A host of viruses have evolved ingenious ways to cause disease in humans and animals. We have vaccines to prevent viral infections, but only for a few selected viruses. Although antiviral drugs exist, they treat an even smaller number of viral infections. Each of these antiviral drugs targets just a single virus, resulting in the…(Read More)

  Treatments using stem cells, which can replenish tissues with new cells, offer tremendous potential for healing wounds and treating various diseases, but we need to learn much more about these cells before this potential can be realized. Van de Walle’s research on adult stem cells spans multiple veterinary species to understand the roles…(Read More)

A keen understanding of reproduction is vital to helping endangered species, domestic dogs, and people. Travis first became interested in research to obtain this understanding with the goal of eventually being able to manage zoo and wildlife populations with effective contraceptives and by enhancing their fertility. The reproductive technologies resulting from such approaches can also…(Read More)

The same skin allergies and rashes make dogs and humans itch, but dogs don’t often develop lung allergies like humans. Allergies in all species occur when the immune system, which normally fights infections, mistakenly attacks a harmless allergen like pollen. However, we don’t understand why some species are more prone to certain allergic…(Read More)

A virus that was identified as the H3N2 strain of influenza, first seen in the Chicago area in early 2015, underwent a resurgence in the United States this year. Infected dogs experience a respiratory disease which lasts for a few days, accompanied by a fever and cough as seen with influenza in humans, and are…(Read More)

Although they are not often heard of, reoviruses cause disease in multiple animal hosts. Rotaviruses, for example, commonly cause diarrhea in young children, a disease which is often deadly in developing countries. Unfortunately, there are no antivirals that are effective against reoviruses. When a cell detects a viral infection, its first response is to shut…(Read More)

Many dog breeds are susceptible to inherited disorders of sexual development, or DSDs. One such disorder, XX DSD, can lead to mismatched reproductive organs, sterility, tumors, and infections. XX DSD is a bane to breeders, but so far has been impossible to remove from the gene pool. Meyers-Wallen’s group is working to pinpoint…(Read More)

  Humans and animals have nearly 20,000 different genes which encode the myriad of proteins that affect all aspects of an individual – the way individual cells work, our organs, even influencing how we think and behave. Other animals have basically the same 20,000 genes – so why are you a human and your dog…(Read More)

Cancers are major diseases in humans and dogs. In humans, a drug that many survivors of breast cancer take to prevent a relapse, called tamoxifen, often stops working after several years of treatment. Unfortunately, it is still unknown why it stops working, and there is currently no way to predict which patients may or may…(Read More)

  When a mammal becomes pregnant, the mother’s immune system is prevented from attacking the fetus as if it were an unfamiliar infection, but the mechanisms for this state of tolerance are not well understood. The Equine Genetics Center at the Baker Institute has pioneered methods to study the horse placenta and to determine…(Read More)