Veterinary Clinical Research in Naturally Occurring Disease

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VHRC designs and conducts practice-based clinical studies in client-owned dogs and cats with naturally occurring disease, helping animal-health, biotech, pharmaceutical, diagnostic and nutrition companies generate meaningful evidence from the patients veterinarians treat every day.

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Research Where Disease Actually Happens

VHRC works through general veterinary practices and specialty centers to identify, enroll and follow client-owned animals with naturally occurring conditions.

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Our studies combine rigorous scientific design with real-world clinical observations, owner-reported outcomes, digital monitoring and practical measures that can be used in everyday veterinary practice.

This approach allows sponsors to study products and technologies in the animals and clinical settings where they are ultimately intended to be used.

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VHRC can support research from early proof-of-concept through larger practice-based clinical programs, including studies designed to support product development, claims substantiation, publication and translational research.

 

A Different Approach to Clinical Research

Naturally occurring disease in client-owned animals provides information that cannot always be reproduced in conventional laboratory models.

 

These patients live in normal homes, receive routine veterinary care and experience disease in the setting of age, lifestyle, environment and other health conditions.

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By working within veterinary practices, VHRC helps sponsors capture this real-world complexity while maintaining the structure, documentation and scientific rigor required for meaningful clinical research.

Our network includes both general practitioners and specialists, allowing studies to begin where many conditions are first recognized and to escalate to specialty expertise when appropriate.

 

Practice-Based Research Across Naturally Occurring Disease

VHRC supports clinical research across therapeutic areas and technologies, including:

• Mobility, joint health and musculoskeletal disease

• Cognitive aging and neurologic disease

• Oncology

• Dermatology

• Cardiovascular disease

• Diagnostics and medical devices

• Nutrition and supplements

• Rare, atypical and unresolved clinical conditions

• Emerging veterinary and translational technologies

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VHRC Research Programs

 

DOGMA℠ Dogs Overcoming Geriatric Memory & Aging
Canine cognitive aging and translational research.

 

CATMA℠ Cats Advancing Toward Mindful Aging
Feline cognition and healthy aging research.

 

COMPASS℠ Companion Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Pain Assessment Study/System
Practice-based mobility and musculoskeletal research incorporating CLAMP℠, VHRC’s structured approach to assessing lameness, activity, mobility and pain.

 

TRIAD℠ Translational Recognition and Identification of Atypical Disease
A frontline veterinary framework for recognizing, preserving and appropriately escalating atypical or unresolved cases before important clinical information is lost.

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From Veterinary Patients to Better Evidence

VHRC was built around a simple idea: important clinical information is often already present in the animals veterinarians see every day.

By connecting sponsors with veterinary practices, client-owned animals and thoughtfully designed research protocols, we help turn those real-world observations into evidence that can advance animal health and, where appropriate, contribute to broader translational and One Health research.

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Discuss a Study

If you are developing a therapeutic, diagnostic, device, nutritional product or emerging technology and want to understand how it performs in real veterinary patients, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss your program.