Boehringer Ingelheim Awards 2022 GRANTS Recipients

Three research proposals will receive $35,000 in funding from the Growing Research and New Technology for Swine (GRANTS) program, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. The winners were announced at the 2022 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference on Monday.

Following the program’s expansion from the Awards for Advancing Research in Respiratory Disease (AWARRD) in early 2022, GRANTS funds field-applicable research into swine health and production, from respiratory, reproductive and enteric diseases to new technologies, diagnostics and overall approaches to supporting pig health and performance.
 
The Swine Research and Technology Review Board, consisting of five independent swine veterinarians and researchers, reviewed several exceptional proposals before making its final decision, the company said in a release. Topics of research funded in 2022 are related to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhp).
 
Boehringer Ingelheim honored the following 2022 GRANTS recipients: 
 
•    Marianna Kikuti, DVM, MPH, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, St. Paul
Characterizing within farm PRRSV evolution and clinical re-breaks with the newly emerged L1C 144 variant in positive unstable breeding herds

•    Kimberly Crawford, DVM, MS and Ryan Saltzman, DVM
AMVC/VRI, Ames, Iowa
Efficacy of ivermectin administration to weaned pigs prior to virulent PRRSV 1-4-4 1c challenge

•    Rachel J Derscheid, DVM, Ph.D., DACVP
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Development of viability qPCR assay for Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae to improve gilt acclimation and elimination programs
 
“The GRANTS program has always been about advancing knowledge and field-applicable approaches to disease control within the swine industry,” Reid Philips, DVM, Senior Technical Manager for PRRS at Boehringer Ingelheim, said in a release. “This year, we are funding three research projects that will undoubtedly help the industry battle against new strains of PRRS and continue to help forge a path for Mhp elimination.”  
 
Across multiple evolutions of this program, Boehringer Ingelheim has provided more than $1.5 million in the past 20 years in support of the development of less costly, innovative diagnostic testing and sampling processes; identified more effective biosecurity practices; helped the industry better understand key diseases; and developed risk assessment tools, intervention programs and vaccination strategies. 
 
“The research projects funded by Boehringer Ingelheim GRANTS program have been instrumental in improving the industry’s understanding of swine diseases,” Daryl Olsen, DVM, a Swine Research and Technology Board member and senior partner at AMVC Management Services, said in a release. “This program will continue to be important for producers’ success and profitability as we face new challenges and opportunities in pork production.” 
 
For more information, visit swineresource.com/industry-advancement/grants.
 

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