Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation (GJCRF) has announced that a slate of
17 research projects will be funded during 2011. The slate includes nine
projects to be launched this year and eight which will be in their second year
of funding, with a total allocation of $841,023.
The foundation is the leading source of private funding for veterinary
research specifically for the horse, and the 2011 funding brings its totals
since 1983 to $18.1 million to fund 279 projects at 40 universities.
Among new projects to be launched this year with GJCRF funding is work
addressing piroplasmosis, a blood parasite disease that was widely believed not
to exist in North America before an outbreak appeared in the United States in
2010. Dr. Robert Mealey of Washington State University is beginning a two-year
project aimed at identifying the immune responses necessary to protect horses
against piroplasmosis.
Among additional subjects addressed by the new projects are avoidance of
supporting-limb laminitis and early detection of laryngeal neuropathy (roaring).
The fifth annual ElastikonTM Research Award is being presented as part of the
foundation’s funding to Dr. Laurie Goodrich of Colorado State University. The
ElastikonTM Award is supported in part by a donation to GJCRF from Johnson &
Johnson’s Consumer Products Division, manufacturer of ElastikonTM tape and other
equine products.
Goodrich’s project will address osteoarthritis, a malady common to horses.
She will use gene therapy to attempt to produce beneficial protein that will
allow cartilage to heal.
In addition to the grants, the foundation is presenting the Storm Cat Career
Development Award, created to provide an early boost to an individual
considering a career in equine research, to Kyla Ortved, a doctoral student at
Cornell University who will work with Professor Alan Nixon on gene therapy. This
$15,000 award was inaugurated in 2006 and since its inception has been
underwritten by Lucy Young Hamilton, a GJCRF board member whose family stood the
Storm Cat at its Overbrook Farm.
“It is very gratifying that one of our earlier Storm Cat winners, Dr. Martin
Vidal, is already making a mark in equine research and is being supported this
year as principal investigator of a foundation-funded project at University of
California-Davis,” said Edward L. Bowen, president of the foundation. “One of
our directors, Dr. Hiram Polk Jr., drew on his experience as a distinguished
practitioner in human medicine in suggesting we begin such an award, and Mrs.
Hamilton has come through annually to help make it a reality.”
Vidal’s project seeks to identify the optimal cell type to use in tendon and
ligament repair.
“The Storm Cat Award was granted to me at a critical point in my career
development,” Vidal said. “The award allowed me to focus on and complete my
graduate studies, provided a foundation for research collaborations, and enabled
seamless transition from my graduate program into an academic position, all of
which was critical for a novice researcher such as myself. Therefore, the Storm
Cat Career Development Award was important for my success, and I hope this
opportunity will continue to be available for others in the future.”
Details of all the 2011 projects being funded by GJCRF are available at
grayson-jockeyclub.org.