
It is with great honor and pleasure that the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians announces the founding of the annual Drury R. Reavill Research Grant. The award is a commissioned watercolor original by Montana Johnson, daughter of Dan and Sandy Johnson. It features a collection of Drury’s favorite animals including her beloved Standard Poodle, Pearl. I want to thank everyone involved with taking my vision and bringing it to life.
-Melissa A. Kling, DVM
The Drury R. Reavill Research Grant is funded by AEMV through merchandise sales, silent and live auction proceeds, and individual donations. The award amount is $5,000.00 USD and may increase in the future as more funding becomes available.
To honor Dr. Reavill’s contributions to our profession the following conditions will apply to this grant:
- The study must be applicable to species that AEMV strives to improve the understanding of medical conditions in the hopes of providing better treatment options. Proposals involving wildlife and zoo species that are not primarily pet species and/or those dealing with these species in the wild and are conservation oriented do not qualify for submission. Any projects promoting commercial breeding for the pet trade of non-domestic species will not be accepted.
- Preference will be given to veterinary practitioners or residents. Practitioners must have a current license. Residents may be at an academic institution or at a private practice that provides an approved exotic companion mammal program.
- Preference will be given to oncological studies to include prospective or retrospective projects.
- Only members of AEMV are eligible for application.
- The chairperson of the grant review committee is not eligible for application and any members of the review committee that submit a proposal will recuse themselves from the proposal process.
- Only survival/non-terminal studies are acceptable.
- Competitive proposals must be clearly outlined with projects achievable within two (2) years of funding.
- Priority will be given to projects that are founded on sound research principles, can be fully completed at the level of requested funding, and are likely to result in presentation within three (3) years at an AEMV approved conference. Projects presented at an annual AEMV conference will have guaranteed acceptance for that year’s program.
- Publication in a refereed veterinary journal is expected.
- The following outline should be strictly followed. The proposal should contain 2 pdf documents: 1 document with the title page and the appendices and 1 document with the body of the proposal (items b-f below). The body of the proposal should not exceed ten (10) double-spaced pages excluding Principal Investigator (PI) and co-PI CVs, two (2) letters of support and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (or similar committee) letter of approval. New Times Roman 11-point font, double line spacing, and 1-inch (2.5 centimeters) margins should be used throughout.
- Title Page: this page and the appendices are the only pages that should contain nominative information about the research, as the rest of the proposal will undergo blind revision. Title of study; investigators names and proportional time allocation (%) to the project; full contact details (including mailing address, contact telephone and fax, and email address) for the Principal Investigator; and signatures from all investigators, and the Department Chair or Dean if applicable.
- Hypothesis and/or Objectives
- Rationale and Significance
- Materials and Methods (including statistical analyses)
- Budget: No indirect costs, salaries, publication costs or equipment are funded. Outside funding: will additional sources of funding be needed to complete the project? If yes, please specify and have these sources been secured? If outside funding sources do not come through within the timeline established by AEMV, then the funds will be returned to AEMV.
- References: Please follow this style:
Graham JP, Lipman AH, Newell SM. Esophageal transit of capsules in clinically normal cats. Am J Vet Res 2000;61:655-657.
Appendix 1: A short CV should be included (maximum two pages) from each PI and co-PI(s). The CV should indicate qualifications, awards and honors, relevant research presentations, and scientific journal publications.
Appendix 2: For proposals that involve co-investigator labs and/or use of other facilities, letters of support must accompany the proposal.
Appendix 3: If ANY aspect of the proposal involves animals that falls under the jurisdiction of the Animal Welfare Act and the USDA (or similar regulatory agency), then a copy of the written approval from the Institutional Care Animal Care and Use Committee (or similar committee) must be included. If in doubt, investigators should contact their local IACUC representative (or similar representative) for guidance. - Once funding has been awarded, the PI is requested to provide an update every six (6) months until completion of the project.
- If for any reason the project cannot be completed in the requested time line, or is terminated prior to the anticipated end the principal investigator is required to write a summary on the status and may be asked to return the funding.
- The due date for proposals is February 1, 2024.
- The committee members will announce the grant winners by March 15, 2024.
Please submit your research grant proposal and all supporting documents to AEMV at info@aemv.org and include the Subject Line: AEMV Drury Reavill Grant Proposal.
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