NC State’s inaugural Cat Camp last fall offered the 35 competitively selected veterinary house officers not only a weekend immersed in feline-focused expertise but also a chance to apply for the event’s first round of $15,000 research grants.

This month, four camp participants, including an NC State Veterinary Hospital resident in emergency and critical care, became winners of the grants, supported by Zoetis and NC State University and administered through the EveryCat Health Foundation.

“I’m very excited to see the EveryCat Health Foundation Cat Camp Pilot Studies program come to life,” says Dr. Joshua Stern, associate dean for research and graduate studies at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine and a feline cardiologist by training. “For Cat Camp attendees, the opportunity to not only come to the program but also to continue their own feline research through this special extramural funding opportunity is hugely valuable.”

The four winners, their mentors and their proposals are:

• Lei Zhang, DVM, MS, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign working with Dr. Petra Cerna at the University of Georgia on Evaluating proteinuria in cats with feline infectious peritonitis.
• Leia Yoon, DVM, an emergency and critical care resident at NC State, working with Dr. Ronald Li, associate professor of emergency and critical care at NC State, on Uncovering phenotypic diversity in platelet function linked to the P2RY1:A236 variant in cats.
• Alba Planas Vintro, BVM, MS, at the University of California Davis working with Dr. Karen Vernau, professor of neurology at UC-Davis, Dr. Kate Hopper, professor of small animal emergency and critical care at UC-Davis, and Dr. Søren Boysen, professor of small animal emergency and critical care at the University of Calgary, on the Evaluation of previously established lung ultrasound protocols in healthy kittens and kittens with pulmonary and/or pleural space diseases.
• Jessica Pui Man Lam, BSc, BVM&S, at the University of Saskatchewan working with Dr. Elisabeth Snead, a professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan, on Coagulation testing in cats with Feline Infectious Peritonitis before and after treatment with the antiviral GS441524 with comparison to healthy age- and sex- matched control cats. Is there a link to Covid-19 Associated Coagulopathy in humans?

“We are so fortunate to partner with EveryCat Health Foundation on the administration of these grants,” says Stern, also the Vladimir Cader Feline Health Research Distinguished Faculty Chair. “EveryCat is the premier feline-only funding agency that aims to improve the lives of cats through research and innovation.”

The NC State College of Veterinary Medicine created Cat Camp to help equip early veterinarians completing hospital residencies to become the next generation of feline-focused veterinary clinician scientists. 

Each AVMA-accredited school in North America can nominate one up-and-coming resident or fellow to attend the event with all expenses paid. Last fall, the attendees came from 28 colleges across the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Planning for Cat Camp 2026 is underway, with a dynamite list of feline experts already lined up, and the call for nominations from each college recently announced, Stern says.

“Giving our Cat Camp Scholars a chance to embark on extramurally funded research during their residency training programs is invaluable,” Stern says. “These EveryCat Health Foundation Cat Camp Pilot Studies will continue to propel feline research for these talented investigators and ensure that the skills they learn at Cat Camp are put to good use.”