CareVet Celebrates Veterinary Innovators Advancing the Future of Patient Care Through 2026 Clinical Outcomes Showcase
First-ever national program recognizes veterinary students, team members, veterinarians and industry organizations turning bold ideas into better outcomes for pets
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — August 11, 2026 — Great ideas in veterinary medicine can start anywhere: in an exam room, during a busy shift, in a classroom or with a simple question — What if there’s a better way?
CareVet is proud to recognize the veterinary professionals, students and organizations bringing those ideas forward through the inaugural 2026 CareVet Clinical Outcomes Showcase, a national program created to celebrate innovations with the potential to meaningfully improve patient care and advance veterinary medicine.
The Showcase invited veterinary professionals across the country to share advancements in patient care and solutions to real challenges facing the profession. Submissions ranged from practical improvements that can be implemented inside a hospital today to emerging technologies and scientific advancements with the potential to influence veterinary care at scale.
“At its core, the Clinical Outcomes Showcase is about recognizing the people who see an opportunity to make care better and decide to do something about it,” said Dr. Kent Thornberry, President, Co-Founder and Chief Veterinary Officer of CareVet. “Veterinary medicine moves forward when we share what works, learn from one another and give great ideas a platform. Every person who participated in this program is contributing to that progress.”
Celebrating Innovation Across Veterinary Medicine
The 2026 Clinical Outcomes Showcase recognizes finalists across four categories representing the breadth of innovation happening throughout the profession.
Rising Star finalists represent the next generation of veterinary medicine and include Marcus McCaskill of Iowa State University, Jordyn Purpura and Kristen Slagle of Oklahoma State University. Their ideas address expanding veterinary care and education into underserved communities, strengthening neonatal kitten care and improving comfort and monitoring for hospitalized feline patients.
Veterinary Technician and Team Member finalists include Amanda Bickford of CareVet of Shoreline, Sarah Wilmes of Binder Animal Hospital and Alyscia Pew of Brandywine Hospital for Pets. Their submissions tackle everyday barriers to better outcomes, including access to care and transportation, improving diagnostic follow-through and creating safer, more efficient boarding experiences.
Veterinarian finalists include Dr. Michelle Thornberry of Binder Animal Hospital, Dr. Abhishek Chatterjee and Dr. Samantha Gruenwald of Frankenmuth-Birch Run Veterinary Hospital. Their work explores more proactive surgical preparation, AI-supported client education and medical-record engagement, and a preventive wellness model designed specifically for exotic-animal patients.
The Veterinary Corporation and Group finalists — Pointer Health, Ardent Animal Health and Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health — demonstrate how research, technology and clinical expertise can help advance care on a broader scale. Their innovations span predictive disease-risk modeling, personalized canine cancer therapy and AI-supported canine heart-murmur detection.
Together, the finalists illustrate an important idea behind the Clinical Outcomes Showcase: meaningful innovation does not have to look one particular way. It can be groundbreaking technology. It can be a new clinical approach. And sometimes, it can be a simple change to an everyday process that helps one veterinary team deliver better care.
From Ideas to Impact
CareVet created the Clinical Outcomes Showcase as part of a larger commitment to help move veterinary medicine forward by creating opportunities for the profession to measure what matters, share what works and learn from one another.
Rather than limiting innovation to a laboratory or boardroom, the program shines a light on ideas emerging directly from the people closest to veterinary care — the students asking new questions, technicians improving workflows, veterinarians challenging traditional approaches and organizations developing new tools for the profession.
That work will culminate at the 2026 Clinical Outcomes Showcase Awards Gala on Sunday, August 16, in Nashville, Tennessee, where finalists will present their innovations alongside veterinary leaders from across the country and honorees will be recognized for their contributions to advancing clinical outcomes.
But the larger goal reaches beyond one evening.
“The next idea that changes veterinary medicine may already be taking shape in a hospital, classroom or community somewhere in this country,” Thornberry said. “We want people across this profession to know that their ideas matter — and that sharing them can inspire progress far beyond their own four walls.”
For CareVet, the inaugural Clinical Outcomes Showcase represents the beginning of an ongoing effort to bring veterinary professionals together around a shared goal: creating better outcomes for patients, clients, teams and the profession as a whole.
About CareVet
CareVet is a network of veterinary hospitals committed to providing exceptional care for pets while supporting the veterinary professionals who make that care possible. Through initiatives focused on clinical outcomes, professional growth and collaboration across the veterinary community, CareVet works to help veterinary teams thrive and advance the standard of care.