Research Animal Resources Announces the 2024 Patrick J. Manning Award Winners

Dr. Elise Lamont working in a lab; Orion Rainwater

Research Animal Resources (RAR) is excited to announce the winners of the 2024 Patrick J. Manning Award: Elise Lamont and Orion Rainwater (pictured left to right).

This award recognizes a University of Minnesota employee, postdoctoral associate, or graduate student who works with and has demonstrated special efforts on behalf of research animals. Nominations for the award were submitted by University colleagues, and each winner received a personal honorarium of $1,000.

Congratulations to the 2024 award recipients!

Dr. Elise Lamont (postdoctoral associate) is a research associate in the UMN Medical School who has worked with research animals for over 18 years, 10 of those years in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

“Elise has made tremendous contributions to our understanding of how host cell-mediated immunity contributes to the unique sterilizing activity of the first-line TB drug pyrazinamide,” and “made significant contributions in the areas of veterinary vaccinology and diagnostics focused on improvement of animal health within the agricultural sector.”

Orion Rainwater (staff member) is a research support supervisor for the Harry Orr lab, Mouse Behavior Core, and the Institute for Translational Neuroscience (ITN).

“Orion’s dedication to animal welfare and science is evident in his many efforts that include creating the most efficient breeding strategies for six laboratories and refining behavioral testing to be less stressful and reduce the number of mice needed for our research. But perhaps the most impressive is Orion’s dedication to training personnel in many laboratories on how to perform humane and rigorous biomedical research.”