Tara Doherty
Briana Hamamoto
The California Thoroughbred Foundation, in its continuing mission to advance education in equine health, awarded scholarships to Tara Doherty and Briana Hamamoto. The two well-qualified candidates study at the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Tara plans to extern at Del Mar this summer, as well as with Pioneer Equine Hospital and Littleton Equine Medical Center. She is interested in injury prevention in equine athletes, both racing and sport horses. With Dr. Sue Stover as her mentor, Tara explored how horseshoe traction characteristics and surface material affect the shear force on the equine limb. She has presented her research at the Veterinary Orthopedic Society Conference and the annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. She hopes to specialize in large animal surgery or equine sports medicine and rehabilitation, aspiring to work with Thoroughbred racehorses and/or show jumpers.
Briana is the co-president of the Student Veterinary Emergency Response Team and the Equine Medicine Club. She also serves as the U.C. Davis student representative to the AAEP. She is a graduate student researcher at the Ken L. Maddy Equine Pharmacology Laboratory and works as a volunteer at Willow Oak Equine. As part of her association with the emergency response team, she helped during three recent wildfires in Northern California. That experience has led to a desire to become more involved in helping animals and people. As a general equine practitioner, she hopes to focus on pain management.