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Kathy W. Clarke’s Nomination for the Lifetime Achievement (Morpheus) Award of the ECVAA

Published by January 21, 2018 8:31 pm

Most of you will know Kathy Clarke but I would like to outline her most important achievements, demonstrate her pioneering spirit and her enthusiasm, dedication to the field of veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia.

Kathy Clarke graduated from the University of Cambridge and after spending a short time in general practice, she decided to devote her entire career to veterinary anaesthesia, and gained the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (London) Diploma in Veterinary Anaesthesia, after studying under the supervision of Dr Leslie Hall.

Dr. Clarke was one of the founding members of the ECVAA in 1995. She oversaw the first examinations, and assisted with the examination process in many ways until very recently. She contributed significantly to the ECVAA via her work on the Executive committee and was then was President from 2005 to 2008. Moreover, she was the ECVAA representative on the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation for several years, and European editor of Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia for five years from 2009 to 2014. During her period as Editor there was a significant increase in the number of papers submitted and the citation index improved to 1.7.

She worked at the Royal Veterinary College in London from 1975 until her retirement, where she built up a team of one (herself) to five ‘seniors’, 3 – 4 residents, and interns and nurses. Throughout this time, she has taught and inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of undergraduate veterinary and animal nursing students by her teaching, elective rotations and clinical work. She has been primary supervisor for many postgraduate students / Residents studying full time in clinical veterinary anaesthesia, and has supervised (or co-supervised) 7 successful PhD research students. Moreover, she contributed to setting up the RCVS (London) Certificate in Veterinary Anaesthesia – a qualification which resulted in improved standards of veterinary anaesthesia in general practice in the UK. Kathy went on to supervise over 20 candidates for the Cert VA.

During her long and illustrious career, Kathy Clarke served for ten years on the committee of the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (now the AVA) and was President from 1982 to 1984. She was awarded a Fellowship for meritorious contributions to learning from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (London) in 2002 and is an RCVS recognised Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia. Dr. Clarke has received many prestigious awards including (i) James Bee Teaching award (Group award) from the Royal Veterinary College in 2005; (ii) the Langley award for the best paper in the Journal of Veterinary Anaesthesia in 1990 and (iii) the Blaine award of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association for outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal medicine or surgery (1998).

Kathy’s major interest is in equine anaesthesia and she has contributed significantly to advancing veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia publishing research on: the new volatile anaesthetics sevoflurane and desflurane; cardiopulmonary changes in the anaesthetised horse; intravenous anaesthesia in the horse; the clinical pharmacology of alpha 2 adrenoceptor agonists and antagonists; ruminant anaesthesia and analgesia; resistance of breathing systems used in veterinary anaesthesia, and recently  the efficacy of clinical skills laboratories in training students in a practical skill prior to rotations.

Kathy is author of over 100 articles, co-author of three books and several other book chapters. She has presented her research at over 30 International meetings and is a regular contributor as invited speaker all over Europe and N. America.

She has already received many prestigious awards and ECVAA would like to add to these by awarding Kathy Clarke with the Morpheus Award for outstanding contributions to ECVAA.

The award today takes the form of a commemorative plaque but there is a specially designed lapel pin on the way. This was designed by ECVAA diplomate Sayaka Okushima, to whom we are very grateful.

Lynne Hughes

Citation for Kathy W. Clarke’s nomination for the Lifetime Achievement Award in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (Morpheus Award) of the ECVAA

 

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