11 Jan 2023
Nepalese vet student Somnath Aryal is the inaugural recipient of scholarship, which provides a US$15,000 (£12,370) grant to support his research into canine tick-borne diseases in the country.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
WSAVA Michael J Day Scholarship recipient Somnath Aryal.
The inaugural recipient of a scholarship set up in the name of late WSAVA stalwart Michael Day has been announced by the association.
Nepalese veterinary student Somnath Aryal is the first person to receive the WSAVA Michael J Day Scholarship, selected from more than 30 submissions for a project to study the prevalence of canine tick-borne diseases in Nepal.
He will receive a US$15,000 (£12,370) grant to support his research, which is aiming to improve diagnosis and treatment of the diseases.
The scholarship, which provides finance to allow selected scholars to carry out research in small animal infectious disease, clinical vaccinology or immunology, was created to recognise Emeritus Prof Day’s contribution to the association.
He chaired the WSAVA’s Vaccination Guidelines Group (VGG) from 2009 to March 2020, two months before the former BSAVA president’s death.
MSD Animal Health has provided financial support for the scholarship.
Richard Squires, VGG chairperson, said: “We were delighted to receive so many high-quality submissions in this first year of the scholarship.
“It made selecting our inaugural scholar very difficult, but our expert panel was particularly impressed by Somnath Aryal’s project and felt that supporting it would enable the WSAVA to play an important role in enabling an excellent, well-conceived, pertinent research project in a country which would really benefit from this funding.”
It is hoped results from Mr Aryal’s study will become available towards the end of 2023. He said: “I am really thankful to WSAVA and MSD Animal Health for this huge opportunity. It is an honour and a huge responsibility to be selected as the inaugural recipient of the WSAVA Michael J Day Scholarship.
“I would also like to thank my advisor, associate professor Rebanta Kumar Bhattarai, for his guidance and support in this project.
“Most cases of canine tick-borne infections in Nepalese veterinary clinics are misdiagnosed because of a lack of epidemiological information and adequate diagnostic tools.”
Mr Aryal added: “This study will investigate the prevalence of the major tick-borne diseases in stray and pet dogs in Nepal in order to fill this gap.
“It will be one of the first attempts to survey the canine tick-borne disease at the species level, and data from the project will then help to increase the diagnostic and treatment facility for canine tick-borne disease in the veterinary clinics of Nepal.”
Details and guidance for the 2023 scholarship application process are being prepared and will be released soon on the WSAVA website.
