BSAVA Awards winners announced - Veterinary Practice
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BSAVA Awards winners announced

The BSAVA is delighted to announce the award winners of the 2021 and 2022 BSAVA Awards which recognise sustained contributions to the veterinary profession across a wide range of areas

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) is delighted to announce the award winners of 2021 and 2022. Embodying both of the organisation’s strategic pillars – community and science – the BSAVA awards recognise sustained contributions to the veterinary profession across a wide range of areas.

With some awards now over 60 years old, they are steeped in history. From “The Simon Award”, named after a guide dog whose sight was restored by surgery, to “The Woodrow Award” which is named after a founding member of the BSAVA and its first President. Winners will receive their prizes at this year’s BSAVA Congress taking place in Manchester Central on 24 to 26 March.  

“Congratulations to all those that are receiving an accolade,” says BSAVA Honorary Secretary Krista Arnold. “All the nominations were exceptional, making judging particularly difficult this year.”

Joining some of the most notable names in the veterinary sector, the judges are delighted to announce the 2022 award winners are:

Clinical awards

Laurent Garosi – The Bourgelat Award

This award is presented by BSAVA in recognition of truly outstanding international contributions to the field of small animal practice.

Laurent’s scholarly activities have accrued international renown and tremendous respect. His work on both cerebrovascular disease and phenotypic classification and clinical characteristics of movement disorders in dogs has progressed the respective fields. Laurent is extremely productive in producing papers, presenting his work at national and international scientific meetings, teaching all levels of veterinary professionals both at home and abroad, and has founded and contributed to several prominent and successful electronic media learning forums, as well as proactively sharing information on social media platforms. It is without doubt that Laurent has positioned himself well above those in his field at a similar professional stage and he has done so with seemingly tireless productivity and great repose. He is already an internationally respected neurologist and has made an outstanding contribution to the field of small animal practice.

Join Laurent at BSAVA Congress 2022, where he will be looking at differentiating characteristics of paroxysmal dyskinesia and epileptic seizures, implementing appropriate diagnostic work-up in a cat or a dog with paroxysmal dyskinesia and understanding principles and current knowledge of treatment of paroxysmal dyskinesia.

Sarah Girling – The Simon Award sponsored by Veterinary Instrumentation

This award is presented to a member of the BSAVA for outstanding contributions in the field of veterinary surgery. Simon, a Golden Retriever owned by Mr Thomas, a blind telephone operator, also became blind and had his sight restored by surgery, enabling him to resume his full duties as a guide dog. In appreciation of the work and surgical skill which had made this possible, Mr Thomas inaugurated and made this award at the 1962 annual Congress.

Sarah Girling is committed to clinical excellence in the field of orthopaedics. She is an integral member of the successful hip replacement programme at Fitzpatrick Referrals, is the supervisor and mentor to the Fitzpatrick Referrals junior surgical team (residents and interns), Arthrex consultant and educator, AOVet lecturer and member of the advisory group for the recently launched canine crucial registry. She has an unrivalled work ethic and inspires those around her to achieve the same.

Kit Sturgess – The Woodrow Award

This award is presented for contributions to the advancement of small animal medicine by a qualified veterinarian. The award is in memory of C E Woodrow, a founder member of the Association and, of course, its first President.

Kit Sturgess has gone beyond and above to lecture internal medicine and cardiology to veterinary surgeons in the UK and internationally. He volunteers his time to bring veterinary knowledge and scientific evidence based veterinary medicine to the profession and has done so for many years. His dedication and commitment are recognised through this award. 

Teaching awards

Martin Hawes – The Amoroso Award sponsored by Hill’s Pet Nutrition

This award was instituted in memory of the late Professor E C Amoroso of the Royal Veterinary College and is presented for outstanding contributions to small animal studies by a non-clinical member of university staff.

Martin Hawes has devised a novel method of teaching consulting skills, utilising 360 degree cameras and videoing real consults. He is also an inspirational teacher.

Welfare awards

Julie Dugmore – The Bruce Vivash Jones Veterinary Nursing Award

This award is presented by the BSAVA as the primary recognition for outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal veterinary nursing.

Julie Dugmore has been dedicated to progressing veterinary nurse education in the UK and beyond. Her enthusiasm for veterinary nursing training has brought her into other fields outside the UK. She is chair of the Accreditation Committee for Veterinary Nurse Education (ACOVENE) and a board member of the Veterinary European Transnational Network for Nursing Education and Training (VETNNET) and has, over the past ten years, been involved with several Leonardo da Vinci European funded projects developing veterinary nurse training across the European Union. She is given the award as recognition for her work and continued commitment to the advancement of small animal veterinary nursing.

Daniella Dos Santos – The J.A. Wight Memorial Award sponsored by Blue Cross

This award is presented annually by the Blue Cross to a veterinary surgeon who has made an outstanding contribution to the welfare of companion animals.

