Veterinary Surgeon Wins Travel Scholarship
BVA Congress, 29 September 2007
Mr Joseph Neary was today (Saturday) announced as the winner of the Harry Steele-Bodger Memorial Scholarship travel award for 2007. The announcement came during the Awards Ceremony at the British Veterinary Association’s Annual Congress in Belfast.
Mr Neary, who is about to commence his final year at the University of Cambridge Veterinary School, was awarded a grant of £1000 to visit northern Cameroon to undertake an investigation into the filarial nematode Onchocerca armillata, a parasite of West African cattle.
Notes for Editors
1. The Harry Steele-Bodger Memorial Scholarship was established in 1953 to honour the memory of Mr Henry W Steele-Bodger, President of the BVA 1939/41, in recognition of his great services to the veterinary profession and agriculture, particularly during the war years of 1939/45. The award is only open to graduates of veterinary schools in the UK and Ireland who have been qualified for not more than three years, or to penultimate or final year students at these schools.
2. Based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the Institut de Récherches Agricole pour le Développement, Wakwa, Cameroon, Mr Neary has been investigating whether the filarial nematode parasite of cattle Onchocerca armillata is associated with endosymbiotic bacteria of the genus Wolbachia and detailing the local immune response to the adult parasites. This may help towards explaining the role of Wolbachia in the ocular disease - "river blindness" - and dermatological lesions caused by the microfilarial stage of Onchocerca volvulus in humans.
3. Mr Neary grew up in Lancashire and Cheshire. He is due to graduate in veterinary medicine from the University of Cambridge in June 2008 and is keen to pursue further study and research. His pastimes include Gaelic football, road and mountain-biking, water-sports and cross-country running, as well as drawing and watercolour painting when he’s feeling less energetic.
4. For further information contact Helena Cotton on 020 7908 6342 or by e-mail: helenac@bva.co.uk