Each year, the BSAVA presents awards during a special ceremony on the Thursday of Congress. These awards are in recognition of the contributions made by individuals working in the field of small animal medicine and surgery. The Awards Committee which compromises the Presidents of the BSAVA, RCVS and BVA together with the chairmen of the BSAVA’s Scientific and Publications Committees meet every December to consider nominations for Awards. The Committee cannot make nominations itself and therefore relies on the BSAVA membership putting forward names for consideration.

Recipients of the 2013 awards will receive their accolade in a ceremony to be held on Thursday 4 April 2013, at the ICC, Birmingham, UK.

The recipients of the awards from 2012 are listed below:

This award is presented annually by the BSAVA as the primary international recognition for really outstanding contributions to the field of small animal practice.  The award, which takes the form of glass artwork and a scroll is open to Veterinary surgeons and non-veterinary surgeons as recipients.

This award is presented annually for meritorious contributions by veterinary surgeons to small animal veterinary practiceand is kindly sponsored by Royal Canin. The award, which takes the form of BSAVA Manuals and a cheque, is open only to veterinary surgeons in general practice.

The award was instituted in memory of the late Professor E.C. Amoroso of the Royal Veterinary College and is kindly sponsored by Hill's Pet Nutrition. It is presented for outstanding contributions to small animal studies by a non-clinical member of university staff.

Alan Radford BSc BVSc PhD MRCVS – 2012 Amoroso Award Winner

Alan graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1993 with a veterinary degree, having also received a BSc in 1991 after intercalating in the relatively new discipline of Molecular Biology. After a short time as a locum, he completed an internship in Small Animal Medicine at University College Dublin. He returned to Liverpool to complete his PhD in 1998 on the Evolution of feline calicivirus, an important cause of oral and respiratory disease in cats. Since then he has developed the application of sequence analysis primarily for infectious diseases. This led to the award in 2008 of an RCVS Trust Golden Jubilee grant to sequence 50 veterinary pathogens. Recent publications on pathogens include feline calicivirus, parvovirus and coronavirus, foot and mouth disease, Japanese encephalitis virus, squirrel poxvirus, Mycoplasma, Anaplasma, Campylobacter and Streptococcus spp. This work was carried out in collaboration with colleagues around the world. Alan is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool. In parallel with this work, a gradual realisation that companion animal vets lack disease surveillance data led him with colleagues to establish the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) in 2008. After a successful three-year pilot this project will now be taken forward in 2012 in an exciting new collaboration with BSAVA. Alan also has broad interests in undergraduate and postgraduate training in communication skills, having helped establish the first such course in the UK. He is a member of the European Advisory Board of Cat Disease and the Study Group on Caliciviruses for the International Committee for Taxonomy of Viruses, serves on the editorial board of Journal of Feline Medicine and Therapeutics, and is a member of BSAVA’s Scientific Committee.

The Simon Award is presented annually to a member of the BSAVA for outstanding contributions in the field of veterinary surgery. Simon, a Golden Retriever owned by Mr J. Thomas, a blind telephone operator, also became blind and had his sight restored by surgery, thus enabling him to resume his full duties as a guide dog. Mr Thomas, in appreciation of the work and surgical skill which had made this possible, inaugurated and made this award at the 1962 Annual Congress. The award takes the form of a statuette of ‘Simon’, BSAVA Manuals and a cheque and is kindly sponsored by Veterinary Instrumentation.

Sorrel Langley-Hobbs MA BVetMed DSAS(O) DipECVS  MRCVS – 2012 Simon Award winner

Sorrel Langley-Hobbs is this year’s recipient. Sorrel graduated from and completed her internship and orthopaedic residency at the Royal Veterinary College, London. She gained her RCVS Diploma in Small Animal Surgery (Orthopaedics) in 1997 and her ECVS Diploma in Small Animal Surgery in 1999. She spent six months as a Lecturer in surgery at the University of Pennsylvania in 1998, and is currently University Surgeon and the Head of Small Animal Surgery at the University of Cambridge. She is interested in all aspects of small animal orthopaedic surgery, but has a particular interest in feline orthopaedics. She has published widely on various orthopaedics topics, including many papers specifically on cats, and she co-edited a textbook on Feline Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Disease with Katja Voss and Pierre Montavon in 2009. Current research interests include the feline patella and incomplete ossification of the humeral condyle in Spaniels

This award is presented for outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal veterinary medicine or surgery. The award, kindly sponsored by Royal Cannin takes the form of textbooks and a cheque.

Veterinary surgeons and non-veterinary surgeons are eligible as recipients.

