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A new, free white paper that takes a look at the future of equine research is now available for download.
Published by the Equine Research Coordination Group (ERCG), the paper points out that fewer and fewer young people in the United States are pursuing careers in science.
“The situation is very similar in veterinary medicine, as the vast majority of new graduates choose veterinary practice, rather than considering careers in teaching and research,” it says.
The ERCG is a group comprised of researchers and organizations that support equine research. Participants in the ERCG include equine foundations and multiple university research representatives.
According to the ERCG, huge advances have been made in the understanding of many equine diseases over the past two decades. However, there is more to learn if improvements are expected in the way diseases are prevented or treated. Consider the impact that laminitis had on Barbaro, a horse who captured everyone's imagination, or the effect that Equine Herpesvirus-I infections have had up and down the East Coast in the past few months.
While these diseases might be the most glaringly obvious at this time, they are not necessarily the most devastating to horses or the equine industry. The paper sites colic, osteoarthritis, neonatal septicemia, infertility, respiratory disease and laryngeal hemiplegia among the list of diseases that need attention.
Questions posed in the paper include:
- How are we going to address these diseases that threaten the health of our horses and the viability of the equine industry?
- How are we going to deal with new diseases and conditions as they arise?
- What are we going to do when diseases we thought were conquered suddenly reappear?
- More importantly, who is going to find the answers and solve these riddles?
Members of the Equine Research Coordination Group are making equine research funding a priority for future equine research. To advance this effort, the ERCG has developed an informative paper on the challenges of solving the equine research puzzle and the need for increased research funding. The paper "Ensuring a Bright Future for Equine Research" can be viewed at http://www.aaep.org/equine_research_co_group.htm and is available for reprint.
Related content from the ERCG:
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