by Fran Jurga | 29 April 2009 | The Jurga Report
Equine researchers may be horsehold names among readers of magazines like EQUUS, but it is not every day that they receive high honors for their work in the larger sphere of academia. But that is exactly what is happening today at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.
If you read EQUUS or any of the Equine Network publications, you have read about the research of Colorado State’s remarkable orthopedics lab and its prolific director, C. Wayne McIlwraith BVSc, PhD, FRCVS, DSc, Dr. med vet (hc), Diplomate ACVS . There’s even a good chance that your own horse may have benefited from techniques and studies that began in Dr. McIlwraith’s lab…or in his fertile mind.
Today, Dr. McIlwraith is one of three science professors at the huge university who will add yet another title to his list: University Distinguished Professor.
Collectively, the university told us today, these three world-renowned professors have made great strides in diverse fields of science, while simultaneously garnering more than $100 million in research grants, teaching hundreds of students who now make contributions around the world, and influencing scientific thought in their field.
The rank of University Distinguished Professor is a lifetime award and carries over into retirement as an Emeritus Professor.
Dr. McIlwraith is professor of surgery and director of Colorado State University’s Gail E. Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Research Center. The center, which is part of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, treats orthopedic injuries of the world’s finest horses and investigates orthopedic treatments and preventative medicine. Many of the innovations at the Equine Orthopaedic Research Center also can be applied to human medicine.
Dr. McIlwraith joined Colorado State in 1979 in the Department of Clinical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences as an equine surgeon with a research focus in orthopedics. He is a native of New Zealand, and is currently active in almost every area of orthopedic research, from studying treatments for surgical repair of bone and tendon injuries, to the treatment and prevention of arthritis to the study of racetrack surfaces and even to statistical studies of breakdown injuries in racehorses.
