Published: 29 Oct 2020 | Last Updated: 29 Oct 2020 09:46:51

RVC BVet Med graduate Victoria O'Hara has jointly won the 2020 BETA Equine Thesis of the Year Award. The award recognises academic excellence in undergraduate study and Victoria was one of four finalists who presented their thesis to a panel of judges during an online event on Sunday 25 October. Victoria’s thesis was on the Use of commercial ELISA for deduction of myostatin protein in equine serum and the examination of an MSTN gene promoter SINE insertion mutation in vivo.

On receiving news of her shortlisting for the award Victoria said: 

“I am thrilled and honoured to be a finalist for the BETA thesis of the year award. I'm proud to be representing the RVC and the veterinary profession against some strong competition. To all current students, I hope that this inspires you to try hard with your RP2, it can lead to so many opportunities. I would like to thank my supervisor Richard Piercy and his team at the Comparative Neuromuscular Diseases Laboratory, this wouldn't have been possible without their continued help and support, and I'm incredibly grateful. “ 

Commenting on her success Professor Piercy said:

“Victoria threw herself wholeheartedly into her final year research project and worked tirelessly to get so much achieved in very little time. I am delighted that her dedication has paid off in not only generating some fascinating data but also for her personally, with this prestigious award that is open to UK undergraduates at all vet schools, but also animal and equine science courses. Victoria’s work helps explain the mechanism whereby a myostatin gene promoter mutation that is highly prevalent in Thoroughbred racehorses is associated with their exercise performance and their optimal race distance.”