About the Speakers
About the Speakers
Meet the speakers from the Kentucky Equine Research Equine Health and Nutrition Conference.
Warwick Bayly, BVSc, MS, PhD, DACVIM
Dr. Warwick Bayly is a professor of equine medicine at the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Washington State University. He graduated from the veterinary faculty at the University of Melbourne, and went on to get his master’s degree at Ohio State University and doctorate from the University of Liège in Belgium. His principal academic interests are equine exercise science and exercise-associated diseases, with emphasis on the respiratory system. His current focus is on the pathogenesis and management of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. He has written or cowritten over 150 scientific papers and textbook chapters related to equine exercise science and medicine and has co-edited all four editions of the well-known textbook, “Equine Internal Medicine.” He also served as the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University, past-president of the World Equine Veterinary Association, and a former director of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
Robin Bell, BVSc, MVSc, DipVetClinStud, DECVS, DACVSMR
Dr. Robin Bell is a clinical professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida. He earned his veterinary degree from the University of Sydney and then completed an internship at the University Veterinary Teaching Hospital Camden. Following his residency training in equine surgery and master’s degree at Massey University in New Zealand, he worked in a large referral lameness clinic in the United Kingdom. He then oversaw the lameness and imaging service at the University of California, Davis, before returning to the University of Sydney. He is an official international veterinarian with interests in jumping, dressage, and eventing. He is currently the veterinarian for the Australian Jumping Team. His research interests include the treatment of tendon injuries with stem cells, clinical applications of MR and CT in equine practice, and the early diagnosis of musculoskeletal injuries in equine athletes.
Samantha Brooks, MS, PhD
Dr. Samantha Brooks is an associate professor of equine physiology at the University of Florida. After earning a bachelor degree in agricultural biotechnology from the University of Kentucky, she remained there to study at the Gluck Equine Research Center, where she earned her doctorate in veterinary science, specializing in equine genetics. She was awarded the Paul Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship to study the expression of inflammatory genes in horses affected with laminitis. She taught at Cornell University before moving to the University of Florida. Her research program explores a variety of topics relevant to horse health ranging from gene expression studies to mapping of genetic disorders in the horse. Her research group discovered genetic mutations and markers for coat colors, height, sarcoid tumors and two neurological conditions. Ongoing work targets variation in gait, susceptibility to infectious disease, metabolic syndrome and skeletal defects using genome wide association, genome re-sequencing and transcriptomics.
Hilary Clayton, BVMS, PhD, DACVSMR, FRCVS
Dr. Hilary Clayton is a veterinarian and scientist who, for more than 40 years, has researched the areas of locomotor biomechanics, lameness, rehabilitation, and conditioning programs for equine athletes, and the interaction between rider, tack, and horse. She served as the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine from 1997 until she retired from academia in 2014. She has published seven books and more than 200 scientific articles on these topics. She continues to perform collaborative research with colleagues at universities around the world. Clayton is a charter diplomate and past president of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. She is an Honorary Fellow of the International Society for Equitation Science and has been inducted into the International Equine Veterinarians Hall of Fame. She is a lifelong rider and has competed in many equestrian sports, most recently focusing on dressage.
Mike Davis, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Dr. Mike Davis is a professor, the Oxley Endowed Chair in Equine Sports Medicine, and the director of the Comparative Exercise Physiology Laboratory at the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He graduated with a veterinary degree from Texas A&M University and then went on to receive a master’s degree in veterinary science and from Virginia Tech and a doctorate in physiology from Johns Hopkins University. He has received millions of dollars in research funding to study the effects of exercise stress in animal models, particularly racing sled dogs. This work has resulted in detailed metabolic studies of the effects of stress. He is the senior author on over 30 publications related to stress physiology in companion animals.
