AVA Conference Research Day Awards to be named after female trailblazers

The AVA is proud to announce that the AVA Conference Research Day Awards will be named after 2 female pioneers of the veterinary profession, Emeritus Professor Mary Barton AO and Associate Professor Daria Love. 

The awards will serve as an enduring testament to their legacy and inspire future researchers to pursue excellence with the same passion and dedication they exemplified. 

The Senior Author Award will now be called the Mary Barton Prize, named after the veterinary diagnostic microbiologist, who specialised in research relating to bacterial infections in animals and antibiotic resistance in microorganisms. 

Now retired, Professor Barton enjoyed a remarkable career, contributing to government task forces on antibiotic use in food animals, food safety, and public health, as well as serving as an educator and postgraduate research supervisor. She made significant contributions to the study of animal diseases caused by microbial agents, focusing on their diagnosis and control through vaccines and antimicrobial use. Barton holds two patents for diagnostic technology and a vaccine for Rhodococcus equi in horses. A Fellow of the AVA and a specialist in veterinary bacteriology and pathobiology, she has also led efforts to promote animal welfare, including chairing the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee and serving on the RSPCA South Australia Council. 

The Early Career Researcher/Clinical Vet Award will now be known as the Daria Love Prize, named after the pioneering Australian veterinary microbiologist. Associate Professor Love made history as the first woman to be awarded the University of Sydney Medal for Veterinary Science in 1969, the first female PhD recipient in the Faculty of Veterinary Science (1973), and the first woman appointed Associate Professor at the age of 34 in 1981. Daria excelled in bacteriology and protozoology, advancing research on mycobacterial diseases, antibiotic pharmacokinetics in horses, and equine respiratory disease. Her groundbreaking work on Equine Herpes Virus 1 (EHV1) led to major advances in understanding herpesvirus infections and the development of a trial vaccine. Love's collaborations with over 40 researchers worldwide and her dedication to mentoring more than 30 postgraduate students solidified her legacy as both a brilliant scientist and compassionate mentor. 

The prizes will be awarded at the AVA Conference Research Day on 12 May 2025 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney. Research Day is a collaboration with the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists (ANZCVS) to showcase the best and brightest veterinary researchers from across the nation. Winners of the Mary Barton Prize and the Daria Love Prize will each receive $5,000 in recognition of their outstanding research.  

At the 2024 Research Day, Dr Peter Bennett won the Senior Author Prize for ‘Canine lymphoma in an Australian population’ and Dr James Crowley won the Early Career Veterinarian or Researcher Award, for his research, ‘Lateral fenestration of lumbar intervertebral discs in rabbits: Development and characterisation of an in vivo preclinical model with multi-modal endpoint analysis’. 

The full 2025 AVA Conference Program can be viewed here. Registration for Research Day and AVA Conference will open in early February.