Dr. Craig Webb earns top AVMF award for feline research

(SCHAUMBURG, Illinois) June 23, 2026- The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) today honored Dr. Craig Webb, professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences and head of the small animal medicine service at Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, as the winner of the 2026 American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) Career Achievement in Feline Research Award.

This award recognizes an AVMA member veterinarian's long-time contribution to advancing feline health through their research.

"I have been both very fortunate and truly humbled to work with incredibly brilliant colleagues," said Dr. Webb. "I don't 'stand on their shoulders, but I am thanking the AVMA as the one accepting this award on behalf of all of them!"

"Dr. Webb has devoted his career to one of the most common and most confounding problems in feline medicine, and cats everywhere are healthier for it," said Dr. Michael Q. Bailey, president of the AVMA. "His work to untangle chronic intestinal disease in cats reflects exactly the kind of sustained, science-driven dedication this award was created to honor."

Dr. Webb, a 1997 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, has spent more than two decades advancing the understanding and treatment of feline gastrointestinal disease. Based at Colorado State University since 2002, his research has centered on chronic enteropathy in cats-a spectrum of disease that includes inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and low-grade intestinal lymphoma, among the most common and most diagnostically challenging conditions in feline medicine.

Much of Dr. Webb's recent work has focused on distinguishing feline IBD from small-cell lymphoma, a distinction that has long challenged clinicians. Through a prospective study now in its seventh year, his team has gathered clinical, histologic and molecular data from more than 160 cats-believed to be the largest investigation of its kind. The work has helped show that an accurate diagnosis requires more than histopathology alone, demonstrating the value of adding immunohistochemistry and molecular clonality testing, and has pointed toward new molecular targets that may guide future treatment.

Dr. Webb has also been a pioneer in applying regenerative medicine to feline disease. After establishing proof of concept for stem cell therapy in cats with chronic enteropathy, he led a trial comparing adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells with prednisolone for the treatment of feline IBD-offering new hope for cats that do not respond to conventional therapy.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Webb conducted foundational studies of oxidative stress in cats with chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus and feline immunodeficiency virus infection, connecting cellular mechanisms to clinical disease. His feline research program has been supported by sustained external funding, including the CSU Feline Cancer Core, the Koster Endowment for Collaborative Research and grants from organizations such as the Morris Animal Foundation and the Winn Feline Foundation, now the EveryCat Health Foundation.

A longtime member of the editorial board of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery and a member of the American Association of Feline Practitioners' Cat Friendly Practice Advisory Council, Dr. Webb is also a dedicated educator. He is a sought-after continuing-education speaker known for making complex science accessible, a talent reflected in the practitioner-focused reviews he has authored on feline gastrointestinal and hepatic disease.

Dr. Webb's influence extends well beyond his own research through the many residents, graduate students and veterinary students he has mentored, several of whom now lead feline medicine and research programs of their own.

To learn more about the AVMF Career Achievement in Feline Research Award and past recipients, visit https://www.avma.org/awards.

For more information, contact Michael San Filippo, senior media relations manager, at 847-732-6194 (cell) or msanfilippoavma [dot] org (msanfilippo[at]avma[dot]org).