VMBS Professor Receives American Veterinary Medical Association Career Award

Dr. Kate Creevy, a professor in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (VMBS) Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and chief veterinary officer for The Dog Aging Project, has been selected to receive the 2026 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Career Achievement in Canine Research Award.

Presented annually by the AVMA, the Career Achievement in Canine Research Award is one of the profession’s highest honors, recognizing a veterinarian whose work has made a lasting impact on canine health and research.

“This recognition is deeply meaningful to me and I am honored that my peers and colleagues deemed me worthy of this award,” Creevy said. “It’s a privilege to work with both our participating dogs and the people who love them to better understand and improve the aging experience.”

Creevy is widely recognized for her leadership in advancing the scientific understanding of canine aging, longevity, and age‑related disease. She is a scientific founder, executive committee member, and chief veterinary officer of The Dog Aging Project, a nationwide research initiative launched in 2019 that has grown to become the largest long-term study of canine aging. 

The project has enrolled more than 50,000 dogs, and its ongoing recruitment and retention activities are supported by multiyear funding from the National Institute on Aging and more than $4 million in philanthropic donations. 

Creevy also is first author of a landmark 2022 Nature article that introduced the Dog Aging Project to the global scientific community. The consortium has produced more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, and its curated, de-identified data has been shared through more than 300 research access requests worldwide. Last year, two Dog Aging Project publications also were among the five most-read articles in the American Journal of Veterinary Research. 

In addition, as principal investigator of the Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs (TRIAD) — a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial — Creevy is studying whether low-dose rapamycin can extend healthy lifespan in dogs, advancing One Health research with relevance to human aging.

Her research interests include healthy aging in companion dogs, infectious disease, and science education, including the development of lifelong learning skills among veterinary students.

Throughout her career, Creevy has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, mentored veterinary students and researchers, and collaborated with scientists across multiple disciplines to advance canine health research.

Her research has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Zoetis Award for Veterinary Research Excellence in 2022, Texas A&M University’s Outstanding Research Leader Award in 2021 and Presidential Impact Fellowship in 2021, and the Texas Veterinary Medical Association Faculty Achievement Award for Research in 2018.

Creevy will be recognized during the AVMA Convention, July 10-14 in Anaheim, California.