THE ANIMAL HEALTH TRUST

Objectives:

Principal activities

1. Research

The Trust actively supports and undertakes clinical and basic research into a wide range of animal diseases, and has many research projects that encompass collaborative studies with other research institutes and universities. The major research strengths at the AHT include epidemiology, genetics and cytogenetics, immunology, pathology, virology, bacteriology, and cardiorespiratory pathophysiology. In most of these areas, the research interests are applied to a number of different animal species.

2. Provision of a clinical referral and diagnostic laboratory service

A specialist clinical and diagnostic laboratory service is provided by the AHT in support of veterinary surgeons in general practice and to meet the objectives of the Trust. There is a small animal hospital (Centre for Small Animal Studies) offering a referral service covering most small animal specialities and an equine hospital (Centre for Equine Studies) with a particular emphasis on cardiorespiratory and orthopaedic equine diseases. Within the Centre for Small Animal Studies, the AHT has developed a dedicated Feline Unit offering a specialist referral service for feline medical cases, and this incorporates a dedicated feline ward, funded in part by a grant from the British Veterinary Association's Animal Welfare Trust. While not seeing any `first opinion' cases, the referral service that the Trust offers is open to all, and any veterinary surgeon in general practice can arrange for referral of a case to the Animal Health Trust. The clinical investigations undertaken at the Trust are backed up by a full diagnostic laboratory service including pathology and clinical pathology and this service is also available to veterinary surgeons in general practice.

3. Education

The Animal Health Trust is committed to both developing clinical and scientific research to further our understanding of animal diseases, and also to disseminating this knowledge as widely as possible for the benefit of animal welfare. This is achieved in many different ways -

• Through publications - publication of scientific papers and articles, and publication of articles in journals, magazines and newsletters
• Through lectures, talks and seminars - These are provided by AHT staff in a wide variety of settings, from talks to small groups of animal owners or breeders through to lectures and major international scientific meetings
• Through post-graduate training - Post-graduate training programmes are available in the clinical areas (internships and residencies) and in the research areas (eg, MSc and PhD studies) which ae designed to train and develop the skills of individuals in these areas as they contribute to the work of the Trust.