The Awards for Advancing Research in Respiratory Disease give out more than $100,000 each year for research into infectious porcine respiratory diseases. This year, three proposals were selected to receive $35,000 each from the Boehringer Ingelheim-sponsored awards.

The Respiratory Disease Research Board -- consisting of seven independent swine veterinarians and researchers -- reviewed several proposals, with topics ranging from genome sequencing to immunology, vaccinology, biosecurity, diagnostics and epidemiology.

Board member Dr. Montse Torremorell with the University of Minnesota said, “Providing funding for research is essential to managing and diminishing the effects of devastating porcine respiratory diseases. These awards help move the industry forward year in and year out.”

Boehringer Ingelheim congratulates the following recipients of the 2018 Awards for Advancing Research in Respiratory Disease:

“This award continues to bring research proposals focused on addressing key questions important to the industry,” said Dr. Reid Philips, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) technical manager for Boehringer Ingelheim. “Our goal has always been to ensure that the research we do can be implemented at the farm level. The research sponsored by this program offers field-applicable advancements for respiratory disease control, including the investigation and field application of new technologies to address key questions."

Over the last 14 years of the program, the Awards for Advancing Research in Respiratory Disease have: provided more than $1.2 million in support of the development of less costly, innovative, diagnostic testing and sampling processes; identified more effective biosecurity practices; sought to better understand respiratory diseases, and developed risk assessment tools, intervention programs and vaccination strategies. The program is supported through funding from Boehringer Ingelheim.

Applications for the 2019 awards will be open for submission in late 2018. For more information on the Respiratory Disease Research Board and the Awards for Advancing Research in Respiratory Disease program, visit www.swineresearchawards.com.

The Respiratory Disease Research Board, an independent group of swine veterinarians and researchers, selects the Awards for Advancing Research in Respiratory Disease annually. Board members for the 2018 award selection process included: