2025 Young Investigator Research Grants

Young Investigator Research Grants are awarded to AAEP-member graduate students, residents, or postdoctoral fellows conducting research. (See also Innovation and Discovery Grants.)

Since its inception in 2019, The Foundation’s Young Investigators Research Grant program has awarded $763,214 supporting 41 impactful research projects by up-and-coming investigators.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) partnered with The Foundation to help make these research projects possible. TERF, whose mission is to make racing safer through research, education, and scholarships, provided funding and collaborative support for two Young Investigator projects. Since 2020, TERF has partnered with The Foundation on 11 projects totaling $190,804.

Following are the 2025 funded projects:

RESEARCH PROJECT: Evaluation of Shear Wave Elastography as a Diagnostic Tool for Liver Disease in Horses

For horses with liver disease, it can be challenging to determine the cause and severity of disease. A major factor used to determine the prognosis for long-term survival is the degree of fibrosis or scarring in the liver. The gold-standard test is histopathology, which requires an invasive liver biopsy. Available blood tests cannot determine the amount of fibrosis and the standard imaging technique of B-mode ultrasound examination of the liver is subjective and insensitive to mild changes. Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (SWE) is an alternative ultrasound-based imaging technique that has been validated in people and dogs to detect varying degrees of fibrosis.

The SWE technique measures the stiffness of tissue. When there is fibrous or fatty infiltrate in the liver, the stiffness increases. Therefore, SWE has the potential to detect diseased liver tissue even when changes are not clearly visible in standard B-mode ultrasonography. Shear wave elastography but has not yet been studied in horses. We hypothesize SWE could provide a valuable, non-invasive alternative or adjunct to biopsy, potentially improving the early detection and management of liver disease in horses. This study will compare liver SWE measurements to histopathologic quantitation of fibrosis in horses with and without evidence of liver disease. An additional aim of this study is to establish baseline ultrasonographic measurements for liver size in healthy horses by correlating imaging findings to liver weight at post-mortem examination. These aims will significantly enhance our ability to diagnose and monitor liver disease and fibrosis in horses.

RESEARCHER: Dr. Jessie Cathcart, University of Pennsylvania

RESEARCH PROJECT: Cell-free hemoglobin in septic adult horses  

Sepsis is a life-threatening disease that happens when the body overreacts to an infection. In horses, it can result from issues like colic, pneumonia, or retained placenta after foaling. Common symptoms include fever, rapid heart and breathing rates, low energy, and abnormal bloodwork. Because sepsis can quickly become fatal, early detection and treatment are very important. However, sepsis affects the body in many ways, thus tracking it can be a challenge requiring multiple tests. In horses, available tests often use specialized lab equipment and may not be reliable or may be expensive. That’s why there is a growing need for simple, reliable tools that can help detect and monitor sepsis more easily.

This study focuses on cell-free hemoglobin (CFH), a substance that leaks into the bloodstream when red blood cells break down during various illnesses, including sepsis. In people and dogs with sepsis, high levels of CFH are linked to worse outcomes. CFH may contribute to disease by increasing inflammation and oxidative stress in the body. In human medicine, a small handheld device can quickly measure CFH levels at the bedside, helping doctors act fast. Some studies even suggest that acetaminophen may help reduce CFH-related damage.

In horses, only one study has looked at CFH, showing that horses with intestinal disease had higher levels than healthy ones. Therefore, CFH could be a useful and easy marker for tracking sepsis in horses, but more research is needed.

This project has three goals: 1) compare CFH levels among healthy horses, sick non-septic horses, and septic horses; 2) monitor how CFH changes over time and whether it relates to illness severity and outcome; 3) compare the quick handheld test measuring CFH used in people to the standard laboratory method, to see if it works well in horses too.

The study will include 45 horses divided into three groups: healthy, sick but not septic, and septic. Blood samples will be taken when the horse arrives at the hospital and again multiple times, during its stay. CFH levels will be measured using both the handheld device and a laboratory method. Data will be analyzed to check how well these tests agree, and whether CFH levels can predict illness severity and outcomes. The researchers hope to show that measuring CFH using an easy, rapid stall side test could help veterinarians in judging the illness severity and monitor how the horse responds to the treatment.

