FIVM Seminar Series presents: Injury prevention and performance monitoring in sport horses using mobile health

Up to 45% of high-level sport horses are injured every year during training and the rate of equine exercise associated deaths is approximately five hundred to a thousand-fold higher than that for competitive human athletes. It is incumbent on veterinarians and the equestrian community to protect horses’ health and welfare. Injuries and deaths also affect the public perception of equestrian sports, thereby threatening the viability of the equine industry.

While telehealth in equine medicine is often considered a controversial topic due to concerns including quality of patient care, decreased revenue, and legal obstacles, sometimes the benefits outweigh the costs. It is a goal of Dr. Cris Navas to develop a program that uses mobile health/wearable devices to decrease the unacceptable incidence of exercise associated deaths and injuries in sport horses. On Friday, October 20, Dr. Navas will explain the logistics and initial lessons of this initiative.

Dr. Cris Navas is a clinician at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine’s (PennVet) New Bolton Center. He received his veterinary degree from the UCH-CEU University in Valencia, Spain, his PhD from UAB, Barcelona, Spain, and his Masters of Veterinary Clinical Medicine from the University of Illinois. He completed a residency in Equine Internal Medicine (University of Illinois) and Fellowship in Cardiology and Ultrasound (University of Pennsylvania) and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine since 2009. Before starting formal Internal Medicine training he worked in an equine ambulatory practice. Dr. Navas joined Texas A&M from 2015-2019 and returned to PennVet in 2019. Dr. Navas' clinical activity and research focuses in equine cardiology and ultrasound. His ongoing projects are designed to prevent injuries and exercise associated deaths in equine athletes and to promote veterinary health and education using telehealth.