UK Ag Equine Programs’ Researcher Launches Equine Sports Science Initiative focused on the equine athlete

James N. MacLeod, VMD, PhD, a pro-fessor and the John S. and Elizabeth A. Knight Chair at the University of

Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center, has launched a collaborative and research-based initiative that aims to advance the health and well-being of the equine athlete.

Named the Equine Sports Science Initia-tive (ESSI), the program will center on rac-ing and other elite athletic disciplines.

“I think of ESSI as a multidisciplinary col-laboration within UK Ag Equine Programs that includes scientists, clinicians, patholo-gists, regulatory veterinarians, and others

focused on making progress for equine athletes on important health challenges by generating new knowledge,” MacLeod said. “Discussions and debate about the many issues that impact the health and welfare of equine athletes are valuable, but to really move forward, we need to gener-

ate new knowledge and new understanding through science.”

Current research projects include estab-lishing a national database of equine athlete pathology, which has attracted involvement from the Jockey Club; bone density stud-ies; articular cartilage repair research; and

research into a slew of “omics:” genomics, transcriptomics (the study of the complete set of RNA transcripts that are produced by the genome), proteomics (large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions) and the emerging field of me-tabolomics (systematic study of the unique chemical molecules that specific cellular processes generate).

As an initiative through a land-grant uni-versity, ESSI will be committed to dissemi-nating new knowledge across the spectrum of horse professionals and to the general public. There will also be student learning and research opportunities.

Founding members of ESSI working with MacLeod include Emma Adam, B.Vet.Med., Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ACVS, from the Gluck Center; Katie Garrett, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, from Rood & Riddle Equine Hos-pital; Jennifer Janes, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVP, assistant profes-sor of anatomic pathol-ogy, and Laura Kennedy, DVM, Dipl. ACVP, UKVDL pathologist both from the UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory; Chip Johnson, DVM, equine veterinary practitioner; and Megan Romano, DVM, and Mary Scollay, DVM, from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

-- Holly Wiemers

Photo courtesy of Andy Clark, DVM

G L U C K E Q U I N ER e s e a r c h & S e r v i c e

S p r i n g 2 0 1 6Volume VIII, Issue I

R E P O R T

Gluck Equine Research Foundation Spring 2016 2

GLUCK EQUINE RESEARCH FOUNDATION Mrs. Jenny EvansInterim Executive Director andMarketing and Promotion Specialist Senior Gluck Equine Research Foundation 108 Gluck Equine Research Center Lexington, KY 40546-0099 Phone: (859) 218-1089 Fax: (859) 257-8542 E-mail: jenny.evans@uky.edu

Website: http://ca.uky.edu/gluck

Layout by Hannah Forte

Cover photo by UK Ag Comm

The mission of the Gluck Equine Research Center is

scientific discovery, education and dissemination of knowl-edge for the benefit of the health and well-being of horses.

The UK Gluck Equine Research & Service Report is produced by UKGERF and the Department of Veterinary Science. It is pub-lished twice a year on behalf of all equine researchers and vet-erinarians and others in the horse industry who are committed to the continued improvements in equine research and technology.Research material is meant to be shared. However, materials are copyrighted and require reprint permission from UKGERF.

BLUEGRASS EQUINE

DIGESTA free monthly online newsletter with the latest research and practical, use-it-today advice from the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center and the Ag Equine Programs. Sign up at www.thehorse.com/enewsletter/register.aspx

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY GLUCK EQUINE RESEARCH FOUNDATION

Case Clay, Chair

Dr. Stuart Brown, Vice Chair Dr. Eli Capilouto, President

Dr. Timothy Tracy, Vice PresidentDr. Nancy Cox, SecretarySusan Krauss, Treasurer

Shannon ArvinMichael BanahanMark Bellissimo

Benny Bell Williams Jamie Eads

Dr. Rolf Embertson William S. Farish, Jr. Thomas Grossman

Eric HamelbackDr. Robert E. Holland, Jr.

Dr. David HorohovLesley Howard

G. Watts Humphrey, Jr. William Lynn Jones

Lisa LourieEverett McCorvey

Leigh McKeeMichael MeuserChauncey Morris Dr. Stephen ReedDan Rosenberg

Dermot RyanWilliam “Bill” W. Thomason, Jr.

