NIH awards $1 million in grants to veterinary research at Cornell

Ithaca, N.Y.

- Two clinical research programs at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine will receive $1 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over the next four years.

The largest portion of the funding, a four-year $900,000 grant, will go to the college's DNA Bank, while a two-year $100,000 grant will go to study common variable immunodeficiency in horses.

The DNA researchers, led by Dr. Greg Acland, professor of medical genetics, will map the genetic locus of up to 12 complex genetic traits. Ultimately it will help breeders and researchers produce the best dogs for specialized tasks, reduce disease risk and develop disease treatments and interventions much sooner.

The DNA Bank, established in 2006, has collected nearly 3,000 samples from pedigreed dogs visiting the Cornell University Hospital for Animals for diagnosis and treatments of diseases.

Julia Flaminio, the Harry M. Zweig assistant professor in equine health and assistant professor of large-animal medicine, is the lead researcher in common variable immunodeficiency in horses.

Horses affected by the disease cannot make antibodies because they lack B cells that are responsible for antibody production. Cornell researchers diagnosed the first such case in 2001.