Young researcher honoured for work on veterinary history

European award for research on veterinary medicine

European award for research on veterinary medicine - <em>News</em>

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By Danielle Reeves
23 October 2006

Dr Abigail Woods, a young lecturer based at Imperial's Centre for the History of Science Technology and Medicine, has been awarded the World Association for the History of Veterinary Medicine's (WAHVM) Young Scholar prize.

Dr Abigail Woods' work involves studying the way foot and mouth disease has been treated historicallyThe prize, which is in its inaugural year, is to be given every two years in recognition of one young researcher's progress in the field. Dr Woods received the award at the WAHVM's annual international congress in Spain last month, from the organisation's President, Professor Gerhard Forstenpointner. The WAHVM was formed in 1969 to promote, coordinate and encourage research in the field of veterinary history.

Dr Woods, 34, joined Imperial last year from the University of Manchester, where she had been working since completing her PhD in 2002. At Imperial, Dr Woods' research interests are focused on veterinary professionalisation and the social history of livestock disease. Her recent work explored how, in the context of World War II, veterinarians managed to secure a place on the farm by making themselves indispensable to the process of livestock breeding, an activity traditionally managed by farmers themselves.

Previous work by Dr Woods focused on the history of foot and mouth disease in the UK, and led to the publication of her book, A Manufactured Plague (Earthscan, 2004). In this work, she suggested that the long history of culling as a means of foot and mouth disease control impeded attempts, during the 2001 epidemic, to introduce a new and less costly policy of vaccination. Through such research, Dr Woods shows that a detailed understanding of the history of veterinary practice and policy can be used to inform and shed light on current policy decisions.

Dr Woods said: "I feel extremely honoured to be the first recipient of this award. At a time when the future of British farming and farm animal veterinary practice are in doubt, it is vital that we look back and draw lessons from the past. I am delighted that my work in promoting veterinary history and making it relevant to the present has been recognised by the WAHVM.

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