference to animal health. His work on canine genetic diseases is reckoned to have saved the lives of many more dogs than most practising vets will manage during their careers. His lab was one of the first to adopt whole genome sequencing and, from 153 whole genome sequences, has identified 83 heritable diseases.
- Student Inspiration Awards were split into undergraduate and postgraduate, with a prize fund of £10,000 for the post-graduate and £5,000 for the undergraduate winner. The post-grad winner was Adrian Baez-Ortega from Cambridge University who has been working in the field of bioinformatics – the combination of biology and information technology. His recent work has been on the evolution of canine transmissible venereal tumours. The under-grad winner was Nivan Mamak from Edinburgh University. In 2018, her vacation project was an investigation of paroxysmal dyskinesia in a family of Golden Retrievers. These student prizes aid further education costs, the development of these young people’s careers, or support a further project.
- Breed Health Coordinator Award – with a £1,000 prize fund, went to Liz Branscombe (Flat-coated Retriever BHC). Liz is a registered veterinary nurse and, as well as acting as BHC, is also one of the KC’s team of BHC Mentors who spends time helping other breeds with their breed health improvement work. As well as working with her breed, Liz says an important part of her role is to pass on information from the breed community to the vet profession, which she has done as an author of articles in the vet press and as a regular public speaker.
After the final award was presented, it was great to see one of last year’s students, Alice Denyer, return to talk about how her prize had helped with her studies and research over the past year. Proof indeed, of the impact these awards can have in the real world!
Steve Dean concluded the presentations with further congratulations to the winners and thanks to the awards judges and KC team who staged the event. He then invited the assembled International Dog Health Workshop attendees to stay for a buffet dinner and celebratory drinks.
Dog-ED: Social Enterprise 