Cornell Equine: From Research to Real-World Impact

Cornell Equine charts a bold new path for advancing equine health and education.

When it comes to creating optimal outcomes for equine health, the status quo won’t suffice. At the forefront of equine health and research, Cornell Equine is working to redefine how science, education and community engagement come together to shape the future of the horse industry by creating a new, collaborative working model among industry stakeholders.

Indeed, Mandi de Mestre, BVSc PhD PGCAP MRCVS, Cornell Equine’s inaugural director as well as the Dorothy Havemeyer McConville Professor of Equine Medicine and director of the Baker Institute for Animal Health, believes the program is taking bold steps to address the most pressing challenges facing horses and the people who care for them.

Launched at the end of 2024, Cornell Equine is a university-wide collaboration, with its home at the College of Veterinary Medicine and strong links to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and Cornell University Athletics.

“Our long-term vision is to leverage the excellent people and physical resources at Cornell to support the equine industry, and the people within it, to flourish,” Dr. de Mestre told Vet-Advantage.

Through its research, education and outreach, Cornell Equine plans to address two fundamental needs of the industry. First, they are developing expanded communication platforms internally and externally to support not only the development, but also the retention, of trained equine veterinarians and equine managers skilled to provide excellent management and care of horses across the United States. “We will support this goal through both revamped and new educational and mentor programs that support students from high school all the way through to specialism,” she said.

Second, there are many health conditions of the horse that are in desperate need of new diagnostics and treatments. Through building stronger partnerships across Cornell’s campus and beyond, Dr. de Mestre believes they are in a stronger position to address these outstanding questions. “We are unique at Cornell as our equine researchers team up with clinicians, biomedical engineers, human doctors and our diagnostic laboratory that does hundreds of thousands of equine tests each year, to collectively solve these problems,” she said. This also includes partnering extensively with horse owners and veterinarians who submit samples to Cornell Equine’s diagnostic and research laboratories for research.

Cornell Equine brings in clinicians to input into the design phase of the college’s research studies, embedding practical applications into their work from the start. “The introduction of new clear communication platforms dedicated to sharing our news and research outcomes will help disseminate the outcomes of our work, reaching a much wider community who are in a position to implement change that benefits the health of horses,” Dr. de Mestre said. “We are also expanding the number of events we attend to disseminate the work widely.”

Current projects

A new internal seminar series was launched this year to foster collaborative research across Cornell’s teams. Featured studies that Dr. de Mestre is excited about include work led by Dr. Marta Cercone that is investigating novel ways to treat and manage colic. Dr. Cercone is looking at novel treatments for nerves, as opposed to the intestinal tract, to treat the condition and improve outcomes for horses that develop ileus.

“We also heard from Dr. Kathryn Mitchell and her team who are establishing new clinical measures and guidance for defining normal and abnormal heart parameters in neonatal foals which is really important for the correct diagnosis of congenital conditions such as patent ductus arteriosus,” Dr. de Mestre said. “She has also led transformative methods to measure and monitor cardiac arrhythmias in the horse, ultimately with the goal to predict and prevent sudden death in equine athletes.”

Two other researchers, Dr. Gillian Perkins and Dr. Bettina Wagner, have teamed up to find the best ways to manage outbreaks of equine herpes virus. They are measuring antibodies in both the nasal passages as well as the blood to be able to put exposed horses into different categories that represent different levels of risk for developing clinical symptoms of equine herpes virus. Dr. de Mestre said the trial data looks very promising and, in the face of an outbreak, would provide clinicians and horse owners with data to guide important decisions on movement and management of the horses within the facility.

“We are also excited about an upcoming 4H Career Explorations program led by Cornell Cooperative Extension in collaboration with Cornell University Equine Hospital and Baker Institute for Animal Health,” she said. This year’s program will showcase equine careers from horse management and sports, clinical care and research.

Cornell Equine has active collaborations with veterinarians, and owners, as well as industry stakeholders. For example, Dr. Aimee Colbath of Cornell University Hospital for Animals has “an exciting” project partnered with Arthex Inc., Dr. de Mestre said. Her team is investigating the use of a piece of specialized surgical equipment, the Nanoscope, for standing sedated surgical procedures.

“For those interested in cutting edge research, our research laboratories partner with veterinary clinicians to study samples from privately owned horses so the research performed is highly relevant to those populations,” she said. Examples include the Equine Pregnancy Laboratory at the Baker Institute for Animal Health that directly receives tissue from clinical cases of pregnancy loss used to determine novel causes that lead to a pregnancy failing. Similarly, Dr. Laura Goodman’s laboratory at the Institute receives swabs and blood samples taken from horses with clinically diagnosed infectious diseases that then are investigated with high precision sequencing methodologies.

Indeed, Dr. de Mestre emphasized that the strength of Cornell Equine lies not only in its scientific excellence, but also in its deep integration with the broader equine community. By combining innovative research with practical application, and fostering strong collaborations across disciplines and institutions, Cornell Equine is uniquely positioned to advance equine health and education.

Engaging with the local horse community

Cornell Equine has a variety of ways in which the community can connect with the university and its faculty and staff:

• Cornell Equine just launched a new website featuring news from all the teams across its campus, equine.cornell.edu. The site includes a general contact line, so all of Cornell’s teams are accessible to the public.
• Cornell’s monthly online equine seminar series shares practical advice on horse health and management and is open to the public.
• In May, there was a hybrid event with an option to visit the Cornell Equine Park.
• High school students can apply to participate in the 4H Careers Exploration short course over the summer and have the opportunity to come and work in Cornell’s research laboratories via the TST BOCES New Visions program for seniors.
• The public can come and watch Cornell’s polo and equestrian teams at the Oxley Equestrian Center on weekends.

“Probably my favorite event of the year is our College of Veterinary Medicine Open Day which features an opportunity to learn more about horses and their care,” Dr. de Mestre said.

Photo credits: istockphoto.com/ Dhoxax