Lindsey Kurach, DVM, and Joanna Virgin, DVM, were honored with first place 2014 ACVS Resident Research Awards at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) Surgery Summit on October 18 in San Diego, California.

The ACVS established the Outstanding Surgical Residents’ Awards competition to encourage the development of clinically important research and the dissemination of the results of these investigations, particularly those conducted by surgical residents.

Kurach won the first place Resident Research Forum Presentation Award in the small animal category, for her presentation "Effect of Low Level Laser Therapy on the Healing of Open Wounds in Dogs.” This is the second such award for Kurach. In 2013, she won the second place award for her Resident Small Animal Clinical Forum Presentation.

"I am extremely proud of Dr. Kurach—she completed an intensive project in an exemplary fashion, producing robust data in an area that is controversial in wound management,” said Kurach’s mentor Dr. Bryden Stanley, professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and section chief in surgery. “Her attention to detail, her ability to write and communicate effectively on many levels has been appreciated within our lab. It is also a pure pleasure to work with someone like Lindsey."

In the large animal category, Virgin won the first place Resident Research Forum Presentation Award for her presentation “Laryngeal Advancement Surgery Improved Swallowing Function in a Reversible Dysphagia Model in Horses.”

"Dr. Joanna Virgin became an excellent scientist and surgeon during her tenure at MSU CVM. I'm proud and honored to work with her,” said Virgin’s mentor Dr. Susan Holcombe, professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. “The results of the research Joanna presented at the ACVS, funded by the United States Equestrian Foundation, will help horses now. Few investigators can make that claim."

Outstanding Surgical Residents’ Awards are presented in the following categories: Large Animal Residents’ Presentation (Research and Clinical); Small Animal Residents’ Presentation (Research and Clinical); Veterinary Surgery Publication (Research and Clinical); and Poster Presentation.

“For Drs. Virgin and Kurach to win these awards is an accomplishment for both of them and for the college as a whole,” said Stanley. “Obviously MSU did extremely well.”