The Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) at the University of Guelph is launching two new professorships to enhance research on the lifelong bonds between humans and companion animals. Each of the two, five-year term professorships will focus on exploring the impact of human-animal relationships on the health and well-being of animals, people, and communities.

Lauren Grant, MSc, PhD, has been named a professorship holder. She joined the university’s Department of Population Medicine in 2021 as an assistant professor specializing in environmental and public health. Through her professorship, she seeks to enhance the health of both pets and humans by exploring the impacts of the human-animal bond. Utilizing advanced analytical techniques and adopting a One Health perspective, Grant will collaborate with researchers at the University of Guelph and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, while also mentoring MSc, PhD, and postdoctoral trainees.

“Dr. Grant is an exceptional researcher and has developed a novel program that uniquely aligns with the OVC’s combined strengths in the Human-Animal Bond and One Health,” says OVC dean Jeff Wichtel, PhD. “I am thrilled to have a front-row seat as this exciting research program unfolds.”

The second professorship holder, Lee Niel, PhD, is an associate professor and the Col. K.L. Campbell Chair in Companion Animal Welfare within the Department of Population Medicine. Her research program centers on cats, rabbits, and dogs, aiming to improve animal welfare and enhance human-animal interactions by deepening the understanding of animals’ needs and developing new strategies to address them. As much of the research on companion animal health and welfare primarily focuses on dogs, Niel intends to address the gap in studies concerning cats and rabbits through this professorship.

“With its focus on companion cats and rabbits, Dr. Niel’s research will address an understudied research area and one that has great potential to enhance the welfare of these pets,” says Wichtel. “The research is highly unique in its interventional approach.”