Meurs receives investigator award from Morris Animal Foundation

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Morris Animal Foundation has selected Dr. Kathryn M. Meurs as the first recipient of an investigator award named for Dr. Mark L. Morris Jr., son of founder Dr. Mark L. Morris Sr.

Dr. Meurs (Wisconsin ’90), associate dean for research and graduate programs at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, is a leader in the field of genetics of cardiac disease in companion animals, with a track record of identifying the genetic basis for canine and feline cardiac diseases.

The Mark L. Morris Jr. Investigator Award provides funding of up to $200,000 per year for three years, plus 8 percent indirect costs, with the option for a fourth year of funding with adequately demonstrated progress. With support from the award, Dr. Meurs’ research team hopes to identify genetic variants that lead to the development of mitral valve degeneration in dogs—and use that information to innovate treatment and prevention plans for dogs with high-risk DNA variants.

“I firmly believe that once you really understand a disease etiology, you can most effectively develop treatments for the primary disease, and gradually remove or at least reduce the disease prevalence in the population,” Dr. Meurs said in an announcement about the award.