School of Veterinary Medicine and Science

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Sarah Freeman

Professor of Veterinary Surgery, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

Contact

  • workRoom B21 Gateway Building
    Sutton Bonington Campus
    Sutton Bonington
    Leicestershire
    LE12 5RD
    UK
  • work0115 951 6422
  • fax0115 951 6440

Biography

Sarah Freeman graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in 1994. Following a year working in mixed practice in Suffolk, she returned to the Royal Veterinary College in 1995 as a postgraduate student in the Equine Hospital. She obtained a PhD in equine anaesthesia, the RCVS Certificates in Veterinary Anaesthesia, Veterinary Radiology and Equine Soft Tissue Surgery. She became a lecturer in Equine Surgery at the Royal Veterinary College in 1999, and became a Member of the Institute of Teaching and Learning in 2002. Between 2002 and 2005, Sarah was self-employed undertaking consultancy veterinary education and clinical work. She became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2005. She joined the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham in 2005, and was involved in much of the early planning and delivery of the new curriculum.

Current role at Nottingham includes undergraduate teaching in Yrs 1-5, and research based around clinical disease (equine colic, wounds and critical decision-making, and canine reproduction), undergraduate education and human-animal interaction.

Sarah was awarded a personal Chair in 2014, and is a Professor of Veterinary Surgery at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. She was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2017 for meritorious contributions to clinical practice, and won the RCVS Impact award in 2019 for her work within the REACT colic campaign.

Expertise Summary

Current role at Nottingham includes teaching, research and clinical work.

Sarah Freeman is a Professor in Veterinary Surgery at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. She holds RCVS Certificates in Equine Soft Tissue Surgery, Veterinary Anaesthesia and Radiology, and the European Diploma in Large Animal Surgery.

Sarah primarily teaches in Musculoskeletal 2 (Year 4 module), and Musculoskeletal 1 (Year 1 module), but also contributes to teaching and assessment in other years and modules. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and was awarded an Individual Lord Dearing Award for Teaching and Learning in 2007 and in 2013, and Team Lord Dearing Awards in 2021 and 2024.

Research interests are centred around clinical disease and welfare in horses and dogs. Sarah currently supervises two postdoctoral researchers Amelia Cameron and Freya Rooke, 2 PhD students Anna Heritage and Martyna Jankowska, and two MRes students Jo Dwyer and Elise Rodden.

Sarah leads the Nottingham Equine Colic Project. This research group has used a co-production methodology to work with vets and horse owners to generate new evidence and recommendations on the recognition and assessment of colic (funded by World Horse Welfare). The project team has collaborated with the British Horse Society to produce the 'React now to beat colic' campaign, a highly successful evidence-based equine health initiative to help horse owners with the early recognition of colic www.bhs.org.uk/welfare-and-care/colic, which won the Veterinary Record Evidence award in 2017. The research group has also developed educational materials on colic specifically for veterinary surgeons and practices (www.beva.org.uk/Guidance-and-Resources/Practice-Managers) and for undergraduate veterinary and equine students (www.worldhorsewelfare.org/equine-colic-form). The Colic Champions scheme was launched with The British Horse Society in 2018, and currently has 88 veterinary practices signed up as champions (www.bhs.org.uk/our-work/welfare/our-campaigns/react/vet-react-colic-champions). Colic awareness week runs annually with The British Horse Society to help raise awareness of this campaign.

A new initiative, The Equine Wound project was launched in 2018 in collaboration with The British Horse Society, and is starting a similar process for wounds in horses. This has completed evidence reviews, collected data on injuries in horses (www.bhs.org.uk/our-work/welfare/wounds-project), held workshops and focus groups with vets and owners to identify priorities, and PhD student Anna Heritage is currently trialling new resources which will underpin a new educational campaign.

We are also currently trialing at end-of-life decision-making tools to help vets and owners with critical decision-making in the horse. This continues the work done during Amelia Cameron's PhD funded by Horse Trust, and the implementation trial is now led by Amelia, with funding for a two year Fellowship from Morris Animal Foundation.

We have worked extensively with World Horse Welfare on a range of UK and international based projects. Jess Burridge has recently completed a PhD developing an educational intervention for colic in working equids in Cololmbia. Currently, post-doc researcher Freya Rooke is leading a project to refine and validate a working equid welfare assessment tool, funded by World Horse Welfare.

The latest research to start is working with VetVision AI to develop computer vision AI monitoring of stabled horses, with Martyna Jankowska funded through an AI DTC PhD studentship.

Previous research has encompassed a broad range of methodologies, including both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Current and previous collaborations have included the School of Education and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (University of Nottingham), the Royal Veterinary College (University of London), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (University of Calgary), Hong Kong Jockey Club, the British Horse Racing Authority and the NCARE team at Nottingham (www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/ncare). Sarah is involved in publication and grant reviews for a number of journals and charities. She is part of the Equine Veterinary Journal Study Design and Data Analysis Board, and is a member of the organising Committee for the International Colic Symposium.

Research Summary

Sarah's research interests are in welfare and clinical disease .

She is currently supervising Masters research studentships on:

Castration complications in the horse - Elise Rodden

Analgesia in the horse - Adam Redpath

Weaning methods in the horse - Jo Dwyer

Wounds in the horse - Hannah Cunningham

PhD studentships:

Educational resources for wound management in horses: Anna Heritage

Computer vision AI analysis of stabled horses behaviour: Martyna Jankowska

Postdoctoral researchers:

End-of-life decision-making in the horse - Amelia Cameron

Refinement and validation of a working equid welfare assessment tool - Freya Rooke

School of Veterinary Medicine and Science

University of Nottingham
Sutton Bonington Campus
Leicestershire, LE12 5RD

telephone: +44 (0)115 951 6116
fax: +44 (0)115 951 6415
email: veterinary-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk