The threat posed to animal and human health by emerging diseases – in many cases exacerbated by unprecedented movement and trade and by climate change – highlights the continuing need for academics trained in the veterinary sciences. The Wellcome Trust, the UK's largest medical research charity, has announced the launch of a new £10.7 million initiative to provide support for a range of activities designed to encourage veterinarians to take up research careers. The scheme will be run in partnership with the UK's veterinary schools, including Bristol University’s School of Veterinary Science.

Veterinary research is important not just for animal health but also for human health, including quality and safety throughout the food chain, comparative studies that inform human medicine and our understanding of zoonoses (diseases that can cross the species barrier from animals to human, such as rabies, BSE and HIV).

"Given the rising importance of zoonoses, it is more important than ever that we have a new generation of clinically-trained veterinary scientists," said Dr Pat Goodwin, Head of Pathogens, Immunology and Population Studies at the Wellcome Trust. "This new partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the UK veterinary schools is aimed at supporting this new generation."

The programme is being carried out in partnership with the seven UK Veterinary Schools (at the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Nottingham) and the University of Oxford (Laboratory Animal Medicine Component). It recognises that there is a national need for more veterinary-qualified researchers.

"This programme aims to create clinically literate researchers and research-literate clinicians," said Professor Sandy Trees from the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool, who led the application for this award. "It will provide a cohort of veterinarians superbly equipped to contribute to the solution of some of the major health and welfare problems facing animals and humans in the twenty-first century."

The programme has been welcomed by Lord Selborne, who has previously highlighted the importance of veterinary research to society and the need to encourage veterinary students to undertake research training.

"I am delighted that the Wellcome Trust is working in partnership with the UK veterinary colleges to strengthen veterinary research, an area of increasing importance," added Lord Selborne. "This initiative will build on the Trust's ongoing support of this field and on the Veterinary Training Research Initiative, established in response to the report that I chaired which identified the lack of training opportunities for veterinary researchers."

The programme will deliver 20 Clinical Research Training Fellows, each with a PhD and a clinical or pathology specialist qualification, as well as number of postdoctoral fellows and clinical doctoral fellows, each with a DVM and specialist postgraduate training in laboratory animal medicine. In addition, leading to these centrepiece awards will be 175 Vacation Scholarships, 175 Intercalation Awards, support for five Summer Schools, and nine one-year Research Entry Scholarships.

To coincide with the announcement of the new programme, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has launched The Impact of Veterinary Research, a brochure to promote the key role that veterinary research plays in our lives.

“I have spent over 40 years in practice and have seen the array of medicines and techniques available to the veterinary surgeon increase exponentially over the years," said Dr Bob Moore, RCVS President. "I am very much aware of the enormous importance of veterinary research, not only to the veterinary profession but to the world at large. I congratulate the Wellcome Trust on this exciting new initiative, which will help to develop and sustain a vibrant veterinary research community.”