Pain relief for cows? An award-winning K-State professor is making it happen
How can you tell a cow is in pain? That is not the set up to a joke, but rather the core challenge that has driven a K-State professor’s groundbreaking research to ease cows’ aches and pains.
Since his childhood on a dairy farm in South Africa, Hans Coetzee, university distinguished professor of animal welfare in Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, has understood that treating an animal’s pain is a critical component of animal health and productivity.
His dedication and ingenuity in assessing and relieving pain in livestock species has been instrumental in clearing the way for the approval of pain relief medicine for livestock, easing the pain of millions of animals.
“As a society, we have an ethical obligation under our social contract with animals to minimize pain and distress,” Coetzee emphasized. “Livestock producers have a special bond with their animals and are dedicated to providing a comfortable, safe and healthy environment for them to thrive.”
For his work Coetzee received the National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Science, an award that recognizes a scientist who has made an extraordinary contribution to agriculture or to understanding the biology of a species important to food production.
In addition to recognition at the National Academy of Sciences’ annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Coetzee will be awarded a medal and $100,000 as part of the prize’s endowment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.
How do you trick a cow into revealing its pain? Teamwork.
Cattle are a prey species that have evolved to conceal signs of pain from their predators. This evolutionary defense adds a challenge for Coetzee and his team to recognize pain in cattle, which they need to present validated pain assessments to get drugs approved for pain relief.
“In assessing pain, we take a comprehensive approach by examining behavior, physiological and neuroendocrine markers,” Coetzee said. “Our goal is to paint a complete picture of how these animals respond to pain, and more importantly, how our pain relief drugs are affecting those responses.”
Coetzee and his team partnered with K-State alumnus and veterinarian Kelly Lechtenberg, whose company, Midwest Veterinary Services, Inc., specializes in drug approval work for veterinary pharmaceutical companies.
Using technology and Lechtenberg’s regulatory expertise, the team gathered data that validated gait analysis as an endpoint for measuring pain associated with lameness. The data was used as part of the FDA approval of the first drug specifically approved for pain control in a food animal.
“Research often begins at a fundamental level, which is critical because it lays the foundation to translate that research into real-world application,” Coetzee said. “In order to translate our research into field applications, we collaborate with producers who are eager to engage with K-State. This approach is at the heart of our land-grant mission.
“As we advance the Next-Gen K-State strategic plan,” he said, “this type of research is key to meaningful outreach and collaboration, directly impacting animals and producers in Kansas and beyond. ”
Written by: Heather Ackerly
Curated from: https://www.k-state.edu/seek/spring-2025/hans-coetzee-livestock-analgesics-nas-prize/
