The California Thoroughbred Foundation has awarded the 2023 Louis R. Rowan Fellowship Award to Shadira Gordon, a PhD student in the epidemiology graduate group at the University of California, Davis.
During the first two years of her PhD, Shadira conducted a case-control study to evaluate the effect of host characteristics, diet, and biosecurity protocols in California performance horses during a equine-alphaherpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) outbreak. Her results pinpointed such crucial factors
influencing EHV-1 susceptibility as how often horses attend competitions, the number of horses attending from the same facility, and the nature of competitive activities.
Currently, Shadira is working on identifying and categorizing the strains isolated during the ongoing EHV-1 out-break, which has affected more than 15 California counties. Her goal is to integrate potential prevention strategies, the genetic characteristics of EHV-1 and EHM, and social network analyses of Thoroughbred horse movements between events.
Beyond her research, Shadira strongly advocates for One Health initiatives. She has been a regular participant and discussion leader at events like the UC Davis Education Conference on One Health, and she won first place in the One Health Case Competition organized by the One Health Institute. Shadira envisions her research making a practical impact by fostering collaboration among horse trainers, stakeholders, and veterinarians. Her work aims to develop effective strategies for performance horses, potentially serving as a model for addressing other equine infectious diseases locally and internationally.