Boyd Jones BVSc FACVSc DipECVIM MRCVS - 2012 Blaine Award Winner

Boyd graduated from Massey University and, after working in mixed practice, taught at the University of Melbourne until 1975. He returned to Massey University where he became Head of the Small Animal Clinic and Hospital. He was Chairman of the Veterinary Council of New Zealand (1994–1997) and President of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists. He undertook sabbatical leave in Britain and America, and held the position of Adjunct Professor in small animal internal medicine at the University of Florida. In 1997 Boyd accepted the Chair in Small Animal Clinical Studies at University College Dublin. Boyd is a Fellow of the Australian College and Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, and until this year an RCVS Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Medicine. He was Vice President of EAEVE and Dean of the Veterinary Faculty in Dublin from 2002–2007 before returning to New Zealand in 2009. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of companion animal medicine at Massey University. He has participated worldwide in veterinary continuing education programmes, postgraduate education and resident training, and has been active in clinical research. He has participated on the editorial boards of numerous veterinary journals and acted as a specialist referee for many journals. He has been an examiner for Resident Diplomas and for Masters and PhD qualifications at different universities. Boyd has been a member of the BSAVA since 1966. His research interests are in small animal internal medicine, and he has published over 170 refereed papers in aspects of canine and feline medicine. He has a major research interest in working dogs and is also a co-director of Veterinary Education International.

This award is presented to a member of the BSAVA for outstanding contributions in the field of small animal veterinary medicine. The award takes the form of BSAVA Manuals, a cheque and a silver salver held for one year and is in memory of C.E. Woodrow, a founder member of the Association and, of course, its first President.

This award is presented annually and takes the form of an inscribed figure and a cheque. The award celebrates the memory of Alf Wight, otherwise known to millions as the fictitious James Herriot. Veterinarians on the RCVS register are eligible as recipients of the award, which is presented to recognise outstanding contributions to the welfare of companion animals.

This award is presented to the author of the most valuable article published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice by a small animal practitioner during the 12 months ending 31st October. The aim of the award is to encourage the publication of high quality research performed by a small animal practitioner. To qualify for this award, the first author of the paper should be a practitioner working outside of academia. The award will be presented to the first author, regardless of who the other authors are. Priority will be given to first opinion practitioners. Priority will be given to original papers, but case series may be considered. The award takes the form of textbooks and a cheque.  The award is kindly sponsored by MSD Animal Health.

Paul Adams BVetMed MRCVS – 2012 Dunkin Award Winner

The 2012 winning paper is Influence of signalment on developing cranial cruciate rupture in dogs in the UK, and the Award goes to Paul Adams  The 2012 winning paper is Influence of signalment on developing cranial cruciate rupture in dogs in the UK, and the Award goes to Paul Adams. Paul qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 2007. He then completed a Junior Clinical Training Scholarship at the Royal Veterinary College, Queen Mother Hospital for Animals, before moving to Derbyshire to work in small animal private practice. In October 2009 he moved to the PDSA in Stoke-on-Trent, where he had the pleasure of working with a diligent and highly skilled team. In November 2011 he left the PDSA to complete the ESVPS General Practitioner Certificate in Ophthalmology, during which time he practised as a locum veterinary surgeon. During 2011 he published a short communication entitled Zygomatic salivary mucocoele in a Lhasa Apso following maxillary tooth extraction in the Veterinary Record followed by his award-winning paper in the Journal of Small Animal Practice.

This award is presented to the author of the best clinical research paper published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice (JSAP) during the 12 months ending 31 October 2011 and is kindly sponsored by Hills.

The Clinical Research Abstracts (CRAs) are an important part of the BSAVA Congress Scientific Programme. The criteria for judging the abstracts include the likely impact of the work presented, the quality of the written abstract and the originality of the work. The awards take the form of a £300 cheque to be spent on CPD.

The Clinical Research Abstracts are split into the following categories:

• Best presentation by a recent graduate/intern
• Best presentation by a resident/graduate student in medicine
• Best presentation by a resident/graduate student in surgery
• Best presentation by a general practitioner
• Best poster
  
  Practitioner Award sponsored by companion magazine

For more information on please visit the Clinical Research Abstracts page.

The scholarship was established in 1988 in memory of Frank Beattie, a well respected veterinary surgeon and a long-standing member of the BSAVA. It is awarded annually from a generous gift given by Frank’s widow, Annie.

This travel scholarship is specifically to help a BSAVA member to undertake a trip abroad to study a particular aspect of veterinary practice. For more information email secretary@bsava.com

The travel scholarship fund for 2012 will be £4000 (double the usual £2000), so the next recipient will hopefully have double the experience.

Melanie Fleming LLB MA VetMB MRCVS – 2012 Petsavers Award Winner

Melanie graduated from Cambridge Veterinary School in 2004, having worked previously as a corporate solicitor. She worked in small animal practice, initially in Petersfield, then in Chepstow. Melanie currently works part-time as a locum in Cambridgeshire, whilst completing the old-style RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Ophthalmology and raising a young family. She also sits on the Advisory Committee of the Veterinary Defence Society. Melanie will attend the ACVO William Magrane Basic Science Course in Veterinary and Comparative Ophthalmology, an intensive three-week training course based in North Carolina in June 2012.