NC State Vet School Receives Gift to Fund Clinical Research

North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has received a five-year, $625,000 gift from Novartis Animal Health U.S. to help support the clinical trials program in the college’s Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research (CCMTR).

The gift will fund a clinical trials veterinarian, a veterinary research technician, and laboratory space and equipment that will be dedicated to supporting clinical research studies involving patients in NC State’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

The clinical trials program (CTP) enables clinical investigators to evaluate novel approaches to diagnose and treat disease and deliver innovative solutions that enhance animal and human health. It also promotes research collaboration by serving as a liaison between clinical investigators, basic researchers, referring veterinarians, pet owners, and industry scientists. Program participation may help interest DVM students and residents in exploring careers in translational medicine.

“Clinical studies are integral to the advancement of veterinary medicine,” says Dr. Gregg Dean, director of the CCMTR. “Such studies investigate risk factors for disease as well as methods to prevent, treat, or cure illnesses that affect animals and humans. The Novartis gift will fund resources that are critical to helping the CCMTR ensure an effective clinical trials program.”

“The Novartis gift will help us continue building a clinical trial framework that will become self supporting as it matures into a premiere national veterinary clinical trials program,” says Warwick Arden, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “We envision that the CTP will also conduct trials that will have implications for the treatment of people, making the program unique in the veterinary and human medical fields.”