Morris Animal Foundation awards $1M for canine, feline studies

Morris Animal Foundation announced $1 million in funding in January for nine canine and feline health studies on subjects such as cancer, chronic upper respiratory disease, and osteoarthritis.

The studies are as follows:

• "Early diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma," Dr. Shelly Vaden, North Carolina State University, $189,036.
• "Safety of a novel gene silencing treatment for canine degenerative myelopathy: A phase 1 clinical trial," Dr. Natasha Olby, North Carolina State University, $122,256.
• "A new and relevant target for dog joint pain: Neurotrophic factor receptor GFRα3 and its ligand, artemin, are master regulators of osteoarthritis pain in the dog," Dr. Duncan Lascelles, North Carolina State University, $48,568.
• "Synergizing radiation-induced immunogenic cell death and toll-like receptor 9 agonism to generate abscopal effects in canine osteosarcoma," Dr. Timothy Fan, University of Illinois, $194,555.
• "Interrogating the regulation, function and therapeutic potential of monocarboxylate transporters in osteosarcoma," Dr. Cheryl London, Tufts University, $97,377.
• "Extracellular vesicles that propagate myxomatous pathology in canine mitral valve disease," Dr. Vicky Yang, Tufts University, $107,732.
• "Evaluation of the recovery of the gut microbiome and metabolome of dogs following an acute diarrhea episode," Dr. Rachel Pilla, Texas A&M University, $10,746.
• "Genetic and epigenetic annotation of the domestic cat genome," William Murphy, PhD, Texas A&M University, $202,938.
• "First comparison of upper respiratory microbiome structure and function in cohabiting cats with and without feline upper respiratory tract disease," Dr. Brianna Beechler, Oregon State University, $10,757.