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This Penn heart patient is a 9-year-old boxer dog named Sophie
sophie the boxer with a penn vet doctor

This Penn heart patient is a 9-year-old boxer dog named Sophie

Sophie underwent a cardiac ablation procedure in a Perelman School of Medicine translational research lab to treat her arrhythmia—the first time a dog with her diagnosis received such a treatment. Veterinary cardiologist Anna Gelzer says of the collaboration, “It’s the best of both worlds.”

Katherine Unger Baillie

Estrogen’s opposing effects on mammary tumors in dogs
two smiling veterinarians in an exam room, one holding a Chihuahua dog

Veterinary oncologist Karin Sorenmo and colleagues cast new light on the complex role of estrogen in canine mammary cancer. The research emerged from Penn Vet’s Shelter Canine Mammary Tumor Program, which assists in treating and then finding homes for dogs like Brownie, pictured with former oncology intern, Kiley Daube. 

Estrogen’s opposing effects on mammary tumors in dogs

Estrogen’s role in canine mammary cancer is more complex than previously understood. New findings may help explain why dogs spayed at a young age are more likely to develop more aggressive cancers.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Genes play a role in dog breed differences in behavior
Row of six adorable and different dog breeds

Genes play a role in dog breed differences in behavior

Border collies are highly trainable, greyhounds love to chase, and German shepherds make good guard dogs. While the environment plays a role, traits like these are highly heritable. A new study identifies 131 genetic variants associated with breed differences in behavior.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Identifying a gene for canine night blindness
four panels of cellular molecules highlighted by fluoroscopy. Right panels show fewer bright green dots but otherwise look similar to those on the left.

Research led by Penn Vet scientists has revealed the gene underlying a form of night blindess that affects dogs. Dogs with the mutation in the LRIT3 gene (right panels) have less of the resulting protein (labeled yellow-green) in the tips of the retina's ON-bipolar cells than unaffected dogs (left panels). (Image: Penn Vet)

Identifying a gene for canine night blindness

An international team of researchers led by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Keiko Miyadera has identified the gene mutation responsible for a form of night blindness in dogs. Strategies to treat this condition could also inform treatment of other diseases that rely on targeting this cell type.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Is treatment forever? Success of gene therapy for inherited blindness depends on timing
Top-and-bottom show fluorescent, microscopic images of layers of the eye's retina in blue, green, and red.

Canine retinas after successful gene augmentation therapy with RPE65 (red-labeling of the RPE cell layer). When eyes are treated at a stage when photoreceptor numbers are close to normal, there is an arrest of retinal degeneration, and cone (labeled in green) and rod photoreceptors retain normal structure for at least four years following treatment (upper image). If degeneration is ongoing at the time of treatment, there is substantial and progressive loss of photoreceptors in spite of robust RPE65 expression (lower image). (Image: Aguirre Laboratory/Penn Vet)

Is treatment forever? Success of gene therapy for inherited blindness depends on timing

An FDA-approved gene therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis, an inherited vision disorder with a childhood onset and progressive nature, has improved patients’ sight. But new research underscores the importance of further investigation to halt the progression of the disorder.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The diet-microbiome connection in inflammatory bowel disease
a dog and a toddler lay on a carpeted floor looking into each other's eyes.

The diet-microbiome connection in inflammatory bowel disease

Dogs with a Crohn’s-like disease fed a special diet were found to have characteristic changes in their gut microbiomes, paralleling changes seen in children with Crohn’s.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Where ethics, welfare, and sustainability meet swine
pigs in large stalls at new bolton center

Where ethics, welfare, and sustainability meet swine

At New Bolton Center’s model pig farm, free-roaming sows are implanted with RFID chips, nourished by organic feed, and powered by solar energy.

Gina Vitale

Game Commission and Penn Vet partner to protect wildlife
Six deer in a meadow

Game Commission and Penn Vet partner to protect wildlife

The Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program will increase disease surveillance, management, and research to better protect wildlife throughout the state from a spread of diseases, including chronic wasting disease and West Nile virus.

Penn Today Staff

Lung cell transplant boosts healing after the flu
Colorful fluorescent labeled cells appear in a tissue sample of a lung

Researchers successfully transplanted a special type of lung cell called AT2 cells (labeled in green) from healthy mice into mice that had experienced a severe flu infection. The AT2 cells that engrafted (in red) appear to have helped the animals recover more robustly. (Image: Aaron Weiner/School of Veterinary Medicine)

Lung cell transplant boosts healing after the flu

A serious case of the flu can cause lasting damage to the lungs. In a study in mice, researchers found that transplanting cells from the lungs of healthy animals enhanced healing in others that had had a severe respiratory infection.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Keeping parasites from sticking to mosquito guts could block disease transmission
Glowing green, dozens of small ovals represent parasites in a microscopic image

Mosquitoes infected with the parasite Crithidia fasciculata may offer a valuable model for studying other parasite diseases, according to a study led by Penn Vet’s Michael Povelones and Penn State Brandywine’s Megan Povelones. Here, a microscopic image shows the hindgut of Aedes aegypti mosquito infected with Crithidia expressing green fluorescent protein. (Image: Michael Povelones)

Keeping parasites from sticking to mosquito guts could block disease transmission

Researchers at the School of Veterinary Medicine show how a new model for studying the way parasites known as kinetoplastids adhere to mosquitoes’ insides could illuminate strategies for curbing diseases.

Katherine Unger Baillie