Ron Wallace

MASTHEADBOARD OF D IRECTORS

Gluck Equine Research Foundation Spring 2016 3

Two UK Venture Studio Bootcamp Teams with an Equine Focus Earn Top Honors

Two University of Kentucky teams with an equine focus both recently earned top spots in their respective

divisions during a local contest for start-up pitches.

The teams – Team Race Assure and Team Serandu – competed as part of the Venture Studio Bootcamp, launched this fall by the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship at UK. Venture Studio is an innovative learn-ing space located in the new UK Gatton College of Business & Economics and is focused on immersive training for student entrepreneurs. The Bootcamp is dedicated towards learning, team building, and devel-oping a business model for a new start-up. Throughout each weekly session, students gained hands-on experience with a real world project. For all projects, students had to apply to compete for a spot on a project team. Each project required a variety of skill sets to ensure a cross-discipline approach.

A project called “Helping Horses Improve Health & Performance” took top honors against 14 other teams Nov. 20 during a Lexington, Ky., “Stand Up for your Start Up” pitch competition, then again at a Dec. 4 University of Kentucky competition. Team Race Assure worked on this project.

Team Race Assure members, from left to right in the photo, include Stefanie Pagano, graduate student in BioMedical Engineer-ing; Kimberly Cecere, an Equine Science

and Management undergraduate student; and Julia Fabiani, an undergraduate in both Equine Science and Management and Ap-plied Physiology.

In addition to top honors Nov. 20, the Race Assure team also pocketed the $1,000 prize.

Their project inventor is David Horohov, PhD, chair of the UK College of Agricul-ture, Food and Environment’s Department of Veterinary Science, director of the Gluck Equine Research Center and Jes E. and Clementine M. Schlaikjer Endowed Chair at the Gluck Center.

According to the team’s synopsis, their marketing of Horhov’s invention addresses the problem that successful athletic train-ing is associated with the induction of an anti-inflammatory state characterized by reduced production of inflammatory media-tors. By contrast, an increase in inflamma-tory mediators during training is associated with a failure to adapt to exercise, leading to reduced athletic performance and in-creased risk for injury.

The second UK equine-focused team to come out on top in its division Dec. 4, Team Serandu, marketed an Ultimate Fit Riding Boot and worked under UK faculty mem-bers Janet Kurzynske, PhD, and Scarlett Wesley, PhD, both in the UK College of Ag-riculture, Food and Environment’s School of Human Environmental Sciences.

Their team addressed the dilemma that standard sizes do not fit all when it comes to clothes and shoes. The drive to produce clothes and shoes economically has forced manufacturers to reduce the variety of size options. This trend is particularly evident in the shoe industry. It is known that hu-mans have great variety of foot anatomi-cal structure from individual to individual but also from right to left feet in the same individual. When you look at a boot, varia-tions are multiplied by ankle to the knee anatomical differences. Layer this on top of the need for functionality for the many types of equestrian riding boots. Many equestrian riders settle for less than an ideal fitting boot which may reduce comfort, functional-ity, and safety.

Using 3-D imaging and a personalized manufacturing process, their idea was to create “made to fit” and competitively-priced equestrian boots that provide com-fort, functionality, and safety.

Team Serandu is comprised of Allison Burke, an undergraduate in Merchandising, Apparel, and Textiles, and Caitlin Halliwell, an undergraduate in Equine Science and Management.

Moving forward, both teams will continue to compete in business plan competitions in the spring of 2016.

--Holly Wiemers

Stephanie Pagano, Kimberley Cecere and Julia Fabiani were on the winning team, Race Assure.

Allison Burke and Caitlin Hallwell of Team Serandu were the winners for the UK Venture Challenge.

Gluck Equine Research Foundation Spring 2016 4

tive director of the Gluck Equine Research Foundation and marketing/promotion spe-cialist senior at the Gluck Center, served as the international coordinator.

The conference kicked off with a Practi-tioners’ Day and was followed by a second Practitioners’ Day session and the begin-ning of the “full conference” with the first day of oral abstract presentations. Two-hundred and nineteen abstracts were re-ceived from 34 countries around the world. Oral and poster presentations focused on

The University of Kentucky Animal Genetic Testing and Research Lab-oratory has been renamed Genetic

Testing at Gluck to better align with its mis-sion to offer the highest quality DNA testing combined with personalized customer ser-vice while discovering the genetic basis for traits and diseases in the horse.

Part of the Department of Veterinary Sci-ence in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Genetic Testing at Gluck relocated to the UK Gluck Equine Research Center in 2009 after being housed in the Dimock Animal Pathology Building for 23 years. The lab was also formally known as the Parentage Testing Laboratory and be-fore that as the Horse Bloodtyping Labora-tory. It is one of three laboratories associ-ated with public universities in the United States. The other two are at the University of California, Davis, and Texas A&M Univer-sity.

“The Genetic Testing at Gluck laboratory will continue the tradition of providing both excellent service and research expertise to the equine community,” said David Horo-hov, PhD, chair of the Department of Veteri-nary Science, director of the Gluck Equine Research Center and Jes E. and Clemen-tine M. Schlaikjer Endowed Chair.

Under the leadership of Kathryn Graves, PhD, the lab offers genetic tests including DNA typing, parentage analysis, and color gene and disease mutation testing. The lab serves over 40 horse breed registries by confirming parentage prior to registration, offering customized service to meet the

Genetic Testing at Gluck is New Name for Animal Genetic Testing and Research Labneeds of each association. However many individual owners and breeders utilize the lab’s testing services as well. The lab is the only one still offering traditional blood typing for parentage. Blood typing services also include antibody screening and cross-matching for neonatal isoerythrolysis (NI, acute hemolytic of the newborn caused by ingestion of antibodies in the mare’s colos-trum and milk that are directed against the neonate’s red blood cells).

DNA technology began replacing blood typing for parentage verification around 1994, providing owners with a more con-venient sample submission process as mane hair samples could be used instead of blood samples.

“The laboratory has been part of the evolving technology in genetic identifica-tion of horses during its 30 years of exis-tence, from labor-intensive blood typing to the streamlined and automated genotyping using DNA from a few hairs,” Graves said.

With the sequencing of the horse genome in 2007 came the development of more tests for genetic diseases such as junc-tional epidermolysis bullosa (also known as JEB, commonly found in Saddlebreds), overo lethal white syndrome (OLWS, a concern in Paint horses) and dwarfism (a mutation found in Miniature Horses). The test for JEB was developed at the lab while the test for the dwarfism was discovered at the Gluck Center in the laboratory of Ernie Bailey, PhD.

Other tests available at the Genetic Test-ing at Gluck laboratory can determine the

presence of mutations in genes linked to coat color such as the E locus gene, which controls presence of red or black hair; the Agouti gene, which determines whether a horse is bay or black; the Cream Dilution gene, responsible for palominos and buck-skins; Champagne Dilution; Silver; Gray; Sabino; and Tobiano. The mutations re-sponsible for the champagne, tobiano, and sabino color patterns were discovered at the Gluck Center in Bailey’s laboratory.

“Exciting possibilities exist for the discov-ery of additional variations in the genome that extend beyond color mutations, includ-ing genes that affect performance, growth, temperament, and disease susceptibility. Technology is moving forward at a rapid pace, which will allow us to mine genetic information faster and more affordably,” Graves said.

While the main focus of Genetic Testing at Gluck is on horses, the lab also offers canine DNA genotyping and parentage testing and hereditary juvenile cataract mu-tation testing.

“We plan to take advantage of every op-portunity to expand the tests we offer and most importantly to continue our research efforts to discover new mutations in horses and other animals here at the Gluck Cen-ter,” Graves said.

For additional information on the tests of-fered, including pricing and how to submit samples, visit www.ca.uky.edu/gluck/AG-TRL.

--Jenny Evans

10th International Equine Infectious Diseases ConferenceM. Schlaikjer Endowed Chair, served as the international chair of the conference. Gluck Center faculty members Martin Nielsen, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVL, Dipl. EVPC, as-sistant professor at the Gluck Center, and Peter Timoney, MVB, MS, PhD, FRCVS, Frederick Van Lennep Chair in equine vet-erinary medicine at the Gluck Center, were part of the international committee which oversees the scientific program. Horohov, Nielsen, and Timoney served as modera-tors of sessions throughout the conference as well. Jenny Evans, MFA, interim execu-

The 10th International Equine Infec-tious Diseases Conference (IEIDC X) was held April 4-8 in Buenos Ai-

res, Argentina. Several faculty and gradu-ate students from the University of Ken-tucky Gluck Equine Research Center and UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory pre-sented research at the conference.

