The 2025 Iron Paw and Spirit of Service awards are presented

Edward J. Robb DVM, MS, DACVN, received the Iron Paw Award, and On A Mission KC was presented with the Spirit of Service award, during the 2025 KC Animal Health Corridor Summit in Kansas City, Missouri opening session.1,2

The Iron Paw is one of the industry’s highest awards, according to Matt Musselman, chief operating officer, farm services for Dairy Farmers of America and chair of the KC Animal Health Corridor Advisory Board. “The Iron Paw is given annually to someone from research, academia, industry or government, regardless of their title or years of service, who's made a significant impact contribution to the global animal health industry,” Musselman told the audience while presenting the award.

The Spirit of Service Award recognizes nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the health and welfare of animals. These organizations are frequently operating with limited resources to carry out their work.1

Iron Paw Award

A graduate of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Robb completed a Master of Science degree in epidemiology and a residency in veterinary nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet). He was a clinical practitioner and lecturer at Penn Vet before transitioning to product development. Over the years, he has held various technical and business positions, leading to his role as vice president of research and development (R&D) at Boehringer-Ingelheim Vetmedica, where he grew the US R&D program from 90 to 240 full-time employees with research investment growing from less than $30 million a year to more than $70 million annually.2

After taking on roles at Ceva Animal Health and Parnell Veterinary Pharmaceuticals, Robb founded BioPharmaPotentials (BPP) and currently serves as its CEO. BPP offers consulting for health product development and has a client list with many innovative projects across various therapeutic sectors, according to KC Animal Health Corridor.2

In his acceptance speech, Robb said he was humbled by the recognition and reflected on his career in research and development. “Some of my opinions haven’t always been appreciated. Our industry vacillates between conformity…and focus on innovation. So at times, new ideas, new therapeutic options, new classes, new prevention treatments are not always popular. Over time, I've mellowed on some of these ideas. Setbacks and failures have taught me more,” Robb said. “So keep innovating. Let's keep opening up new therapeutic areas. Let's keep on building alliances to support One Health solutions. Let's continue to thrive and support interdisciplinary teams and, most importantly, we need to work together to keep attracting talented, creative, results oriented women and men to animal health.

Spirit of Service Award

On A Mission KC is dedicated to helping long-term shelter dogs find love and stability by generating awareness of these pets and providing resources to assist their care. The organization’s work includes helping these canines find homes and providing support to families in crisis to help them keep their animals.On A Mission KC has helped more than 1500 long-term shelter dogs and has raised more than $1.5 million for shelters, rescues and outreach programs since 2016.1

“They’re trying to do a lot with a little,” Scott Poore, founder of On A Mission KC, said in a video, during the award presentation. “What I do is I look for things that I know that they're going to need, while they tell me what they think they need, and usually it's something really simple and humble when I'm thinking much bigger picture.”

An example of On A Mission KC’s work was shown in the video. At Windsor Animal Shelter in Missouri, On A Mission KC provided fenced play yards so that the animals housed there could get outdoors more often and have places to be active. While working at the shelter, Poore noticed needs for heat and air conditioning in the kennel areas and a refresh for the facility’s aesthetic. On A Mission KC then provided the shelter’s first HVAC system and volunteers painted the building, which Poore said would help make the facility more visually appealing. “We want the volunteers, the staff members and potential adopters to be excited and walk into a building that looks happy,” he said.

At the summit, Musselman and Kimberly Young, president of the KC Animal Health Corridor, presented On A Mission KC with a symbolic check. Poore said the funding will help further the organization’s mission.

“I am so grateful for the spirit of service award, this donation is life changing for my organization. It's the largest donation we've ever received. We have so many projects now that we have put on hold that we can actually move forward with thanks to this generosity.” Poore said.

References

1. 2025 Spirit of Service recipient. KC Animal Health Corridor. Accessed August 25, 2025. https://kcanimalhealth.thinkkc.com/events/Spirit-of-Service
2. 2025 Iron Paw Award recipient. KC Animal Health Corridor. Accessed August 25, 2025. https://kcanimalhealth.thinkkc.com/events/kcahc-iron-paw-award