The E. P. Pope Memorial Award is presented in memory of Dr. Edward P. Pope who was one of the founders of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) and who served with distinction as its Secretary-Treasurer from 1950 to 1972. The award was established in his honor in 1974. The Pope Award is the highest award given by the Association and is presented to an individual who has made noteworthy and significant contributions to the Association in regard to implementing and advancing the recognition of the specialty of veterinary diagnostic laboratory medicine.
The 2018 E. P. Pope Memorial Award was presented to Dr. Craig Carter during the 62nd Annual Meeting of the AAVLD in Kansas City, MO. Dr. Carter holds undergraduate, BS, DVM, MS, and PhD degrees from Texas A&M University (TAMU) and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM). While running a solo ambulatory practice in the Brazos Valley region of Texas, Dr. Carter joined the Texas A&M Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in 1981 as a Veterinary Clinical Associate, serving on the laboratory postmortem service and assisting with case coordination and administrative duties.
Dr. Carter later became the founding head of the new Epidemiology & Informatics section for TVMDL. In this role, he oversaw the design, development, and implementation of 2 enterprise-wide Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), which managed case accessioning, order entry, and diagnostic test capture, case coordination, case reporting, and accounts receivable/payable for all 4 labs including College Station, Amarillo, Center, and Gonzales. Structured historical case databases included in the LIMS software design were utilized widely for conducting retrospective epidemiologic studies on clinical case series and provided near-real-time monitoring, mapping, and investigation of animal diseases of major economic and public health impact. These LIMS features facilitated the advancement of the new field of diagnostic veterinary epidemiology and helped to disseminate knowledge regarding the incidence of endemic and emerging animal diseases in Texas. In as much as mapping software was in its infancy in the 1980s, Dr. Carter oversaw the development of custom GIS mapping software in-house. This software was fully integrated with the LIMS so that near-real-time disease/etiology monitoring maps and other thematic map products could be generated in minutes. These 2 systems (VISTA & VisuaLab) provided comprehensive IT support for the 4 Texas labs for >25 y. In another initiative, he established a clinical rotation of senior DVM students at the Texas A&M Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station to help new graduates entering clinical practice to become better prepared to effectively work with a diagnostic laboratory.
In 2005, Dr. Carter was recruited to the University of Kentucky (UK) to establish and lead a new diagnostic epidemiology unit at the Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center (LDDC) in the wake of the mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) outbreak that occurred in 2001–2002. At UK, he was retained as a Full Professor of Epidemiology for the College of Agriculture, Food & the Environment and the College of Public Health. In 2007, he was appointed as Director for the LDDC (later renamed the UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory) where he currently manages a $6M budget; oversees day-to-day laboratory administration, operations, facilities planning/construction, strategic planning, the new teaching program for all senior DVM students from Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), Tennessee; and conducts infectious disease epidemiologic research. Dr. Carter has authored or co-authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications/abstracts in scientific journals and proceedings, 2 books (first author), 2 books (co-author), 1 book chapter, and 1 book as chief medical advisor. During his career, he has served as PI, Co-PI, or Collaborator on $6.2 million in research grant projects and contracts. He has also delivered 127 scientific presentations locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. He conducted 20 years of research leading to the biography of Dr. James H. Steele, the veterinarian who started the veterinary division of the CDC in 1945, entitled Animal Health, Human Health, One Health: the Life and Legacy of Dr. James H. Steele. Finally, Dr. Carter has served as committee member or chair on 19 MS, MPH, and PhD graduate student committees—one of his favorite activities.
Dr. Carter has been active in many state, national, and international associations related to veterinary medicine and animal agriculture. In the AAVLD, Dr. Carter has served as Vice President, President-Elect, President (2011), Immediate Past-President, member of the House of Delegates since 2005, the Laboratory Directors Committee since 2007, the Strategic Planning Committee, Government Relations Committee, Epidemiology Committee, Informatics Committee, Joint AAVLD/USAHA Committee for the NAHLN, and Joint AAVLD/USAHA Committee on Animal Disease Surveillance and Animal Health Information Systems. He was active in the Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA) for 25 y, and has been a proud member of the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association (KVMA) since 2005. He has been active in the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) since 1981 and served as President of the AVMA Academy on Disaster Veterinary Medicine. He also served one term as President of the American Veterinary Computer Society (now the Association for Veterinary Informatics). In addition, he served as the Executive Director for the World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians from 2001 to 2017, overseeing planning for 8 international meetings. Dr. Carter is a strong supporter of the One Health philosophy and has served for many years on the One Health Initiative Advisory Board. He also serves as an advisory board member on the Center for Animal & Human Health in Appalachia in his role as Adjunct Professor with LMU. Finally, he is completing a 5-y stint (2016–2020) as President of the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society.
Dr. Carter’s military career in the USAF and US Army spanned 4 decades with 29 y active service, including a deployment during Desert Storm/Shield and combat zone tours in the Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq theaters. He was selected by higher headquarters to command the first Army Reserve Veterinary Corps unit into Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, earning a Bronze Star. Upon his military retirement as a Colonel in 2009, he was awarded the Legion of Merit for his career service and accomplishments. Furthermore, he has enjoyed working as an international consultant on capacity building, epidemiology, and laboratory missions in >30 countries. He has served on several OIE Committees including chairing the OIE Ad hoc Committee on New Approaches to Diagnosis in 2012. In 2018, he traveled to Poland as a Fulbright Specialist where he lectured at several agricultural universities, consulted with farms, racetracks, and clinics, and met with principals of Ag tech-start-up companies.
Dr. Carter’s service to the university, veterinary, and animal agricultural communities has been recognized through the following awards: AVMA XII International Veterinary Congress Prize; K.F. Meyer/James Steele Gold-Headed Cane for excellence in epidemiology, public health and One Health; Kentucky Veterinarian of the Year; Texas Specialty Veterinarian of the Year; Distinguished Scholar, National Academies of Practice; Texas A&M Regent’s Fellow Award; Texas A&M Chancellor’s Award in Excellence for Agriculture. His passion for community service is exemplified in his role as Founding Chair of the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial Committee, the first All-Wars veterans memorial in the Brazos Valley region of Texas. The Memorial was officially dedicated by President George H. W. Bush, “41,” in College Station, TX on November 10, 2002.
A word from Dr. Carter
This is such a humbling honor. I must thank my boss, colleague, and friend, Dr. Konrad Eugster, Director Emeritus of the TVMDL, who coaxed me away from my mixed veterinary practice into diagnostic veterinary medicine. It was the best decision I ever made for my career—thank you for the opportunity of a lifetime Konrad! Many thanks also to Dr. Robert Crandall, Diagnostic Microbiology Section Head Emeritus at the Texas laboratory, who graciously mentored me and who led the early efforts toward the creation of the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation (JVDI). I send my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported me along the way. I accept this on behalf of the entire AAVLD and USAHA membership—past and present—particularly my special colleagues and friends at the labs where I have worked—Texas and Kentucky. As the Director of the laboratory in Kentucky for the last 11 y, my dedicated faculty and staff at the University of Kentucky laboratory have made me look good every day—my sincerest thanks to all of you—you are the best of the best! As much as I appreciate this prestigious honor, the highest reward I have enjoyed is the simple privilege and pleasure to have worked with all of you and having been a member of this amazing association for almost 39 y. The work that you all do each-and-every day to help improve the health and welfare of animals and to improve the public health is nothing short of heroic. Finally, I want to recognize and thank my wonderful and beautiful wife Ronda, who has never wavered in her support for my career—she was always there to give me strength when I needed it most!
I salute you all. As James H. Steele would say—carry on!