Association for Veterinary Informatics honors 35 years of turning veterinary information into clinical wisdom

DAVIS, Calif., Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association for Veterinary Informatics (AVI) (https://avinformatics.org) has presented Paul Pion, DVM, DACVIM (Cardiology), cofounder of the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), with the 2026 Allen W. Hahn Lifetime Achievement in Veterinary Informatics Award. The award was presented at the 32nd Annual Talbot Veterinary Informatics Symposium, held virtually Sept. 24 and 25.

The citation honors Pion for transforming veterinary information into clinical wisdom and building the community that shares it. The award is named for Allen W. Hahn, DVM, PhD, a founding member of the society that became AVI.

Pion cofounded VIN in 1991 with Duncan Ferguson, VMD, PhD, as the first online case consulting and distance learning service for veterinarians. Over 35 years it grew into a global community, supported by its members, where clinical discussion, references and continuing education are searchable when a case arrives. That shared record is the kind of foundation the profession needs as it brings artificial intelligence into practice, the focus of this year's symposium.

Before VIN, Pion and a University of California, Davis team identified taurine deficiency as the cause of feline dilated cardiomyopathy. The finding, published in Science, led pet food makers to reformulate their diets, and the disease largely disappeared.

"Paul spent 35 years convincing veterinarians to write down what they know and share it with each other. Almost everything our field can do with clinical data today rests on that," said Brian Hur, DVM, PhD, president of AVI, who also leads AI and data science at VIN.

The full announcement is available at https://avinformatics.org/recipients.

About AVI

The Association for Veterinary Informatics (https://avinformatics.org) is a nonprofit international and interdisciplinary organization whose mission is to guide and transform the veterinary profession in understanding, using and extending the practice of artificial intelligence and informatics. Founded by veterinarians in 1981 and recognized by the AVMA, AVI has hosted the Talbot Informatics Symposium since 1995 and has more than 400 members.

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SOURCE Association for Veterinary Informatics