Associate Professor Ken McKeever, who has been with the Department of Animal Science since 1995, is associate director of the Equine Science Center, one of the region’s most important research sites promoting the health of horses and supporting the horse industry. The horse treadmill in McKeever’s Cook Campus laboratory is the only treadmill in the country in an animal science department equipped to measure numerous physiological responses in the animals. “Unlike labs in veterinary schools, our mission is focused on basic and applied science that provides solutions to horse owners so as to prevent problems, rather than fixing broken animals,” McKeever said. While McKeever loves horses, his research has a dual benefit. Physiological research on horses has implications and possible benefits for human life. McKeever’s research may have positive impacts for the aging as well as combat soldiers. McKeever also is an active member of the university community as a longtime university senator and head of the water polo club.
McKeever and his lab team will demonstrate the horse treadmill this weekend at Ag Field Day, April 28 at 1 p.m.
Focus: Why is the horse a good study subject?
McKeever: The horse has been used as a research model for a long time. The first blood pressure measurements were taken using a horse. They are very large; they will let you put in catheters and make measurements. We train the students who work here in the lab to draw blood samples, and they get a lot of hands-on experience. The horses love the treadmill – the only treadmill equipped this way in the country. We have a system for measuring oxygen intake. The laboratory is climate controlled. It’s set up to do all the wet chemistries we need, so we don’t need to wait on samples to be sent out and returned. It’s quite an investment, but we did much of it ourselves. We dug the pit and poured the concrete. We try to do things economically and save the taxpayers’ money.
Focus: How does your research support the horse industry?
McKeever: The horse industry is a big part of the economy in the state of New Jersey, which has many horse owners as well as the Meadowlands Racetrack, Monmouth Park Racetrack, and the Freehold Raceway. I have done a lot of research for the racing commission in New Jersey and the region, including New York State and Maryland. We are a neutral party in the industry. For instance, I served as an expert witness in a trial between a horse trainer and the New Jersey Racing Commission involving the practice known as “milkshaking” – feeding sodium bicarbonate to a horse before a race to improve its performance. The trainer questioned the commission’s methods of obtaining their abnormal measurement. I did a report, concluded, and testified that the commission’s results were accurate. In terms of litigation expenses, expert witnesses save the state millions of dollars.
Focus: What benefits will your horse research have for human health and wellness?
McKeever: When I came on board I said, “Here we have an animal model on aging.” We’re at the center of understanding what makes a horse able to do things and not be able to do things as they age. The aging process in horses is very similar to humans. When trying to solve the problems that plague humans, we can ask, “Why do old horses get fat? Why do they develop insulin resistance, like type 2 diabetes?” In doing this research, we come up with ways to benefit the older population of humans as well as the older population of horses. Further, I was able to convince the U.S. Army that horses made better lab models than rats for studying inflammation, resulting in a $750,000 grant. We are studying the effects of food extracts on physiology: black tea and cranberry extracts suppress inflammation; orange peel extract decreases recovery time. Now apply this to the battlefield: soldiers can recover faster without dependence on ibuprofen, which they call “ranger candy” because it is relied so much to treat their inflammation. If we can move away from those drugs in humans and in horses, that’s a good thing.
Focus: You have
always loved animals and did postdoctorate research for NASA using monkeys. How
did you choose the horse as a research subject?
McKeever: When I went to college, I wanted to be a veterinarian. But I also loved finding things out. So eventually I moved toward graduate school. When I did my master’s, I had a choice between pigs and horses – the choice was obvious.