Trailblazing Intestinal Disease Clinician-Researcher Dr. Liara Gonzalez Receives AAEP Research Award

The American Association of Equine Practitioners presented its 2025 AAEP Research Award to Liara Gonzalez, DVM, PhD, DACVS-LA, for her seminal research in equine intestinal injury, recovery and ex vivo modeling that will advance creation of new therapies for intestinal diseases.  

The AAEP Research Award recognizes an individual who has completed research that has or will make a significant impact on the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of equine disease. Dr. Gonzalez accepted her award Dec. 9 during the President’s Luncheon at the AAEP’s 71st Annual Convention in Denver, Colo.  

Dr. Gonzalez is a professor of gastroenterology and equine surgery at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She has particular interest in equine colic with a focus on the mechanisms and consequences of intestinal ischemia, a common life-threatening complication of colic that has comparative aspects to similar processes in humans.  

Her lab was the first to develop a large animal pig model to study intestinal stem cells as well as the first to identify these cells in horses and to grow and expand intestinal stem cells into 3D structures (enteroids or “mini guts”) derived from pigs and horses. Dr. Gonzalez’s research is advancing understanding of intestinal disease through expanded knowledge and use of equine intestinal stem cells in modulating mucosal barrier repair following ischemic damage. 

“Through her groundbreaking work profiling and developing tools to study the equine intestinal epithelial stem cell niche, Dr. Gonzalez laid the groundwork for in vitro modeling of the equine epithelium,” said her nominator, Dr. Caroline McKinney-Aguirre. “The establishment of equine ‘mini guts’ has allowed many other researchers to study specific injuries, pathogens and therapeutics in the intestine. Beyond these invaluable tools, Dr. Gonzalez’s clinical research expanded practitioners’ understanding of intestinal injury and ability to prognosticate recovery, which may one day translate into patient-side testing informing real-time treatment decisions.” 

Underscoring the translational nature of her research, Dr. Gonzalez is utilizing her porcine model to improve effectiveness of intestinal transplants and to study ex vivo intestinal healing in humans, which potentially could benefit understanding of equine intestinal healing.   

Dr. Gonzalez received her veterinary degree from Cornell University in 2006. She completed a large animal surgery residency at North Carolina State University in 2010. Following consecutive two-year NIH postdoctoral fellowships, Dr. Gonzalez joined the North Carolina State faculty in 2014. Dr. Gonzalez is also co-director of the Large Animal Models Core for the Center for Gastrointestinal and Biological Disease, a research center partnership between North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. 

 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.