Renowned airway surgeon and pioneer in laryngeal procedures Dr. Norm Ducharme will help practitioners recognize, diagnose and treat the variety of performance-limiting upper airway problems when he delivers the 2016 Frank J. Milne State-of-the-Art Lecture on Dec. 4 during the AAEP’s 62^nd Annual Convention in Orlando, Fla.

Dr. Ducharme’s lecture, titled “Equine Upper Airways: Intersection of Evidence-Based Data, Emerging Discoveries and the ‘Veterinary Art’,” will focus on clinical applications of various upper airway problems through examination of current research and emerging diagnostics and treatments. Included in his presentation will be unpublished data on management of complications as well as advances in standing laryngoplasty.

Dr. Ducharme is the James Law Professor of Surgery, Section of Large Animal Surgery, at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. He served as medical director of the equine and large animal hospitals at Cornell from 1990 to 2014, when the Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists Clinic opened near Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

His clinical and research interests center on sports medicine with an emphasis on equine upper respiratory airway physiology at exercise. This encompasses flow and pressure mechanics, neuromuscular assessment of the neural control of airway patency, characterization of health status and disease (respiratory), and their influence on modifying or developing new surgical diagnosis and treatments. Dr. Ducharme has published more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 37 book chapters

Dr. Ducharme received his veterinary degree from the University of Montreal in 1979. After completing his residency in large animal surgery at Cornell in 1982, he served on faculty at the University of Guelph until 1986, when he joined the faculty at Cornell. He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and served on the ACVS board of regents from 1997 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2007. He served as president of the ACVS in 2006 and as chair of its board of regents in 2007. Additionally, he has served on the executive committee of the World Equine Airways Symposium since 1997.

The convention lecture, sponsored by Platinum Performance, is named for AAEP past president and distinguished life member Dr. Frank J. Milne.

The AAEP’s 62^nd Annual Convention will be held at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, Dec. 3-7, 2016. Registration for the world’s largest continuing education event dedicated to equine veterinary practice will open during the summer at www.aaep.org.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its over 9,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.

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