Dr. Martin Nielsen | Photo Credit: University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture

In January 2014, Martin Nielsen, DVM, PhD, Dipl. EVPC, ACVM, an equine parasitologist, veterinarian, and assistant professor at the UK Gluck Equine Research Center, launched the crowdfunding project “Let the germs get the worms: Testing a novel probiotic compound for treatment of equine parasites.” The project generated more than $12,000. Crowdfunding is a relatively new term that describes reaching out to the general public to meet a fundraising goal. Success in attaining the goal often depends on many individuals making smaller donations through a website.

As the name of the crowdfunding campaign implies, Nielsen’s research project focused on developing a novel bacterial agent for parasite control. Parasite populations are becoming widely resistant to commercially available dewormers, and there is a critical need for new and alternative treatments. The money raised in the campaign allowed Nielsen and his collaborators to conduct a number of laboratory tests with the bacterial products and equine strongyle parasites, and the results were very promising. The data was included in the proposal for the USDA grant and helped make an appealing case for an expanded research project.

“This shows exactly how crowdfunding can play a significant role in getting research funding,” Nielsen said. “In addition to the publicity generated during the active campaign, crowdfunding provided a stepping stone for getting a larger grant. With the limited amount of grants available for equine research, we need to be more entrepreneurial in our fundraising efforts. Crowdfunding represents one such strategy