Comparative and Experimental Medicine alumna, Dr. Kristin Bowers, has won the national Phi Zeta Research Manuscript Award competition in the basic research category. Bowers and authors won the national competition for their work, “Mesenchymal stem cell use in acute tendon injury: In vitro tenogenic potential vs. in vivo dose response.” The researchers investigated the role of TGFβ3 in stem cell maturation and evaluated stem cell doses for treatment of acute tendonitis.

Annually, the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine hosts its own Phi Zeta Manuscript competition. College veterinarians can submit manuscripts published in the calendar year prior to the competition. In 2023, Bowers won the College’s basic science category and progressed to the national competition. Bowers graduated with her PhD in comparative and experimental medicine in May of 2023.

The objectives of the Society of Phi Zeta are to recognize and promote scholarship and research in matters pertaining to the welfare and diseases of animals. To this end, the National Society of Phi Zeta conducts a Research Manuscript Award competition each year. National award recipients receive a check for $1,000 and an inscribed plaque.