The Gluck Center serves as the interna-tional headquarters of the conference. Da-vid Horohov, PhD, chair of the Department of Veterinary Science at UK, director of the Gluck Center, and Jes E. and Clementine continued on p. 5

Gluck Equine Research Foundation Spring 2016 5

David Horohov, PhD, chair of the Department of Veterinary Science at UK, director of the Gluck Equine

Research Center, and Jes E. and Clem-entine M. Schlaikjer Endowed Chair at the Gluck Equine Research Center, was the featured guest during the “UK at the Half” that aired during the UK vs. Louisiana State University basketball game, broadcast on the radio Jan. 5.

Horohov spoke about his research inter-ests past and present and the goals for the

future of the Gluck Center. “UK at the Half” airs during the halftime

of each UK football and basketball game broadcast and is hosted by Carl Nathe of UK Public Relations and Marketing.

To listen to the “UK at the Half” interview, please visit this link http://www.thehorse.com/podcasts/37061/horohov-featured-guest-during-uk-at-the-half.

--Jenny Evans

these 10 topic areas: biosecurity, diagnos-tics, emerging and re-emerging diseases, gastrointestinal, neurological, other sys-tem diseases, parasitology, reproduction, respiratory, and working equids. A special session on the international movement of horses, which was chaired by Timoney, was also part of the schedule.

Practitioners’ Day 1 and 2 speakers from UK include:

•Charles Issel, DVM, PhD, Wright-Markey Chair in equine infectious diseases at the Gluck Center, “Equine infectious ane¬mia: management and control with accurate di-agnostics”

•Alan Loynachan, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVP, veterinary anatomic pathologist at the UKVDL, “When bugs go bad: bacteria as-sociation reproductive pathology” and “Pla-centitis: a pathologist’s perspective”

•Nielsen, “Anthelmintic resistance—the need for diagnostic surveillance”

•John Timoney, MVB, DSc, PhD, profes-sor at the Gluck Center, “Lepto¬spirosis: diagnosis and control”

•Peter Timoney, “Viruses and their role in com¬promising reproductive performance in equines”

Oral abstract presentations from UK in-clude:

•Jennifer Bellaw Smith, BS, PhD candi-date at the Gluck Center, “Evaluation of Baermann apparatus sedimentation time on recovery of third stage Cyathostominae, Strongylus vulgaris and S. Endentatus lar-vae from equine coprocultures” and “Objec-tive evaluation of two deworming regimens in you Thoroughbreds using average daily gain, body condition score, and parasito-

Horohov Featured Guest During “UK at the Half”

logical parameters”•Craig Carter, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVPM,

director of the UKVDL, “Diagnostic epide-miology of nocardioform placentitis and abortion in Kentucky, 1991-2005”

•Fernanda Cesar, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, PhD candidate at the Gluck Center, “Varia-tion of anti-Rhodococcus equi VapA spe-cific IgGs among eleven different lots of one commercially available R. equi specific hyperimmune plasma product”

•Thomas Chambers, PhD, professor of veterinary virology at the Gluck Center, “Equine Herpesvirus-1 interferes with Type-1 IFN-mediated immune responses in vitro in equine endothelial cells”

•Nielsen, “Visualizing ascarid worm bur-dens in foals by transabdominal ultraso-nography”

•Jessica Scare, BS, PhD candidate at the Gluck Center, “Combination deworming—a solution or exacerbation?” and “Compari-son of a smart-phone based automated parasite egg count system to the McMaster and mini-FLOTAC methods”

•John Timoney, “Interaction of Streptococ-cus equi with equine tonsillar complex”

•Peter Timoney, “Contagious Equine Me-tritis: Efficacy of US post-entry testing pro-tocols for identifying carrier stallions and mares”

•Sridhar Velineni, PhD, a research scien-tist II at the Gluck Center, “Influence of se-rum antibody on occurrence of Streptococ-cus zooepidemicus in the nasopharynx of weanling foals” and “Dual antigen ELISA to differentiate infection from vaccine antibody responses to Leptospira spp”

The series of meetings began in 1966 in Stresa, Italy. Other previous meetings

IEIDCX, cont.

included Paris, France - 1969 and 1972; Lyon, France – 1976; Lexington, Ky. – 1987; Cambridge, United Kingdom – 1991; Tokyo, Japan – 1994; United Arab Emirates – 1998; and Lexington, Ky. – 2012. An inter-national committee was formed in 2012 to assist in the planning of future conferences and to ensure that the conference will re-convene every four years.

For more information about IEIDC X, in-cluding a link to the proceedings for the conference, visit www.internationaleidc.com.

