Partnership Helps Support Veterinary School at OSU

Friday, January 28, 2011

Merial Limited Corporation has announced a donation of $225,000 to the Oklahoma State University Foundation as it becomes the National Center for Veterinary Parasitology’s third industry partner.

This partnership will help accomplish the mission of the NCVP by expanding the many developments made in controlling parasitic diseases of animals through integrated programs of applied graduate and residency training, targeted research initiatives, and a diagnostic and consulting service that serves the veterinary profession worldwide.

“We are very pleased to have Merial as our third partner,” said Dr. Michael Lorenz, professor and dean of the veterinary center.  “Merial’s support is critical for the center to fulfill its mission of training veterinary parasitologists and conducting parasitology research.”

The NCVP will be a national resource for diagnostic testing and fill a great need for clinically-oriented veterinary parasitologists who can meet current and future demands of the industry.

“I believe this center will produce quality parasitologists, working for the future of veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Doug Carithers, Merial’s director of applied research and publications. “The mere presence of this program will help elevate the prestige of the field of practical veterinary parasitology to the level which it should have always enjoyed; attracting quality candidates, and they, in-turn, will become invaluable assets for the future of veterinary medicine.”

Merial’s donation will support a resident in clinical parasitology at OSU, adding support to the existing NCVP infrastructure for research and education in veterinary parasitology.  Novartis Animal Health and Bayer HealthCare, LLC, Animal Health Division were the first industry partners. They committed $225,000 each to assist with laboratory renovation and related start-up costs for the NCVP.

“These donations will advance the field of veterinary parasitology in a concrete way, in that we’ll have trained clinical parasitologists,” said Dr. Susan Little, professor and Krull-Ewing endowed chair at the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. “It creates a center of excellence at Oklahoma State that can then serve the profession both nationally and internationally.”

The partnerships create an opportunity to move the veterinary practice forward to grow the next generation of parasitologists.