Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Present were Kimberly Cole, Nicholas Frank, Alfredo Sanchez, Jenifer Nadeau, Carlos Gradil, Molly McCue, Ken McKeever, Burt Staniar and Robert Causey. Jim Weber and Anne Lichtenwalner were not able to attend, but wished to be kept informed and have filled out an Appendix E. Dr Cameron Faustman, the advisor to the committee, called in to provide a discussion of the role of the committee within the context of USDA's multi-state program and answered questions.

1. There was general agreement that a group of this type will be valuable in pooling resources and fostering collaborative research, but that focus is needed for the group to be successful. In addition, multistate collaborations need to be sincere and not a "one way street".

2. In reviewing the expertise of the group it became clear that metabolic disease, nutrition, exercise physiology, intestinal microbiololgy, equine genomics, reproduction and equine assisted activities/therapy were among disciplines strongly represented, and collaborations in some of these areas could lead to a multistate project or projects.

3. Those who worked with undergraduates described the high level of such students in major research projects, and that creation of student research teams, or research classes, were valuable ways to blend teaching and research responsibilities. Undergraduate students were described as the glue that can hold collaborators together. A down side was the high time committment necessary. However, undergraduate students often can become very attached to horses in research projects, and this can influence the type of research projects which may be undertaken.

4. Participants discussed the challenges they sometimes faced in having their projects approved by IACUC's. Providing point by point responses to concerns, and review of projects by an internal independent equine clinical studies review board that in turn reported to the IACUC were mentioned as ways for projects to earn approval.

5. The funding structure for mulitstate projects was discussed, with some doubt expressed about the extent to which USDA can fund equine research. The important role played by individual experiment stations in administering multistate research funds was emphasized. Grant writing by individual members was also an obvious way to support multistate projects. Private industry was identified as playing an important role in securing private funding through advisory boards, and in membership on committees such as this one. Involving EPSCOR states on multistate projects was suggested as a way to increase success of grant applications.

6. As the meeting drew to a close, action items were discussed. It was suggested this group should secure necessary "infrastructure" to foster collaboration, pooling of resources etc. This infrastructure could involve support for regular meetings, webspace, clerical support, and a central inventory of the groups assets, expertise and research interests. The collaborative atmosphere fostered by such infrastructure had given a competitive edge to the equine genomics group in securing funding when opportunities presented themselves. Therefore it was decided to investigate strategies by which the equine clinical studies coordinating committee could secure funding for such infrastructure, possibly through evolving into a multistate project. Causey agreed to discuss this possibility with Cameron Faustman and Fred Servello (UMaine Experiment Station Director), to circulate to this committee for comment an outline for a possible multistate proposal along those lines, and a spread sheet on which the group could summarize its expertise and resources.