Virginia Reef, DVM, DACVIM, DACVSMR, DECVDI, director of large animal cardiology and diagnostic ultrasonography at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet), received the American Association of Equine Practitioners 2015 Distinguished Educator – Academic Award.

The Distinguished Educator – Academic Award honors an individual who by his or her actions and commitment has demonstrated a significant impact on the development and training of equine practitioners. Dr. Reef was honored Dec. 8 during the President’s Luncheon at the AAEP’s 61^st Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nev.

A pioneer in the diagnostic use of ultrasonographic technology, Dr. Reef perfected the technology in her clinical use and then set out to teach the technology to students and practitioners alike. In the ensuing 30-plus years, ultrasonography has contributed to early diagnosis of musculoskeletal injury in the horse, significantly reducing catastrophic athletic-use tendon and ligament injuries.

Many practitioners who use musculoskeletal, abdominal, thoracic or cardiovascular ultrasound or who teach its use in an academic setting have been influenced by Dr. Reef, whether in the classroom, in the lab or through her hundreds of publications that include more than 50 original research papers, over 50 case reports, approximately 130 abstracts in proceedings, 11 major review articles and 80 book chapters.  

Dr. Reef is an invited speaker at domestic and international meetings. Her dedication to expanding ultrasonography technique among her veterinary colleagues is further evident when conducting wet labs. Dr. Reef seeks out local practitioners to procure live horses with the types of injuries she is teaching, arranges shipping of these horses to the wet lab and coordinates co-instructors and assistants to ensure a first-class learning experience for attendees.

Dr. Reef earned her DVM in 1979 from The Ohio State University. She completed her internship and residency in large animal medicine in 1982 at Penn Vet, where she served first as a lecturer until 1986, and since then has served on the faculty. She is the Mark Whittier and Lila Griswold Allam Professor of Medicine as well as section chief of sports medicine and imaging at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center. Among her honors and awards are the Robert W. Kirk Award for professional excellence from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, the Michael Moxon Kate Memorial Distinguished Lecturer Award and The Ohio State University Distinguished Alumnus Award.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its over 9,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.

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