Pamela Wilkins Honored with Clinical Research Award

The American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Research has selected Dr. Pamela Wilkins, Delores R. Pajak Professor in Companion Animal Practice at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, as the recipient of the 2025 AVMA Clinical Research Award. This award recognizes achievements in patient-oriented research, encompassing a variety of avenues of inquiry.

‘Positive Impact on Clinical Care’

In notifying Dr. Wilkins of her selection, the AVMA called out her “contributions to validating the use of point-of-care lactate and glucose monitors in critically ill horses, which has been adopted and utilized widely in equine veterinary hospitals and intensive care units.”

Dr. Wilkins was also recognized for her “impacts on the education and work of colleagues by hosting workshops to improve equine health by facilitating communication between clinicians and researchers to address emerging issues in the field,” noting that she has had “a significantly positive impact on the clinical care of animals in veterinary medicine.”

‘Advanced the Practice of Equine Medicine’

In nominating Dr. Wilkins for the award, Dean Peter Constable, wrote, “Dr. Wilkins has earned a singular reputation for her expertise in critical care medicine in horses and especially neonatal foals.

“One of only a handful of clinicians boarded in both large animal internal medicine and emergency and critical care, Dr. Wilkins has contributed new knowledge that has advanced the practice of equine medicine and improved survival rates in foals and adult horses with critical illness around the world.”

Over a career spanning nearly 40 years, Dr. Wilkins has authored 120 journal articles, 140 book chapters and invited editorials, and 160 scientific abstracts. She has given 130 invited lectures, taking her to 24 states and 17 countries outside the U.S.

She has organized and hosted four international workshops, on topics including foal sepsis and acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in horses, funded by the Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation. These prestigious, by-invitation-only meetings facilitate communication between clinicians and researchers to address emerging issues in equine health.

Education and Awards

Dr. Wilkins earned her veterinary, master’s, and PhD degrees at Cornell University. She served as an equine clinician at Cornell and as a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center for 10 years before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois in 2008.

The numerous honors bestowed on Dr. Wilkins include the Boehringer-Ingelheim WEVA Applied Research Award in 2018, the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Foundation Research Award in 2013, and the Ira M. Zaslow Distinguished Service Award from the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society (that organization’s highest honor) in 2016.

In 2023, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine gave her its Specialty Lifetime Achievement Award in Large Animal Internal Medicine. She received equine educator awards at the International Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Symposium in both 2009 and 2019.

Motivated by Love

While being a research powerhouse, Dr. Wilkins clearly focuses her energies into efforts that directly improve the lives of horses. She brings that point home by often starting her invited lectures with: “The clinic is my laboratory.”

To prove the point, she notes, “My physical laboratory is less than 150 sq ft as the nature of my research questions does not require big or expensive pieces of equipment. The largest is my refrigerator!”

Dr. Wilkins also draws deeply on her lifelong love for horses. “Loving these amazing, beautiful, athletic animals is what motivates me to care for them every day.”