Sally DeNotta, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Dr. Sally DeNotta is a clinical assistant professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida. She earned a veterinary degree in 2008 from Oregon State University and her doctorate of philosophy in 2018 from Cornell University. She teaches several courses at the university, and has authored numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her clinical and research interests include neonatology, neurology, infectious disease, hemostatic therapies, and colic.
Joe Pagan, MS, PhD
Dr. Joe Pagan is the founder and president of Kentucky Equine Research, an international equine nutrition and exercise physiology company. He earned his master’s and doctorate degrees from Cornell University in equine nutrition and exercise physiology. Not long after graduation, he formed Kentucky Equine Research and has been conducting innovative research for 35 years at the flagship facility in Versailles, Kentucky, and at the Kentucky Equine Research Performance Center in Ocala, Florida. Kentucky Equine Research served as equine nutrition consultants for the last seven Olympic Games and several World Equestrian Games. He received the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) Award in Equine Nutrition Research in 2005. This award recognizes excellence in equine nutrition research and the contributions of an individual to equine feeding management practices and the equine feed industry.
Wendy Pearson, MS, PhD
Dr. Wendy Pearson is an associate professor of equine physiology at the University of Guelph. She earned her master’s in nutritional toxicology and her doctorate in biomedical toxicology from the University of Guelph. She studies nutraceuticals and nondrug veterinary pharmaceuticals. Her research focuses on clinical nutrition and dietary modifications to treat inflammatory conditions in horses, such as arthritis. She aims to develop nutritional and dietary approaches to improve horse health and has worked on clinical trials with arthritic horses. With more than 60 research papers to her credit, she is a prolific writer. Part of her work at the University of Guelph involves mentoring graduate students.
Ben Sykes, BSc, BVMS, MS, DAVCIM, DECEIM, MBA, PhD
Dr. Ben Sykes is a professor of curriculum development at Southern Cross University and is the owner of BW Sykes Consultancy. He graduated with a veterinary degree from Murdoch University in 1997, completed an internship at Randwick Equine Centre in 1998, and held a residency in equine internal medicine in Virginia. He earned a master’s in business administration from the University of Liverpool, and a doctorate in veterinary pharmacology from the University of Queensland. For his doctorate, he investigated the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of omeprazole in horses. Throughout his career, he has worked with a wide range of horses, focusing on high-performance horses. He maintains a strong interest in clinical research as well as product development and commercialization. His primary research focus is gastrointestinal disease with a specific interest in equine gastric ulcer syndrome.
Stephanie Valberg, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DACVSMR
Dr. Stephanie Valberg is a pioneer in understanding and managing equine neuromuscular disorders in horses. Her research has transformed equine clinical practice and has led to the discovery of previously unknown muscle disorders, identification of their genetic basis, and development of nutritional strategies to minimize muscle pain. She worked with Kentucky Equine Research to develop the first feed used to reduce the incidence of tying-up, and was a member of the team that sequenced the equine genome. She was named the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2015 and remained in that position until she retired from academia in 2022. She mentored more than 60 graduate students, interns, residents, and postdoctoral students. She is widely published and is a recipient of numerous awards for teaching and mentorship. In 2012, she became the first woman to be inducted into the University of Kentucky Equine Research Hall of Fame and twice received the Pfizer Research Excellence Award.
Emmanuelle van Erck, DVM, PhD, DECEIM
Dr. Emmanuelle Van Erck practices equine sports medicine in France and Belgium. She graduated from the Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Maison Alfort and later received her doctorate on respiratory function tests in horses at the University of Liege in Belgium. Her work led to research projects in equine sports medicine at Cornell University and at Uppsala University, and these experiences triggered her passion for equine sports medicine. She then became senior consultant at the Centre for Equine Sports Medicine at the University of Liege, where she dealt with referred cases in sports medicine, participated to numerous research projects, and collaborated in the training of veterinary students. She is the author of more than 40 scientific articles and regularly lectures at international scientific meetings. She was appointed team veterinarian for Belgium and has served as president of the Belgian Equine Practitioners Society.