Equine Research Park Expands
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
The Equine Research Park at Oklahoma State University’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences (CVHS) recently broke ground for a new equine exercise physiology laboratory. Located on Lakeview Drive just north of the OSU Stillwater campus, the new facility illustrates growth in the CVHS’s equine research activities.
“This new lab enables us to consolidate equine hands-on teaching and research activities into one location,” said Dr. Carlos Risco, CVHS dean. “The clinical techniques and procedures our veterinary students need to master and the ever-increasing complexity of research protocols dictate that we expand and upgrade our facilities. Breaking ground for the new lab reinforces the CVHS’s long-term commitment to enhancing the quality of life and performance of horses through teaching and research.”
Expanding the Equine Research Park reduces the need to transport and house research horses at the Center’s Veterinary Medical Hospital, allowing the Hospital to focus on providing quality care to the citizens of Oklahoma and their horses, completing CVHS’s commitment to horses through service.
“Research takes place here at a very high level,” added Dr. Kenneth Sewell, OSU vice president for research. “Taking the size of our faculty into account within the CVHS, OSU CVHS is a top ten research performer among all U.S. schools of veterinary medicine. It makes the CVHS a critical contributor to OSU’s status as a top tier research university according to the Carnegie classifications. In the last five years, the research published by our CVHS faculty has had impact all over the world. Many of these publications, individual research papers, are among the top ten most frequently cited veterinary research works in the world. I can’t wait to see OSU’s new equine physiology lab bustling with faculty and students hard at work to make new discoveries and create new opportunities for horses and for me and you. It all starts right here today. Congratulations on getting to this point and thanks to everyone who’s been such a big part of it.”
Funding for the project comes with a lead gift from the E.L. and Thelma Gaylord Foundation and other individual donors. If equine wellness is your passion, please contact Chris Sitz, senior director of development and team lead for the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences with the OSU Foundation, at 405-385-5170 or csitz@osugiving.com.