3VM To Present Equine Research At Internal Medicine Conference
Hunter Greer, a third-year veterinary student at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM), was selected to present her research abstract on equine chronic wound treatment to the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) Forum this June.
“I heard about the opportunity to submit an abstract and present at the conference, and I thought it would just be a really cool and unique opportunity as a young veterinary student who is aspiring to one day be an expert, just like the people in attendance at this conference,” Greer said.
Greer’s interest in horses began at an early age. She grew up in Flower Mound, Texas, where her parents owned an equestrian center that focused on horse training, competition, and boarding. Greer plans to focus on equine medicine in her veterinary career, and has a strong interest in internal medicine and surgery.
The ACVIM Forum, an annual conference for internal medicine specialists, will be taking place June 6-8, 2019 in Phoenix. Each year, veterinary students have the opportunity to submit an abstract for presentation, which will then also be published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
“I thought it’d be great to be able to go and network, as well as just learn from these people that are considered experts in veterinary medicine,” Greer said.
As part of the Veterinary Medical Student Research Training Program, Greer helped develop an antimicrobial hydrogel matrix that allows for better wound healing in horses. Horses often suffer from chronic wound infections, which can be used as a model for chronic foot ulcers in people with diabetes.
“Our research focused on developing a product that would be more effective and reliable and cost-efficient at treating these wounds,” Greer said.
Greer worked with Dr. Noah Cohen, Patsy Link chair in equine research and professor of large animal internal medicine, and Dr. Canaan Whitfield, a CVM assistant professor of large animal surgery, to develop the treatment. They partnered with Dr. Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez, who was then a professor at the Texas A&M College of Engineering, to create the 3-D-printed dressing.
Once the dressing is printed, it is loaded with an antimicrobial drug that kills bacteria and encourages wound healing. The flexible hydrogel material allows for wound visibility and controlled drug delivery.
Hunter Greer also received the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation Student Research Scholar Award for this research project and was able to present to the Texas Veterinary Medical Association board of directors.
