aaep funds EQUUS Foundation Research Fellow grant

Student named EQUUS Foundation Research Fellow for tendon research

A Ph.D. student at Colorado State University recently received a $5,000 grant and was named an EQUUS Foundation Research Fellow for her research into new approaches to tendon injury rehabilitation in horses.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recently announced Sherry A. Johnson, DVM, MS, DACVSMR, a Ph.D. student at Colorado State University, earned the honor and the money for her research. The $5,000 grant is awarded annually to a doctoral or residency student who has made significant progress in the field of equine health care research. 

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recently announced Sherry A. Johnson, DVM, MS, DACVSMR, a Ph.D. student at Colorado State University, has been named a EQUUS Foundation Research Fellow for her research. The $5,000 grant is awarded annually to a doctoral or residency student who has made significant progress in the field of equine health care research. 

In addition to the financial reward, Dr. Johnson also received a $500 stipend to support her travel to the AAEP’s 65thAnnual Convention in Denver, Colo., where she was presented with the award on Dec. 9.

“As a first year Ph.D. student, my time and resources have been dedicated to investigating rehabilitation modalities novel to horses, specifically blood flow restriction training,” said Dr. Johnson said in a statement issued by the AAEP. “I aim to develop tendon-sparing exercise prescriptions that may eventually be extrapolated to equine and human patients. The shared, inter-species complexities of injury diagnosis, longitudinal monitoring and successful treatment offer me an avenue through which my basic and applied science can be used to improve human and animal health.”

Dr. Johnson graduated in the top of her class from Iowa State University College’s of Veterinary Medicine, completed a residency in Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation at Colorado State University, and in 2019 became a diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. 

She is currently a PhD candidate at Colorado State University with research focus on novel rehabilitation modalities related to tendon healing. She received the American Quarter Horse Foundation Young Investigator Award in 2018 and is working toward three publications describing longitudinal tendinopathic imaging characteristics and the role of exercise in tendon healing. These publications will join Dr. Johnson’s other accepted manuscripts to Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound (2018) and Operative Techniques in Orthopaedics (2016).

“The health and welfare of America’s horses is core to the mission of the EQUUS Foundation. We are honored to partner with The Foundation for the Horse through the EQUUS Foundation Research Fellowship to support veterinarians who are dedicating their careers to equine research,” said Jenny Belknap Kees, EQUUS Foundation chairman. 

The AAEp annually funds and promotes equine research and continued education for veterinarians. For more information about this program and other scholarships offered through The Foundation for the Horse, visit foundationforthehorse.org

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