Surrey vet receives prestigious scholarship for AMR research

Surrey vet Lydia Hudson has been announced as the recipient of the Harry Steele-Bodger Memorial Travel Scholarship for 2019 during an awards ceremony at the British Veterinary Association’s (BVA) Members’ Day in Swansea. 

The Harry Steele-Bodger Memorial Travel Scholarship is awarded annually to a penultimate or final-year veterinary student or a recent graduate to support a piece of research, a veterinary or agricultural school visit, or another course of study overseas. 

Lydia graduated with a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Cambridge this summer and began working as a small animal vet at Brelades Veterinary Surgeons in Dorking, Surrey. She aims to use the £1,000 grant to support her project on understanding and awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among farmers in Kenya.

Lydia is planning to visit commercial and small-scale farms in Kenya to interview farmers and determine their understanding of AMR both globally and locally. She will then investigate how this understanding influences their use of antibiotics in their own herd and measure the impact of education programmes on the farmers’ views and behaviour. By comparing this with the situation in the UK she hopes to see how best practice in the area of farmer education on antimicrobial use can be shared cross-culturally.

Commenting on receiving the scholarship, Lydia said:

“I am incredibly lucky to have won the Harry Steele-Bodger memorial scholarship. It will enable me to explore my passion for large animals, which I don't get to do at work, by visiting farms in African countries. I plan to investigate the use of antibiotics on these farms with the help of some of the key players in agricultural research in Africa. I feel very special to have been selected and am very grateful to BVA and the trustees of the award for picking me.”

The Harry Steele-Bodger Memorial Travel Scholarship was established in September 1953 to honour the memory of Henry W Steele-Bodger, BVA President from 1939 to 1941, in recognition of his great services to the veterinary profession and agriculture, particularly during World War Two.