Daniella’s constant ambition is to ensure animal welfare is always put first. Behind the scenes after long days at the practice Daniella puts her heart and soul into working with the British Veterinary Association (BVA), making public appearances to be the voice for animals, and to educate and to support veterinary practice again, putting animal welfare first!

Claire Bessant – The Ray Butcher Award

This award is BSAVA’s “unsung hero” award which is presented annually to recognise an individual who has made a significant contribution to animal welfare in the community. This award is in memory of Ray Butcher, president of the Association between from 1993 to 1994, who sadly passed away in 2015.

Claire Bessant has been with International Cat Care for 25 years. During her time at the charity she has transformed a small organisation focusing on breeders into an international charity with a vital role in veterinary education. She has developed the Cat Friendly Clinic programme, and worked with breeders, cattery owners, other charities and cat owners to improve the welfare of the feline species. Claire has travelled the world over, supporting conferences, as well as writing ten books on cat care and authoring many articles and co-authoring papers in veterinary journals. Claire is not a vet, but understands vets, owners and those who work with cats, and advocates for this species on many committees. She is a deserving winner of this award.

Other awards

Wendy Mandese – The Dunkin Award

This award is presented to the first named author of the best original research article on small animal medicine published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice (JSAP) in the past year.

Wendy Mandese’s article, titled “Stress in client-owned dogs related to clinical exam location: a randomised crossover trial“, investigated whether it was more stressful for a dog to be examined in a common treatment area or in a room with the owner. The strengths of this study included randomised presentation of examination locations, minimising selection bias and bias due to unknown confounders and sequence effects, control of individual differences in stress at study entry and subjects acting as their own matched controls. Limitations included the inherent difficulties in defining and measuring stress in dogs and potential assessment bias due to inability to blind behavioural assessors. The JSAP editorial team believes this research showcases an elegant example of the use of a randomised controlled design in order to answer a well-defined clinical question that has an everyday impact.

Marzia Stabile – The Melton Award sponsored by Royal Canin

This award is presented to the first named author of the best original research article on small animal surgery published in the JSAP in the past year.

Marzia Stabile’s winning paper, “Comparison of CPAP and oxygen therapy for treatment of postoperative hypoxaemia in dogs” was a randomised multicentre clinical trial that evaluated the effect of different interventions (continuous positive airway pressure vs oxygen supplementation) on SpO2 in dogs that had values of SpO2 lower than 95 percent during recovery from general anaesthesia. Limitations included the use of SpO2 to assess oxygenation, rather than PaO2, and lack of blinding from both caregivers and outcome assessors. The JSAP editorial team considered this is a good example of a pragmatic randomised controlled trial performed on clinical patients and that results of this study have the potential to change current practice for management of a common anaesthetic complication.

Ross Bond – The PetSavers Veterinary Achievement Award sponsored by Hill’s Pet Nutrition

This award is presented to the first author of the most valuable full research paper published following a BSAVA PetSavers’ grant, in the past year.

Ross Bond is professor of veterinary dermatology at the Royal Veterinary College, is a recognised RCVS specialist in veterinary dermatology and holds RCVS and European College Diplomas in veterinary dermatology. His research interests relate primarily to microbial skin infections in dogs and cats. 

He is given this award for the paper “Transverse sectioning in the evaluation of skin biopsy specimens from alopecic dogs“, which is a well-structured study that used robust methodology to investigate the benefits of including transverse sectioning of skin biopsies from alopecic dogs alongside the routinely used vertical sectioning technique. The two sample processing methods were shown to be highly complementary, with transverse sectioning providing enhanced assessment of the hair growth phase and follicular structure and architecture. The findings suggest a relatively simple change to current sample processing that will provide additional diagnostic information and fundamentally improve the pathological assessment of skin samples from dogs with alopecia with no additional risk for the patient.

Rosanne Jepson – The Blaine Award sponsored by Royal Canin

This award is for outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal veterinary medicine or surgery and is open to veterinarians and non-veterinarians.

Rosanne is an associate professor in small animal internal medicine and recognised RCVS, ACVIM and ECVIM specialist in small animal internal medicine. Her particular areas of interest include nephrology, urology and hypertension. She has an active research profile in feline and canine renal disease and hypertension with an extensive publication record both in peer reviewed journals and as author of numerous text book chapters. She is one of the stars of UK veterinary science and in awarding Roseanne the Blaine Award, we recognise her significant contribution to the development of small animal nephrology in the UK.

2021 award winners also being presented with their prizes are:

  • Helen Ballantyne – The Bruce Vivash Jones Veterinary Nursing Award
  • Joanne Greathead – The Ray Butcher Award
  • Lowrie Davies – The Woodrow Award
  • Oliver Garden – The Blaine Award, sponsored by Royal Canin
  • Charlotte Howes – The Melton Award, sponsored by Royal Canin
  • Franck Jolivet – The Dunkin Award
  • Vicky Ironside – The PetSavers Veterinary Achievement Award, sponsored by Hill’s Pet Nutrition

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