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BVA Award Winners 2026
BVA Award winners were announced on 11 June, in Birmingham. You can learn more about the winners via the individual pages below.
Keep an eye out - we'll be opening nominations for the BVA Awards 2027 soon!
Dr Anna Hewison
Supported by Zoetis
Dr Anna Hewison, who works in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, qualified from the University of Nottingham in 2022 and joined Shepton Vets, Somerset. She demonstrates consistently high standards of care, clinical excellence and genuine commitment to her development, collaboration between farmers, vet techs and her colleagues. Anna runs the practice’s Youngstock Club and has developed it into a more collaborative and effective programme, restructuring the scheme to encourage closer working relationships between vets, technicians, and farmers, ensuring a joined-up approach to youngstock management.
Supported by ManyPets
Small/medium practice (up to 25 employees): Vets for Pets, Kirkcaldy
The practice really looks out for its staff, fosters an inclusive environment for LGBTQ members and arranging debriefs on cases and follow ups after challenging or difficult days.
Large practice (over 25 employees): Chapelfield Vets
Chapelfield Vets supports both its team and clients; it has an Autism Friendly accreditation; mental health first aiders and is as flexible as possible to all its staff, not just parents. There is also an effort made to recognise burnout and give back to the community, plus attention to physical wellbeing by arranging for staff to take part in charitable efforts such as the Shine walk to raise money.
Non-clinical workplace: Sonopath
SonoPath offers training, equipment, and telemedicine - all in the sphere of veterinary ultrasound and works to provide a source of sonographic pathology information accessible to veterinarians of all levels of canine, feline, and exotic medicine. Team members are encouraged to share suggestions, feedback, or concerns directly, without layers of hierarchy that might otherwise slow communication or discourage participation.
Dr Sharon Ann King
Supported by Hill's Pet Nutrition
Dr Sharon Ann King BSc (HONS) BVetMed FHEA MRCVS, a small animal vet at Downes Veterinary Services and a lecturer in Veterinary Science at Aberystwyth School of Veterinary Science, won the award for her compassion and for supporting those who “might have fallen into the cracks along the way”. Her nominations mentioned her personal touch and how she works hard to support those who need her as a whole person, not just as a vet student.
Dr Laura Higham
Dr Laura Higham BVM&S MSc PhD MRCVS was nominated for demonstrating exceptional leadership in embedding One Health principles within veterinary practice by positioning vets as key contributors to environmental sustainability, food system resilience and public health. By founding Vet Sustain, which supports veterinary professionals to become leading forces for sustainability, she created the first coordinated platform dedicated to empowering vets to act on sustainability.
Dr Paul Horwood
Supported by Yumove | Vetnique
Farm vet and UK Head of Farm and Exports for Inspiring Vet Care, Dr Paul Horwood BVetMed DBR MBA MRCVS has won the award for inspiring and supporting others through calm, principled and highly effective leadership, guiding organisations and individuals through complex situations with clarity and confidence.
Dr Cat Henstridge
Dr Cat Henstridge BVSc MRCVS, a small animal vet and social media influencer also known as “Cat the Vet” by her thousands of followers, has been awarded the prestigious award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to advancing public understanding of veterinary science and animal welfare. Through her widely recognised social media platform “Cat The Vet,” she communicates evidence-based veterinary science to a wide audience, translating complex veterinary topics into accessible information that empowers pet owners to make informed decisions about their animals’ health and welfare. By actively tackling misinformation online, Cat has provided outstanding service to the profession.
Professor Tom McNeilly
Awarded the BVA Advancement of Veterinary Science Award (Dalrymple-Champneys Cup and Medal), Professor Tom McNeilly BSc BVM&S PhD MRCVS ARAgS is one of very few UK-based veterinary scientists who delivers numerous, innovative outputs on vaccinology of multiple animal species. His work spans parasitic, viral and bacterial research, resulting in patents and attracting very significant commercial income from worldwide sources. As Director of the Moredun Research Institute he leads scientific teams working to prevent endemic diseases. His world-leading research publication in “Vaccine” - successful immunization against a parasitic nematode by vaccination with recombinant proteins, represents many years of personal research, he recently discovered new vaccine targets for louping ill virus which provide strong protection for sheep.
Dr Romain Pizzi
Dr Romain Pizzi BVSc MSc PhD DZooMed DipECZM MANZCVS FRES FRSB FRGS FRCVS , past President of BVA’s Scottish Branch has been named the winner of the BVA Animal Health and Welfare Overseas Award (J. Trevor Blackburn Award) in recognition of his work overseas with local veterinary and animal care teams, for a range of wild and endangered species. A Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) recognised specialist in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine and European recognised specialist in Zoological Medicine (Zoo Health Management), Romain is known for performing and publishing a number of global firsts for wildlife medicine. Romain has delivered real-world impact on animal welfare through direct engagement with new and novel surgical techniques. An unwaveringly strong representative of the UK veterinary sector overseas, Romain not only continues to pioneer new techniques but actively engages in the teaching of such techniques and skills through engagement with the local veterinary communities, delivering meaningful benefits for wildlife health and welfare overseas.
Rose Perkins, Gaétan Glauser and Dave Goulson
Each year the paper judged to have the most potential to change practice is awarded the Vet Record Impact Award. This year we were delighted to award it to Rose Perkins, Gaétan Glauser and Dave Goulson for their paper measuring swimming emissions from dogs from parasiticides. You can read the paper here: Swimming emissions from dogs treated with spot-on fipronil or imidacloprid: Assessing the environmental risk
Francesca Haldane, Shreya Patel, and Rudi Bruijn-Yard
Three fifth-year students from Cambridge University have won the first Worldwide Veterinary Service Global Veterinary Challenge Award with their Uganda project. Francesca Haldane, Shreya Patel, and Rudi Bruijn-Yard brought together their experience and veterinary knowledge to create a proposal to tackle Pests des Petits Ruminants (PPR), a significant threat to food security for countries across the globe. The students explained their simple ambition behind their winning proposal. "Our approach was to just think big and try to create the most positive change for both animals and communities."
