Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health is awarding $105,000 to three award recipients for the Growing Research and New Technology for Swine (GRANTS) program.
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the program, which funds critical, field-applicable research into swine health and production. This year’s GRANTS recipients will receive $35,000 each to fund new advancements in porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) risk factors and diagnostics, as well as RNA virus stabilization strategies,” the company said in a release.
Six independent swine veterinarians and researchers, who together make up the Swine Research and Technology Review Board, reviewed many exceptional proposals before making a final decision. The winners include:
Jeff Zimmerman, DVM, Ph.D., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
• “Proof of concept: Strategies to stabilize RNA viruses in oral fluids”
Daniel Linhares, DVM, MBA, Ph.D., Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
• “Predictive value of PRRSV qPCR results from sow tonsil-oral-scraping (TOSc) samples for neonatal litter PRRSV status”
Alyssa Betlach, DVM, Ph.D., Swine Vet Center, St. Peter, Minn.
• “Assessing the role of gilt-related risk factors for PRRSV time-to-low-prevalence”
“The swine industry has evolved immensely over the last 20 years, due, in part, to the knowledge generated by this program and the incredible collaboration among the researchers,” Reid Philips, DVM, Senior Technical Manager for PRRS at Boehringer Ingelheim, said in a release. “This year’s GRANTS program recipients have great vision as they look to battle some of the biggest challenges facing the swine industry today.”
Since the GRANTS program’s inception in 2003, Boehringer Ingelheim has supported more than 70 research projects. More than $1.8 million has been given in support of the development of less costly, innovative diagnostic testing and sampling processes; the identification of more effective biosecurity practices; ways to help the industry better understand key diseases; and the development of risk assessment tools, intervention programs and vaccination strategies.
Applications for the 2024 GRANTS program will be open for submission in early 2024. Learn more here.
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