By Blake Jackson
The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine has named Ray Kaplan as the recipient of its 2026 Lifetime Achievement Alumni Award. Kaplan has been recognized for decades of work studying parasites and growing drug resistance that affects animal health worldwide.
Kaplan is now senior associate dean at St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine in Grenada. His career has focused on helping veterinarians and producers better understand parasites that continue to challenge livestock and pets.
His interest in agriculture began early. Kaplan arrived at Virginia Tech at age 17 as a dairy science major after gaining experience on dairy farms during high school. Through a university cooperative program, he worked at a USDA research laboratory, where he first gained exposure to animal parasitology.
Later, Kaplan entered veterinary school and studied parasitology under respected mentors. After graduating in 1988, he worked in mixed-species veterinary practice in Pennsylvania. During that time, he treated goats suffering from parasitic infection and saw how some drugs were already failing.
“I was able to be a hero,” Kaplan said. “Pull out the ivermectin and resolve it almost instantaneously.”
That experience helped shape the research path he followed for the rest of his career. He later earned a Ph.D. in veterinary parasitology at the University of Florida and also worked at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where he studied malaria drug resistance.
In 1998, Kaplan joined the University of Georgia and built a leading research program focused on anthelmintic resistance. His studies covered horses, sheep, goats, cattle, poultry, and companion animals. His work showed that drug resistance was more common than many experts believed.
He also found treatment failures in dogs caused by resistant hookworms. His research helped bring attention to a growing problem that often went unnoticed.
Kaplan says parasite control remains difficult because parasites are complex organisms that adapt well and are hard to target with new medicines.
“It’s a problem that just keeps getting worse,” Kaplan said, “and the solutions aren’t keeping up.”
Kaplan remains active in veterinary education and continues to influence future leaders in animal health.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-nes
Categories: Pennsylvania, General