Newport Laboratories establishes inaugural award for cattle health

Second-year veterinary student Luke Daniels, who is the first-ever recipient of the Lex Thompson Veterinary Investigator Award. (Photo courtesy of Newport Laboratories)

Last month, Newport Laboratories—a Boehringer Ingelheim company—named Luke Daniels, a second-year veterinary student at the University of Illinois (UIUC), the recipient of its first-ever 2021 Lex Thompson Veterinary Investigator Award. This inaugural award is named after the late Dr Lex Thompson, a longtime technical service veterinarian with Newport Labs who passed away in March of 2020.

According to the company release, the award will be annually given to a veterinary student who displays an outstanding research proposal that includes the tools and support necessary to achieve it. This year's winner, Daniels, plans to explore the genetic diversity of Moraxella bovis (a bacterium that causes pinkeye in cattle), thus exemplifying Thompson's investigative initiative.

“Looking ahead to the next generation of bovine health challenges is critical to ensuring veterinarians and producers have the tools and knowledge they need to address them,” said Randy Shirbroun, DVM, Director of the Ruminant Business Unit at Newport Laboratories, in the release.

“So, who better to ensure the industry is keeping a watchful eye toward the future than the bright young minds who will be on the front lines of cattle health in the years to come?" He added.

Daniels plans to conduct his research with the support of both Newport Lab's technical service veterinarians and the company’s diagnostics, research, and development teams along with a professor or practicing veterinarian. Currently, he serves as the UIUC AABP representative in the Production Medicine Club, where he organizes wet labs and educational lectures that include segments like cow-calf nutrition and dairy palpation labs.

Additionally, once graduated, Daniels plans to continue exploring the different production systems found within the US, while working as a practitioner and overseeing his own production cattle operation.

“I’m honored to have been selected as the first recipient of the Lex Thompson Veterinary Investigator Award and excited to work with Newport Labs to answer some critical questions about Moraxella bovis, a pathogen that causes significant challenges for the cattle industry,” said Daniels.

To learn more about Newport Laboratories and its mission, go here.