Dr. Paul Lunn, Head of the Department of Clinical Sciences, recently was invited to deliver the Frederick Smith Lecture at the British Equine Veterinary Association Congress held in September. The invitation is considered a prestigious honor and Dr. Lunn received a commemorative medal for delivering the lecture, and in recognition of his accomplishments in equine immune response.
The lecture is named in honor of the late Sir Frederick Smith, a veterinarian who started the British Army Veterinary Corp for cavalry horses in the late 1800s. He served in India and in South Africa. Dr. Smith was knighted and also became a major general. He performed research into laminitis and general horse health.
Dr. Lunn’s lectured focused on the horse’s innate immune system and its ability to recognize and respond to the molecular patterns or motifs commonly found in bacteria, viruses and other pathogens; as well as treatment of inflammatory disease, laminitis and sepsis, and immunocompetence throughout the life cycle of the horse. In his research, Dr. Lunn is interested in the adjuvants that drive immune responses to vaccines. His laboratory focuses on influenza virus and EHV-1 infection in horses.
Dr. Lunn is originally from Wales, where he grew up in a farming community, and studied veterinary medicine at the University of Liverpool. He had a private practice in the United Kingdom before coming to the United States to take over as Director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2003, he joined the faculty at Colorado State University as Head of the Department of Clinical Sciences.