--Jenny Evans

Gluck Equine Research Foundation Spring 2016 6

The first research crowdfunding project launched at the University of Kentucky helped secure an ap-

proximate $2.1 million, five-year, multiple species United States Department of Agri-culture (USDA) grant.

In January 2014, Martin Nielsen, DVM, PhD, DEVPC, DACVM, assistant professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Veterinary Science at the Gluck Equine Research Center, launched the crowdfund-ing project titled, “Let the germs get the worms: Testing a novel probiotic compound for treatment of equine parasites.” The crowdfunding project generated more than $12,000. Crowdfunding is a relatively new term that describes reaching out to the gen-eral public to meet a fundraising goal. Suc-cess in attaining the goal often depends on many individuals making smaller donations through a website.

As the name of the crowdfunding cam-paign implies, Nielsen’s research project focused on developing a novel bacterial agent for parasite control. Parasite popula-tions are becoming widely resistant to com-mercially-available dewormers, and there is a critical need for new and alternative treat-ments. The money raised in the campaign allowed Nielsen and his collaborators to conduct a number of laboratory tests with the bacterial products and equine strongyle parasites and results were very promising. The data was included in the proposal for the USDA grant and helped make an ap-pealing case for an expanded research project.

“This shows exactly how crowdfunding can play a significant role in getting re-search funding. In addition to the public-ity generated during the active campaign, crowdfunding provided a stepping stone for getting a larger grant,” Nielsen said. “With the limited amount of grants available for equine research, we need to be more entre-preneurial in our fundraising efforts. Crowd-funding represents one such strategy.”

David Horohov, PhD, chair of the Depart-ment of Veterinary Science, director of the Gluck Equine Research Center and Jes E. and Clementine M. Schlaikjer Endowed Chair, commended Nielsen for his initiative and efforts.

“It is gratifying to see how the novel initia-tive by one of our younger faculty members to use crowdfunding as a means of gen-erating preliminary data has resulted in to a significant award from the USDA for his research program. Dr. Nielsen should be credited not only for this accomplishment, but for the initiative and entrepreneurship he showed in procuring these funds,” Ho-rohov said.

Raffi Aroian, PhD, professor at the Uni-versity of Massachusetts Medical School, is the principle investigator of the USDA grant. Nielsen, along with researchers from Virginia Tech University and USDA, Beltsville, are co-principle investigators. The aim of the research project is to de-velop and evaluate a new bacterial agent for parasite control of farm animals (sheep/goats, horses, cattle and pigs) as well as humans. Nielsen’s laboratory will evaluate this treatment modality in the horse while other collaborators will evaluate it for the other animal species.

Intestinal parasites cause significant loss of health, productivity, reproduction, life and profits associated with large farm animals. In addition, more than 1.5 billion people are infected by parasites. Conse-quences in children include malnutrition, growth stunting, lower cognitive skills and immune defects; impact on adults can in-clude poor pregnancy outcomes, lethargy and lower productivity.

The mission of the Gluck Center, a UK Ag Equine program in the College of Agricul-ture, Food and Environment, is scientific discovery, education and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of the health and well-being of horses. The Gluck Center faculty conducts equine research in seven targeted areas: genetics and genomics, infectious diseases, immunology, musculo-skeletal science, parasitology, pharmacol-ogy/toxicology and reproductive health.

--Jenny Evans

Crowdfunding Studies Instrumental in Securing Five-Year USDA Grant

MicroRNAs throughout Gestation in the Mare

Shavahn Loux, a postdoctoral schol-ar at the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center,

is conducting research on microRNAs (or miRNAs), a small non-protein coding gene in animals, in pregnant mares.

She said the research into miRNAs began due to their potential to act as biomarkers (a measurable indicator of a biological state or condition). They are expressed as a re-sponse to disease and act as a measurable substance as concentrations change.

“If we could easily assess different as-

pects of placental health in the mare with a simple blood test, that would have phenom-enal implications for the equine breeding industry,” Loux said.

The research is still in preliminary stages, with work being done to characterize miR-NA expression throughout gestation in the mare in order to provide a baseline for fur-ther research. Essentially, current research is establishing “normal” miRNA concentra-tions in the pregnant mare before looking for abnormalities. However, through this initial research, several miRNAs have been

identified for future further research.The research has comprised of collecting

tissues and serum throughout gestation, then using next-generation sequencing to assess novel miRNAs that were previously unidentified.

