Kansas State University

MANHATTAN — The College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University is establishing a new center of excellence that may be the first of its kind in animal health. On Feb. 25, the Center for Outcomes Research and Education, or CORE, will be publicly launched under the guidance of David Renter, a veterinary epidemiologist who will be the center's director.

With a goal of improving effectiveness and efficiency in animal health care and its associated impacts on human health, the center will focus on demonstrating the value of animal health interventions — including treatment, prevention or diagnostic activities intended to improve health.

"By providing structured, applied research and educational programs that explicitly define and incorporate the societal and economic values inherent to health interventions, the CORE will be a unique resource for the veterinary profession and others focused on enhancing animal health," said Renter, who is a professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology.

"The CORE will provide leadership and infrastructure for effective collaboration among practicing veterinarians, industry partners, government agencies and others in academia, so we can determine optimal animal health approaches for different situations," Renter said. "This type of outcomes research approach is already well integrated into some human health programs, but a center like this is new in animal health."

The discipline of outcomes research involves applied clinical- and population-based research that seeks to study and optimize the end results of health care practices and interventions in terms of benefits to the patient and society. Renter said there is often a focus on the evaluation of economic factors, comparative clinical effectiveness and health-related quality of life assessments.

"We will generate and synthesize evidence on health interventions and train people on how to best utilize that evidence to influence health care decisions," Renter said.
The center will involve several faculty at Kansas State University with existing collaborative programs, as well as experts at other institutions.

"We have some truly world-class faculty already working together on these types of issues. The CORE will allow us to enhance that work, increase our visibility, provide more focused leadership, and be much more responsive to stakeholders in the animal health community," Renter said.

"Here at Kansas State University, we already have a number of flagship and well-established research and educational programs in this area, including veterinary medicine, public health, epidemiology, agricultural economics, infectious diseases and animal sciences," he said. "Several of our existing centers and institutes have goals that align extremely well with the CORE."

The center's research and training activities will be funded through a variety of sources, including private sector support and federal grants through U.S. Department of Agriculture as examples. Developing and enhancing public-private partnerships is a key part of CORE's strategic plan. As an example, Renter noted Kansas State University's connections with the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, a consortium of more than 200 animal health and nutrition companies whose leadership controls over one-third of the world's animal health business.

Renter said the Center for Outcomes Research and Education also helps support Kansas State University's 2025 plan of becoming a Top 50 public research university.