Welcome to the Sheahan Lab website! The Sheahan Lab is focused on equine gastrointestinal diseases and finding new therapies to treat or prevent these diseases.

The Sheahan Lab is led by Breanna Sheahan, an assistant professor and large animal medicine specialist in the equine hospital of NC State. Head over to the Equine Internal Medicine website to learn more about NC State’s awesome internal medicine services!

Over half of the equine internal medicine case load at NC State is made up of horses presenting for colic (a broad term for gastrointestinal pain). In other words, we see a LOT of gastrointestinal disease in horses! And unfortunately we still have an incomplete understanding of the underlying processes in gastrointestinal disease as well as the best treatments or preventative strategies.

Our goal in this lab is to understand how certain kinds of gastrointestinal disease occur in horses, and to develop novel therapies to treat these diseases.

We are or have been funded by the following organizations: Morris Animal Foundation, Foundation for the Horse, American Quarter Horse Foundation, North Carolina Horse Council, and NC State College of Veterinary Medicine (Intramural awards).

Please feel free to reach out to Dr. Sheahan (bjsheaha@ncsu.edu) if you are interested in the lab or the research! A PhD position for Fall 2026 is open. Summer research opportunities for veterinary students are available through the Veterinary Scholars Program (we have trained 4 veterinary students through this program to date!) and undergraduate research opportunities are available year-round for class credit.