“Next-generation sequencing has the capability of identifying every single RNA in the sample, whether we expect it to be there or not,” Loux said. “With previous technology, such as qPCR or microarray, you are limited by the fact that you can only

Dr. Martin Nielsen

continued on p. 7

Gluck Equine Research Foundation Spring 2016 7

“I explain to them that I was one of them, and that although it took a windy road to get here,

I am now happy.” --Carleigh Fedorka

Caleigh Fedorka is currently a grad-uate student at UK’s Gluck Equine Research Center.

She recently wrote about her journey to graduate school on her blog, A Yan-kee In Paris. An excerpt from her Dec. 6 entry follows. To read the en-tire blog post, visit https://ayankeeinparis.wordpress.com/.

A windy path to a unique careerI am now in the 3rd year of my doctoral

degree at the University of Kentucky. One of the only programs which offers a mas-ter’s and doctorate in Veterinary Sciences, I started this program in an odd turn of

I now meet so many young students who are either unsure of what they want to do

with their bachelor’s, or are convinced that veterinary school is the only endpoint to a suc-cessful career with ani-mals. And I smile when I meet these people, be-

cause I was one of them. I had no idea that this degree existed. That I could be a doctor of philosophy in the field of veterinary sci-ence. That there were other options. I tell them of the pros and cons of this degree. I explain to them that I WAS one of them, and that although it took a windy road to get here, I am now happy.

UK Gluck Equine Research Graduate Student Blogs About Her Path to Graduate Schoolevents. Ten years ago, I would have never believed I would be on this route. I had

wanted to be a veterinarian practically from birth. I was passionate about animal health, I loved working with the animals, and I was fascinated by medicine. I attended a univer-sity with a renowned pre-veterinary route. And then I failed. From one rejection letter to the next, my confidence in myself waned, and my passion for this field wavered.

Graduate Student Spotlight: Emma Adam

From: EnglandDegrees and institutes where received:BSc (Hons), Kings’ College, University of London 1990; BVet-Med, MRCVS, Royal Veterinary College, University of Lon-don, 1993; Large Animal Internal Medicine Residency, Texas A&M; Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2004; Large Animal Surgery Residency, New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania; Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, 2008; Formerly an Internist and Surgeon at a private practice.

Emma Adam began pursuing her PhD at the University of Ken-tucky Gluck Equine Research Center under Jamie MacLeod, VMD, PhD, John S. and Elizabeth A. Knight chair and profes-

sor of veterinary science, in 2012. Adam chose the Gluck Equine Re-search Center to study the formation and repair of articular cartilage in horses, which is the source of many clinical questions and problems.

Adam’s research looks at cartilage tissues in horses from different developmental stages and compares them to adult articular cartilage and to adult stem cells, with the goal of gaining a better understanding what makes mature adult cartilage unique at a gene expression level.

“Degenerative joint disease (or osteoarthritis) is the number one cause of retirement from an athletic career for horses,” Adam said. “It is also a huge problem for the human population. Horses make great models to study this disease as well as being our primary treatment population.”

Adam has been interested in cartilage research since her surgery residency, and she hopes to continue with this area of research throughout her career. Ultimately, she hopes the data captured will be able to contribute towards methods to improve horse health and reduce breakdown injuries.

When asked what her most valuable takeaway lesson is from her time at the Gluck Center, Adam said, “Transparency and critical think-ing. You must understand what it is you are working on, be scrupu-lously honest about what you are and are not able to deduce from your data.”

--Hannah Forte

microRNAs, cont.look for the RNAs which you specify. There is no capacity for discovering the unknown.”

According to Loux, miRNAs hold potential as a novel way to diagnose various diseas-es in the horse. The Gluck Center research

team is primarily studying them as potential biomarkers for placental health, specifically to diagnose placentitis, although they may prove useful for diagnosing other conditions such as intra-uterine growth retardation as well. Other groups studying miRNAs in the

horse are evaluating their potential as bio-markers and treatment in joint pathologies such as osteochondrosis. Work is also be-ing performed to evaluate the role of miR-NAs in follicular development.

--Hannah Forte

Dr. Emma Adam

University of KentuckyGluck Equine Research Center

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The Gluck Equine Research Center encompasses faculty members that conduct equine research full time in the areas of genetics and genomics, infectious diseases and immunology, musculoskeletal science, parasitology, pharmacology/toxicology and reproductive health.

Gifts to the Gluck Equine Research Center are used to support research, build facilities, purchase equipment, provide scholarships for graduate students, create educational material and provide continuing education programs for Veterinarians and Horsemen.

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