Dr. Stephanie Valberg is an international leader in diagnosing and treating equine neuromuscular disorders. The overarching goal of Valberg’s research and clinical work is to define the basis for neuromuscular disorders in horses, develop accurate, minimally invasive diagnostic tests, and produce optimal methods for preventing or managing performance limiting diseases.

Dr. Valberg’s work in equine muscle disease has transformed equine clinical practice. Her research has led to the discovery of previously unknown muscle disorders, identification of their genetic basis, and development of nutritional strategies to minimize muscle pain. This includes type 1 and type 2 polysaccharide storage myopathy, glycogen branching enzyme deficiency, recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis, myosin heavy chain myopathy, and the cause of seasonal pasture/atypical myopathy. In collaboration with Kentucky Equine Research, she developed RE-LEVE®, the first feed used to treat tying-up, and together they developed MFM Pellet™, an antioxidant supplement targeted towards supporting muscle health in horses with myofibrillar myopathy (MFM). Dr. Valberg was also a member of the team that sequenced the equine genome.

Dr. Valberg first established the Neuromuscular Diagnostic Laboratory during her time at the University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine, where she directed the University of Minnesota Equine Center from 2003 to 2013. Dr. Valberg then joined Michigan State University, where she was named the Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine, in 2015. She directed the Neuromuscular Diagnostic Laboratory in the MSU Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences until her retirement in December 2022.

Dr. Valberg received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph and her Ph.D. in equine exercise physiology from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. She is board certified in Large Animal Internal Medicine and Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation.

The recipient of numerous honors, Dr. Valberg’s most recent honor was a Distinguished Alumnus award at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. She received the 2014 Richard Hartley Clinical Award from the British Equine Veterinary Association for her research linking seasonal pasture myopathy to hypoglycin A in box elder/Sycamore tree seeds. In 2012, she was selected to deliver the annual American Association of Equine Practitioners Milne Lecture, which recognizes a lifetime of service with the potential to change the paradigms by which veterinarians and researchers understand the recipient’s particular area of expertise. She was the first woman selected for the honor. In 2012, Dr. Valberg became the first woman to be inducted into the Equine Research Hall of Fame. She has twice received the Pfizer Research Excellence Award, and in 1998 received the EquiSci International Award, an honor presented every four years to the individual whose work most significantly impacts equine exercise physiology research.

Dr. Valberg is widely published, and has mentored more than 60 graduate students, interns, residents, and post-doctoral students and is a recipient of numerous awards for teaching and mentorship.

Dr. Valberg is also an active horsewoman training Cajun, a Warmblood for three-day eventing, a triathlon competition of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping.