December 01, 2021

Event

54th annual conference, Oct. 7-9, Salt Lake City

Program

The conference drew 747 attendees in person and 341 virtual attendees. Dr. Carrie Jurney, president of Not One More Vet, presented the keynote address on the issues of depression and suicide in the veterinary profession. Continuing education included sessions on beef cattle, dairy cattle, clinical skills, and practice management; student sessions; and sessions from the American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners. Also on offer was a trade show available to both in-person and virtual attendees. Student members who received $247,000 total in scholarships this year from the AABP were recognized at the conference.

Awards

Boehringer Ingelheim Bovine Practitioner of the Year
Dr. Kelly Barratt (Ontario ’05), Listowel, Ontario. Dr. Barratt is a co-owner of Heartland Animal Hospital and Veterinary Services in Listowel. She also serves as a consultant on quality assurance for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. Dr. Barratt is a past president of the Ontario Association of Bovine Practitioners and has served on the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians.

James A. Jarrett Award for Young Leaders
Dr. Elizabeth Homerosky (Ohio State ’12), Crossfield, Alberta. Dr. Homerosky is a partner at Veterinary Agri-Health Services in Crossfield. Earlier in her career, she was in beef cattle practice in western Iowa. A diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, Dr. Homerosky has a special interest in cow-calf and feedlot production medicine, consulting, and applied research.

Boehringer Ingelheim Excellence in Preventive Medicine Award—Beef
Dr. Christine Navarre (Louisiana State ‘90), Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Navarre is a professor at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, where she also serves as extension veterinarian. Earlier, she was a member of the veterinary faculty at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Navarre is a past president of the AABP and has served on the association’s Beef Health Management Committee.

Boehringer Ingelheim Excellence in Preventive Medicine Award—Dairy
Dr. James Bennett (Minnesota ’81), Plainview, Minnesota. Dr. Bennett is a partner at Northern Valley Livestock Services and serves as a consultant with Northern Valley Dairy Production Medicine Center in Plainview. He has also served as a consultant with Merck Animal Health in China and for Dairyworks, providing management information through seminars and farm visits.

Zoetis Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Dale Moore (California-Davis ’83), Moscow, Idaho. Dr. Moore is a professor emeritus at Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. During her tenure, she also served as director of veterinary extension and continuing veterinary education. Dr. Moore is a member of the Field Disease Investigation Unit in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the veterinary college. A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, she is active with the Academy of Dairy Veterinary Consultants and is a member of the AABP Lameness Committee.

Merck Animal Health Mentor of the Year Award
Dr. W. Mark Hilton (Purdue ’83), West Lafayette, Indiana. Dr. Hilton is a senior beef technical consultant with Elanco Animal Health in West Lafayette. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at DeWitt Veterinary Clinic in DeWitt, Iowa, and served as a clinical professor of beef production medicine at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Hilton is a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners and a past president of the WVC Annual Conference.

AABP Award of Excellence
Dr. Nigel Cook, Waunakee, Wisconsin. A 1992 veterinary graduate of the University of Bristol in England, Dr. Cook is a professor and chair of the Department of Medical Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. He is a past president of the AABP and a current member of the AABP Lameness Committee. Dr. Cook is known for his expertise in lameness prevention, management of heat stress, cow comfort, assessment of transition cows, maintenance of milk quality, and general cow well-being.

Amstutz-Williams Award
Dr. Dee Griffin (Oklahoma ’75), Lincoln, Nebraska. Prior to retirement, Dr. Griffin held a joint appointment between Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, where he served as a clinical professor, and the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, where he served as director of the Texas Veterinary Medical Center. He is a past director of the Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach program at the Texas A&M veterinary college and is a past president of the Academy of Veterinary Consultants.

Honorary Life Membership
Dickson Lewis, Orono, Minnesota, a businessman, received honorary life membership for his longtime contributions to the AABP through serving as a consultant to the Veterinary Practice Sustainability Committee and helping apply for grants and being an instructor for workshops on practice management funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Officials

Drs. Pat Gorden, Ames, Iowa, president; Sandra Godden, St. Paul, Minnesota, president-elect; Michael Capel, Geneseo, New York, vice president; Brian Reed, Lititz, Pennsylvania, treasurer; Richard Wallace, McFarland, Wisconsin, parliamentarian; and Carie Telgen, Greenwich, New York, immediate past president