NC State swine welfare professor wins 2026 AVMA honor
Bottom line
North Carolina State University professor Dr. Monique Pairis-Garcia has been named the 2026 recipient of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Animal Welfare Award, a national honor that recognizes an AVMA-member veterinarian for advancing animal welfare through leadership, public service, education, research, product development, or advocacy. Pairis-Garcia, a professor of global production animal welfare at NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, is being recognized for work that has centered on swine welfare, especially humane euthanasia, pain management, and on-farm welfare assessment. NC State said she is the first awardee whose work has been dedicated primarily to swine welfare, underscoring a broader recognition of food-animal welfare science within mainstream veterinary honors. (nationalhogfarmer.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the award highlights how applied welfare science in production medicine is gaining visibility, not just companion-animal or laboratory-animal welfare work. Pairis-Garcia’s program has focused on translating research into practical tools for producers and caretakers, with close ties to the National Pork Board and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. That’s relevant for swine veterinarians, mixed-animal practitioners, and academic leaders alike, because it reinforces that welfare expertise now spans extension, on-farm protocols, continuing education, and specialist training in areas like euthanasia decision-making and pain mitigation. (nationalhogfarmer.com)
What to watch: Watch for the formal AVMA recognition cycle and whether this award brings added attention to swine-focused welfare training, guideline development, and on-farm implementation work ahead of the 2026–27 academic and conference season. (nationalhogfarmer.com)
Dr. Monique Pairis-Garcia, a swine-focused welfare scientist at North Carolina State University, has won the 2026 AVMA Animal Welfare Award, giving one of the profession’s highest welfare honors to a veterinarian whose career has been built largely around production-animal care. The award recognizes an AVMA-member veterinarian for advancing animal welfare through leadership, service, education, research, product development, and advocacy, and this year’s selection puts swine welfare squarely in the national spotlight. (nationalhogfarmer.com)
The recognition comes as animal welfare in food-animal systems is drawing more scrutiny from veterinarians, producers, regulators, and the public. Pairis-Garcia’s career has tracked that shift. After earning her DVM in 2011 and PhD in 2014 from Iowa State University, she began her academic career at The Ohio State University, where AVMA-cited coverage says she helped establish one of the few U.S. teaching programs focused on animal welfare and behavior. She joined NC State in 2019 and was promoted to full professor in 2024. Earlier this year, NC State also named her a 2026 Faculty Scholar. (nationalhogfarmer.com)
At NC State, Pairis-Garcia holds a research, teaching, and extension appointment in global production animal welfare. Her faculty biography says her work centers on three main areas: pain management in livestock, educational tools for timely and appropriate on-farm euthanasia, and welfare assessment and audit programs designed to improve handling and welfare outcomes on farms. She is board-certified by the American College of Animal Welfare, serves on pig welfare committees for both the American Association of Swine Veterinarians and the National Pork Board, and remains active in AVMA and swine-industry education. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
The award citation, echoed in trade coverage, emphasizes Pairis-Garcia’s ability to turn welfare science into usable farm-level tools. AVMA President Michael Q. Bailey said her work reflects “the very best of our profession,” citing humane euthanasia, pain management, and on-farm welfare assessment. Pairis-Garcia, in comments published by National Hog Farmer, thanked swine veterinarians, producers, caretakers, and allied-industry partners for supporting her work in advancing swine welfare on-farm. Trade coverage also noted her role as a contributing author to the 2024 AVMA Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter of Animals and her mentorship of veterinarians pursuing animal-welfare board certification. (nationalhogfarmer.com)
Industry and institutional reaction suggests this is more than a personal honor. NC State framed the award as a milestone because Pairis-Garcia is, according to the university, the first recipient recognized primarily for swine welfare work. That matters in a field where welfare discussions have often been more publicly associated with companion animals, shelter medicine, or broad livestock policy than with the day-to-day clinical and management decisions made in commercial pork systems. Swine trade outlets similarly highlighted her direct partnerships with producers and sector groups, reinforcing that her research has been designed for adoption, not just publication. (swineweb.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the award signals that production-animal welfare is continuing to move from a niche academic interest to a recognized core competency. In practice, that means more attention to evidence-based pain control, euthanasia training, audit design, stockperson education, and welfare measurement that can stand up clinically and operationally. It also reflects the growing influence of veterinarians who can work across science, extension, and industry implementation, especially in swine systems where welfare expectations are rising but must still be translated into feasible on-farm protocols. Pairis-Garcia’s background, including committee service, extension work, and applied research, is a useful model for how that bridge-building role is evolving. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
There’s also a workforce angle. Pairis-Garcia has helped mentor veterinarians pursuing board certification in animal welfare, and her academic profile highlights recent work on training tools and decision support around euthanasia and livestock care. For colleges of veterinary medicine and food-animal employers, that points to a growing need for veterinarians who are comfortable leading welfare programs, not simply complying with them. (nationalhogfarmer.com)
What to watch: The next step is the formal AVMA award presentation and the downstream effect on swine-focused continuing education, committee work, and guideline development. The bigger question is whether this recognition accelerates investment in applied welfare research and specialist training for food-animal practice, particularly in areas where veterinarians are being asked to balance ethics, productivity, workforce training, and public trust. (nationalhogfarmer.com)