AASV President Dr Nathan Winkelman Receives Allen D. Leman Science in Practice Award

September 18, 2019 — 

Al Leman's influence on the U.S. swine industry, and the many practicing veterinarians, is deep and varied, and that influence is not lost on Nathan Winkelman, the recipient of this year's Allen D. Leman Science in Practice Award. [Source: National Hog Farmer 16 September 2019]

Receiving this award in Leman's name "brings back a lot of memories," Winkelman says after being awarded the honor during this year's Leman Swine Conference in St. Paul, Minn. "I worked for his grad students, worked in his laboratory and he was a tremendous influencer on my wanting to be a swine practitioner and he was an influencer of a whole generation of swine practitioners. That's one of the reasons we've got such a plethora of wonderful swine practitioners in the state of Minnesota and beyond."

So, what makes Winkelman stand out in the field of all veterinarians influenced by Leman, who passed away in 1992, to receive this award today?

Winkelman, president and co-owner of Swine Services Unlimited Inc., says his main focus had been working with progressive pork producers, but as a veterinarian, he found a lot of unanswered questions. In his pursuit of answers, he rented a client's nursery barn and with help from the University of Minnesota, developed a research model for ileitis. "That was back in the early '90s. And since then, that's continued and has grown into a business, so that a preponderance of my practice now is with randomized controlled trialed research for lots of other diseases. But I kind of stood out a couple of decades ago because of this research model and helping mostly pharmaceuticals and some vaccine companies develop new products to get on market, new antibiotics to get on the market in the feed, in the water and injectables. ... it's kind of a pigeonholed me a little bit as a pig diarrhea expert, quote unquote. But we do research in all swine diseases."

Keeping with the Science in Practice mantra, Winkelman realizes that "this is motivating. Now, I have to defend this award to keep going. I will continue to do a lot of work with ileitis. ... We've answered a lot of questions with ileitis. Just over time we've got good treatment and control programs. The next big step is how can we prevent it? How can we control and prevent and monitor subclinical ileitis? And eventually, it's going to rise to the top as an important disease so that we can eradicate it and eliminate it from certain systems that have good biosecurity. We've got the tools now that we can prevent and or eliminate it."

"For more than 20 years this award has honored some of the most accomplished veterinary leaders in the swine industry," says Montse Torremorell, DVM, PhD, and professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota. "We are excited to recognize Dr. Winkelman and to have the support of Zoetis in supporting this award."

"Dr. Winkelman is an outstanding ambassador for integrating science into the practice of veterinary medicine," says Lucina Galina Pantoja, DVM, PhD, and technical director at Zoetis. "We salute his long record of innovation and tireless pursuit of solutions that improve swine health around the world." Zoetis is sponsoring a reception at this year's Leman Swine Conference, further honoring Winkelman.

Winkelman is the primary author of more than 40 scientific articles, a book chapter and coauthor of numerous other scientific articles on ileitis and other swine diseases. He routinely volunteers his time with various organizations and frequently presents clinical case reports to veterinary students. Winkelman is the current American Association of Swine Veterinarians president and has been active in that organization since 1982. He earned his bachelor of science degree in animal science from the University of Minnesota in 1979 and his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the school's College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. He and his wife, Deb Bryant-Winkelman, also a veterinarian, reside in Sartell, Minn.