Veterinarian and Associate Professor Miia Riihimäki. Photo: Lisa Chröisty, SLU
Miia Riihimäki – The veterinarian who conducts research on horses' airways in order to cure all her patients
Page reviewed:
08/10/2025
Veterinarian and associate professor Miia Riihimäki has dedicated many years to finding new methods for better diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment for all the horses that suffer from respiratory problems. A research that often begins with her patients at the UDS equine clinic and seems never ending.
Perhaps it all began when Miia Riihimäki's first pony developed asthma. The pony received a partially effective treatment, and Miia's eyes were opened to respiratory diseases, which are the second most common cause of reduced performance in horses after lameness. Miia Riihimäki has since dedicated her professional life to helping patients like this.
My pony lived to the age of 26 and received a type of treatment that was believed to be helpful at the time—but if I had been able to treat him today, his quality of life would undoubtedly have been much, much better, says veterinarian Miia Riihimäki, who since last summer has also been able to call herself an associate professor in veterinary medicine.
Associate Professor
= An academic title that indicates that a person has achieved a certain level of scientific and pedagogical competence in their profession (after completing their doctoral degree). The requirements for becoming a docent may vary slightly between different universities. As a docent, you have the opportunity to be the principal supervisor for a doctoral student, a person who is still studying, within a research project.
The combination of equine veterinarian at a clinic and researcher
Drawing inspiration from the horses Miia Riihimäki encounters in her daily life is something that has continued since that first pony. By combining her work as a clinic veterinarian with research, new ideas for research projects are constantly emerging.
Much of my research is based on my clinical patients, and the horse owners I meet never say no to their horses participating in projects—after all, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
However, the combination of working clinically with horses and conducting research at the same time is not particularly common.
Many people I encounter in the world of equine research have never even met a horse with the disease they are trying to find treatments for, and if you are a skilled researcher, that certainly doesn't matter. But for me, research is never about names and numbers in an Excel spreadsheet; I see and work for the horses behind it.
One of veterinarian Miia Riihimäki's many respiratory patients at the clinic in Uppsala. Photo: Lisa Chröisty
From crime scene to sporting achievements – “always with a certain seriousness”
Well-functioning airways in horses are fundamental not only to their well-being, but also to their performance and long-term health. However, in reality, there are many diseases and conditions that can affect the respiratory tract, some of the most well-known being asthma, strangles, and viral infections such as the serious “abortion virus” (EHV-1). These are all areas that have been, and continue to be, the focus of Miia Riihimäki's research.
When it comes to respiratory diseases, there is always a certain degree of seriousness, because as a veterinarian, you always have to rule out the possibility of a contagious infection—and sometimes, that is indeed the case, she says.
The disease Strangles is one such example, which is why Miia Riihimäki describes work and research on strangles as ‘working at a crime scene’.
Everything needs to be viewed as if examining a crime scene. If we touch anything, it can become contaminated, so we need to keep what is normally a rather dirty stable environment very clean, wearing protective clothing and following strict cleaning routines between each horse and task. This is simply to ensure that we do not contaminate with bacterial DNA from the environment or equipment—or, in the worst case, transfer infections—either between horses or between objects in the environment, she says, continuing:
... modern diagnostic techniques are often based on DNA analysis and environmental contamination, which has recently been shown to be much more common than previously thought, she says.
“You all probably know how a detective works; we all look the same these days when it comes to crime—it's hysterically meticulous,” says Miia Riihimäki. Photo: Private
The research team's discoveries in the field of environmental contamination have shown that DNA from living and dead bacteria can remain in the horse's environment and on the horse's muzzle long after an infection. In addition, the strangles bacteria themselves can survive for a long time in a favorable environment, such as water. Another example is a common nylon halter, something that most horses wear on a daily basis. If it has been contaminated with strangles bacteria, they will only disappear when washed at 60 degrees Celsius.
The more you research strangles, the more you realize how complicated it is. It's like being in any detective story, says Miia Riihimäki.
A question of horse welfare
For veterinarian Miia Riihimäki, researching and treating respiratory symptoms is a matter of horse welfare.
It is easy to understand that a limp causes horses pain, but even relatively minor respiratory problems affect the horse—and its welfare. Imagine the feeling of not being able to breathe—it must be stressful for horses too, not only physically but also mentally, she says.
Respiratory diseases are becoming increasingly common.. but why?
The fact that many horses today are kept indoors for large parts of the day, travel, compete, and are imported between countries—as well as being trained on surfaces and in temperatures that can affect their respiratory tract—may be some possible explanations. At the same time, there may also be a purely genetic factor in some horses.
If we can prevent the spread of infection, reduce exposure, and treat affected horses more effectively, we will improve the welfare of both healthy and sick horses, says Miia Riihimäki, continuing:
I think this is important, now that we have chosen to keep and use horses in a way that is somewhat unnatural for them.
Always juggling many balls in the air – will they ever come to an end?
As both a researcher and a clinical veterinarian, there is always a lot of movement and activity. Patients, research projects, and new ideas are constantly coming in. Miia Riihimäki is currently involved in no fewer than seven different research projects related to, among other things:
Viral infections
Asthma
Training horses in cold weather
Viral abortion (EHV-1)
MAST cells...
... and strangles.
All of them relate to the broader field of respiratory diseases, and all of them have the potential to shape what Miia Riihimäki is constantly searching for: ever better ways to treat the horses that come to her clinic in the hope of receiving help.
But none of this is a one-person job. Instead, it requires combined expertise from different areas that together can lead to both progress and new breakthroughs. Collaborations that have been built up over the years and today form the basis for the many projects that Miia Riihimäki both initiates and participates in.
It has always been most important to me to do something that I find interesting and enjoyable—and now that I have become an associate professor, even more opportunities have opened up, not least in terms of supervising doctoral students in my projects, says Miia Riihimäki, continuing:
... and precisely because I do both research and clinical work on a daily basis, I feel that I can be even more useful than if I chose one of the two—it feels meaningful, she concludes.
“I will always be surrounded by animals—even when I retire from my professional life as a veterinarian and researcher—that will never change,” concludes Miia Riihimäki. Photo: Lisa Chröisty
Facts: About Miia Riihimäki
Licensed veterinarian since 1997
PhD in 2008 in equine respiratory tracts, specifically immunology and asthma
Has conducted research in various projects concerning equine respiratory tracts for over 20 years
Since the summer of 2024, he has been an associate professor in veterinary science specializing in equine medicine, with the title “New opportunities for infection control and a step towards precision medicine in equine respiratory diseases.”
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Miia Riihimäki, Veterinarian and associate professor