Clayton Johnson, DVM, a partner and veterinarian at Carthage Veterinary Services in Carthage, Ill., will receive the 2020 Allen D. Leman Science in Practice Award in September. He joins a growing and illustrious list of veterinarians who have received the award, which is presented at the annual Allen D. Leman Swine Conference in St. Paul, Minn.

Johnson's international reputation is built upon a foundation of creating bio-economic models of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus management strategies. His expertise in the training and development of veterinarians makes him a sought-after consultant. Johnson also is well known internationally—particularly in China and southeast Asia—as a consultant for companies looking to expand or improve their production processes.

Johnson believes sound science can reveal the causes of perplexing production issues. "I love getting to the root cause by stripping away confounding information," Johnson says. "Walking the line between the perfection of the laboratory and the practicality of commercial production is the sweet spot for me." Johnson has developed expertise in a number of areas, from PRRS control and eradication options to transport biosecurity to wise use of diagnostic laboratory results.

"For more than 20 years this award has honored veterinarians like Clayton who are accomplished leaders of our swine industry," says Montse Torremorell, DVM, PhD, and professor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine at the University of Minnesota. "We are excited to recognize him and to have Zoetis supporting this award."

"Dr. Johnson is an outstanding ambassador for integrating science into the practice of veterinary medicine," says Lucina Galina Pantoja, DVM, PhD and director of pork technical services at Zoetis. "We salute his long record of innovation and tireless pursuit of solutions that improve swine health around the world." 

Johnson completed his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2008 at the University of Illinois. He joined Carthage Veterinary Services in 2016 following a variety of positions with The Maschhoffs, LLC, which doubled its production during Johnson's tenure. He is licensed to practice in five states and is charged with providing leadership to Carthage's 11-member team of swine veterinarians as well as improving the practice's audit processes and data collection efforts. Johnson and his wife, Ali, have two children.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, organizers say they are expecting to deliver the conference online in September and to watch for further communication, as well as visit the conference website to stay up to date.

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