RESEARCHER: Dr. Serena Ceriotti, Auburn University

RESEARCH PROJECT: Metabolic predictors of steroid-induced laminitis risk

Corticosteroids (steroids) are a commonly used and highly effective treatment for the management of equine joint disease but have potential severe side effects such as laminitis. Recent studies have shown that joint treatment with steroids can lead to elevations in insulin and glucose that last for up to five days after injection. The degree of insulin and glucose elevations varies greatly between horses, and in some cases insulin levels of > 200 mIU/mL have been reported. Other studies have demonstrated that insulin concentrations in this range can cause laminitis to develop within 48 hours. Although pre-injection insulin testing is anecdotally performed by veterinarians in the field in an effort to predict laminitis risk, there is no evidence that baseline insulin testing correlates with the insulin response to steroids and severe insulin increases can occur in horses with low baseline insulin concentrations. Currently, veterinarians have no effective diagnostic tools to predict which horses will experience these extreme spikes in blood insulin and glucose concentrations. In this study, we aim to identify diagnostic markers that could be used by veterinarians to predict an individual horse’s insulin response to steroids. Twelve horses will undergo multiple tests of metabolic health including measurement of hormones produced by fat cells, assessment of the insulin response to carbohydrates and a high protein meal, and assessment of the blood sugar response to insulin. Horses will then receive joint injections in the upper and middle carpal joints with a steroid (triamcinolone) and their insulin and blood glucose response to the steroid will be measured. By evaluating multiple tests at once followed immediately by a steroid injection trial we hope to identify diagnostic markers that are highly predictive of the insulin response to steroid administration. These markers can then be further developed for veterinarians to use as diagnostic tools in the field to predict an individual horse’s risk of steroid-associated laminitis prior to injection.  This would allow veterinarians to adjust their therapeutic approach in high-risk animals and greatly reduce the impact of steroid-induced laminitis.

RESEARCHER: Dr. Kimberly Hallowell, North Carolina State University

RESEARCH PROJECT: Biomarkers of Mucosal Damage in Horses with Salmonella

Salmonella is a leading cause of infectious colitis in horses, impacting individuals, herds, and the equine industry as a whole. Salmonella outbreaks have been implicated in the closure of multiple equine veterinary hospitals, leading to significant financial losses. A paradox of this enteric pathogen is its ability to cause overt disease (clinical infection) in some horses while others maintain their healthy status despite shedding similar amounts of pathogen in their feces (subclinical shedders). This proposal aims to understand the dynamics of Salmonella infection at the level of the mucosal barrier, a key component of the gastrointestinal tract’s defense against pathogen colonization by profiling biomarkers of mucosal injury (fatty acids and sterols). By comparing horses with clinical and subclinical Salmonella infection, this study will explore how mucosal injury correlates with disease expression and may reveal critical insights into host-pathogen interaction that determine clinical outcome.

RESEARCHER: Dr. Rockson Karmacharya, Texas Tech University

RESEARCH PROJECT: Immunothrombosis in equine neonatal sepsis: an under-recognized driver of disease?

Sepsis is a life-threatening, over-active immune response to infection and is the leading cause of death in newborn foals. Preliminary data in our lab suggests that newborn foals may be at high risk for sepsis and its deadly complications because their immune and blood clotting cells are highly activated after birth even in health. While this can help fight infection initially, it can also cause harmful inflammation and block blood flow to vital organs if it persists. This project will be the first to study how these cells interact to cause deadly complications in foals and will allow us to develop approaches to identify and treat at-risk foals sooner to decrease the impact of this important equine disease.

RESEARCHER: Dr. Margaret Lemons, University of Georgia

RESEARCH PROJECT: Closing the Gap in Equine Anesthesia Safety: Targeted Ventilation to Improve Recovery Outcomes  

Horses face a much higher risk of serious complications from anesthesia than other animals. Most of these problems don’t happen during the surgery itself, but afterward—when the horse is waking up and trying to stand. This is a dangerous moment, as horses can injure themselves if they are weak, disoriented, or uncoordinated.

A major cause of poor recoveries is low oxygen levels during anesthesia. Horses often don’t breathe well under anesthesia, which can leave them weak and slow to recover. To address this, our team is studying a new way to support breathing during surgery, called Flow-Controlled Expiration (FLEX). This method helps horses maintain better oxygen levels and healthier lungs while under anesthesia.

In this study, we will test whether FLEX helps horses recover more smoothly and safely after surgery. We expect that horses with better oxygen levels will wake up faster, breathe more easily, and have fewer problems trying to stand. Our goal is to make anesthesia safer for horses—improving not just surgical outcomes but also protecting their long-term health and well-being.

RESEARCHER: Dr. Allison Mika, University of Pennsylvania