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University of Surrey and Zoetis launch vHive 2.0
Researchers at vHive 2.0 will work to develop new innovations in animal health.
The partnership aims to improve animal health with digital technologies.

The University of Surrey and animal health company Zoetis have launched the latest incarnation of their Veterinary Health Innovation Engine (vHive) collaboration.

First launched in 2015, vHive allowed staff from the Zoetis Centre for Digital Innovation and academics from the University of Surrey's School of Veterinary Medicine to collaborate on research into the use of digital technologies to improve animal health.

Expanding the partnership, vHive 2.0 will look at ways to apply new technologies from human healthcare, including artificial intelligence, big data and health informatics. It is hoped the research will lead to insights and solutions which will help veterinary professionals, pet owners and farmers.

The new tools already being developed as part of vHive 2.0 include analysing social media posts through social listening to find improved ways to support owners whose pets have common conditions.

The original vHive contributed to the work done by the African Livestock Productivity and Health Advancement initiative (ALPHA) which has helped to tackle diseases and increase productivity for livestock farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Rimma Driscoll, executive vice-president and head of global strategy, commercial and business development, and Global BioDevices at Zoetis, said: “There is a very good complementarity on the expertise that Zoetis and University of Surrey are contributing to in this partnership towards innovation and forward-thinking technologies in this sector. We expect that vHive will benefit the agri-health industry tremendously and towards sustainability.”

Prof Tony Whetton, director of vHive, added: “To advance animal health, it is important to utilise all the available data and use it well with modern informatics methods. vHive will break down silos that have existed in the past, developing multidisciplinary research for improved animal health.”

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Applications open for MMI research grants

News Story 1
 RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.

Researchers have until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 28 May 2025 to apply for a grant for research which reflects MMI's 2025 focus areas.

Only one Impact Grant was awarded last year, and so this year there are two Discovery Grants and one Impact Grants available. Each Discovery Grant is worth £5,000 and the Impact Grant is worth £15,000.

For more information or to apply, email researchgrants@rcvs.org.uk to contact the MMI team.

 

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News Shorts
Germany livestock import ban lifted

The UK government has amended its ban on the import of livestock, meat and dairy products from Germany.

Defra said the decision follows 'rigorous technical assessment' of the measures applied and the current situation. "If the situation changes, we will not hesitate to take necessary action in response to the FMD outbreaks in the European Union to protect our domestic biosecurity," it said.

The ban was implemented in January following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) near Berlin. Personal imports of meat, milk and dairy products will remain in place at a country level.