The AVNT Board is proud to announce the Kara Burns Meritorious Service Award for Professional Service. This award is a peer and colleague nominated award recognizing current VTS Nutrition members who exemplify outstanding service and dedication to improve the lives of pets and those who take care of them through nutrition-focused speaking, research, or editorial contributions along with offering mentorship to future veterinary technologists, technicians, or nurses.
The first award will be presented at the 2025 ACVIM Forum. The award will include a plaque and a travel grant to attend the ACVIM Forum. This award is supported by Vet Nutritionists, and Made Possible By A Donation From Vetnutritionist.AI
Kara is an inspiration for all veterinary technicians, as she continued to learn, advocate, and promote healthy pets and displayed academic excellence to earn the respect of all veterinary professionals.
Kara M. Burns, MS, MEd, LVT, VTS (Nutrition) VTS-H (Internal Medicine, Dentistry)
Kara Burns is a licensed veterinary technician with a master’s degree in physiology and a master’s degree in counseling psychology. She began her career in human medicine working as an emergency psychologist and as a poison specialist dealing with human and animal poisonings. Kara is the Founder and Past President of the Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Technicians. She teaches nutrition courses around the world. Kara is an independent nutritional and well-being consultant, the Director of Veterinary Nurse Development for WellHaven Pet Health and is the Editor in Chief of Today’s Veterinary Nurse. She is a member of many national, international, and state associations and holds positions on many boards in the profession: Western Veterinary Conference Technician Education Manager; NAVTA Past President; President-Elect of the EveryCat Health Foundation (formerly Winn Feline Foundation); and the first technician to be President of the Pet Nutrition Alliance, to name a few. She has authored ~200 articles, textbooks, and textbook chapters and is an internationally invited speaker, focusing on topics of nutrition, leadership, and technician utilization. Kara and her wife Dr. Ellen Lowery developed the Pet Nutrition Coach Certification Courses course through NAVC. Ms. Burns was recently named the The Bridge Club 2024 Industry ICON Award recipient – the first veterinary technician to be recognized as The Bridge Club ICON. Ms. Burns has been featured on the cover of the Veterinary Technician Journal and the NAVTA Journal and most recently has been featured in PetVet Magazine. She was named the North American Veterinary Conference Technician Speaker of the Year in 2013, 2016, and in 2021. She was granted an honorary VTS (Internal Medicine) in 2011. She was also granted an honorary VTS (Dentistry) in 2012. She was the Inaugural 2010 NAVTA Veterinary Technician of the Year. Kara was the 2011 Dr. Franklin Loew Lecturer and the 2024 Dr. Roger L. Lukens Lecturer.
Award Recipients
Nominations open annually in January for 4 weeks, the winner will be notified on March 15th each year. Nominations for the 2025 award are now closed.