Winners announced for Agnes Winter Award 2026
Phillipa Page (L) pictured with Agnes Winter at the Society's Autumn Conference in 2025.
The Sheep Veterinary Society has announced the winners of its inaugural Agnes Winter Award.
Joseph Angell, from independent practice Wern Vets, and the University of Liverpool’s Jennifer Duncan are the first ever winners of the new accolade.
Their win has earned them financial support for their project, titled ‘Developing a Treatment Protocol for Cases of Watery Mouth Disease in UK Lambs. Through this, they hope to develop an evidence-based approach to managing watery mouth disease in UK lambs.
It will be presented at a future Sheep Veterinary Society Conference, with society members invited to hear more about the work and its findings.
The award was presented in honour of Agnes Winter, to recognise her contribution to the development of sheep medicine. It was devised to provide financial support for projects which focus on improving sheep health, welfare and efficiency.
Agnes Winter was a graduate of the University of Liverpool, where she was one of six women in a class of 35 students. In 1987, she was the first female president of the Sheep Veterinary Society and she was also a founding diplomate of the European College of Small Ruminant Health Management.
While at the University of Liverpool, she established the first sheep residency training programme for veterinary surgeons. She went on to receive numerous awards for her achievements and contribution to the profession, including fellowship at the Royal Veterinary College of Surgeons in 2016.
Agnes Winter passed away on December 1, 2025 at the age of 83.
Phillipa Page, senior vice-president of the Sheep Veterinary Society, said: “The executive committee were delighted to receive four very worthy projects for this inaugural award in memory of Agnes Winter.
"We were delighted to announce the winners of this award at the SVS meeting in Kilkenny alongside Agnes’s sister Ruth Grant. I am certain that Agnes would be delighted with both the commencement of a research award in her name and with the proposed project, awarded as the first recipient.
“We encourage many more sheep vets to submit project proposals in the future for this distinguished award in memory of Agnes who was respected and loved by all”.
Image © Sheep Veterinary Society
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