Research Podcasts – Veterinary Science on the Move

Welcome to the RVC research podcast, where we are joined by Dirk Werling, Professor of Molecular Immunology about the technology which is now available to us at the RVC ‘organ on a chip’. Professor Werling shares his obvious passion for this technology and how with his lead involvement in the RVC’s new Centre for Vaccinology and Regenerative Medicine, this can help our research and help with the 4R principle of animal welfare. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it. To find out more about Prof Werling’s work, use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/dirk-werling To read more about the Centre for Vaccinology and Regenerative Medicine https://www.rvc.ac.uk/research/facilities-and-resources/centre-for-vaccinology-and-regenerative-medicine Selected reading material https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34150901/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211913215300310?via%3Dihub https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/18/6889 https://journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/16/6/dmm050113/316778/A-systematic-review-of-kidney-on-a-chip-based To Cite this podcast: Dom Barfield. RVC Research Podcast 63 Organ on a chip with Professor Dirk Werling. Published on May 3 2024 If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email podcast@rvc.ac.uk. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast, Spotify, Acast or your preferred podcast platform and kindly write us a review.

Today we are delighted to have Dr Dan O’Neill joining Brian and myself in our remote studio. Dan is Senior Lecturer in Companion Animal Epidemiology here at the RVC and leader of the VetCompass Programme. Dan eloquently describes his story. After twenty-two years in general practice wanting to find evidence for treating or informing clients on the common conditions that he saw, he took a leap to find those answers. After leaving the keys to his practice as he left one Saturday, he started a Master’s in veterinary epidemiology the following Monday. A PhD followed and he has stayed true to his word to find answers to those problems and with just under 100 papers published so far, he shows no signs of slowing down. A delight to speak to and be in his company, we hope that you enjoy the podcast as much as we did recording it. To find out more about Dan use the following link: https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/dan-o-neill For more about VetCompass: https://www.rvc.ac.uk/vetcompass Here are some links to some of Dan’s papers: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31660657/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32661183/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33325082/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31037739/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32751913/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33128852/ To Cite this podcast as: Dom Barfield. RVC Research Podcast 62 with Dr Dan O’Neill. Published on Apr 02 2021 If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

Today we are delighted to have Professor Jim Usherwood remotely recording with Brian and myself all appropriately social distancing in our homes (or shed). Jim is a Welcome Trust Senior Fellow and Professor of Locomotor Biomechanics here at the Structure and Motion Laboratory at the RVC. Jim has examined the locomotion of a variety of different species, from mice to pigeons, horses to barn owls, mayflies, ibis, cockatiels and even dogs and humans. We hope that you enjoy. To find out more about Jim use the following link: https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/jim-usherwood Here are some links to some of Jim’s papers: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32041775/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31033243/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28910262/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27418386/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24429637/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12000801/ To Cite this podcast as: Dom Barfield. RVC Research Podcast 61 with Prof Jim Usherwood. Published on Feb XX 2021 If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

Today we are delighted to have Professor Richard Kock remotely recording with Brian and myself all appropriately social distancing in our homes. Richard is Professor here at the RVC in Wildlife Health and Emerging Diseases. Apt timing perhaps to record this perhaps. Richard is the last person known to diagnose a case of Rinderpest in the world and assisted with his team to help eradicate this virus. Richard has been involved in many other projects globally and he speaks about a few of them with us today. Humbling and inspiring, Richard speaks modestly about his involvement in One Health, and why we all need to be more involved. We hope that you enjoy, stay safe. To find out more about Richard use the following link: https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/richard-kock Here are some links to some of Richard’s papers: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21724764 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23798687 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25655542 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27094147 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28228144 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25005349 If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

Today we are delighted to have Dr Tierney Bennett (nee Kinnison) with Brian and myself in the studio. Tierney is one of our Lecturers in Veterinary Education, based at the LIVE centre here at the RVC (Lifelong, Independent Veterinary Education). Tierney has had an interesting route, a winding path as she refers to her PhD and we are delighted that she spent the time with us to share her thoughts about the different paths available in research and how you never know what you might end up doing. We hope that you enjoy To find out more about Tierney’s work use the following link: https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/tierney-bennett-nee-kinnison Here is a link to some of Tierney’s are papers, the first link is her winding path to a PhD in veterinary education. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25556132/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26494771 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31690641 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26446881 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26489995 If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

Today we are delighted to have Dr Amy Barstow with Brian and myself in the studio. Amy has been finishing up at the clinical skills centre here after completing her PhD in equine biomechanics investigating shock absorption and load distribution in horses exercising on hard surfaces We discuss that and her interest in farriery which has gone on for her to be involved in the Graduate Diploma in Equine Locomotor, to engage farriers with research and address the dearth of farriery related research. To find out more about Amy’s work use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/amy-barstow If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

Welcome to the RVC research podcast, where we are joined by Dirk Werling, Professor of Molecular Immunology about the microbiome and why we should all be interested in it. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it. To find out more about Prof Werling’s work, use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/dirk-werling If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

For Episode 56 we talk to Dr Rowena Packer who is a BBSRC Research Fellow here at the RVC. We discuss what led her interest in perusing animal welfare science, and how she came to do her PhD at the RVC and what this has led to along the way. Her research into breed confirmation and why people might choose those breeds is on-going and fascinating. She has now moved into looking at canine epilepsy and behavioural co-morbidities. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it, inspiring, interesting and informative. To find out more about Rowena’s work use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/rowena-packer For more information about the Big Brainy Border Collie Study please follow this link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/research/research-centres-and-facilities/clinical-investigation-centre/projects/the-big-brainy-border-collie-study-investigating-brain-structure-function-and-behaviour-in-border-collies-with-and-without-idiopathic-epilepsy If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

For Episode 55 we talk to Dr Troy Gibson who is a senior lecturer here at the RVC in Animal Welfare Science. He discusses his journey from the land of the long white cloud to the RVC. His research is in animal welfare of livestock during routine husbandry, and it is fascinating. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it, inspiring, interesting and informative. To find out more about Troy’s work use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/troy-gibson If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

For Episode 54 we talk to Jessica Roach who is currently just beginning her research career here at the RVC, under the supervision of Dr Mandi De Mestre who we spoke to on the last podcast. She discusses her journey so far after starting off as a new graduate with a heavy clinical commitment. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it, inspiring, interesting and informative. To find out more about Jess’s work in Dr De Mestre’s team, use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/research/research-centres-and-facilities/equine-pregnancy-laboratory/team If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

For Episode 53 we talk to Dr Mandi De Mestre, a Reader in Reproductive Immunology here at the RVC. She discusses her career and research that she has followed in three different continents. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it, inspiring, interesting and informative. To find out more about Dr De Mestre’s work, use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/mandi-de-mestre If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

For Episode 52 we talk to Dr Stuart Patterson, who successfully completed his PhD last year and when we recorded this podcast was working as a lecturer in Dairy Medicine here at the RVC. He has now taken a permanent post at the RVC as a Lecturer in Wild Animal Health. We discuss how he has managed his career and aligned it with his interests as well as taking advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it, something for everyone, especially if you like meerkats. To find out more about Dr Patterson’s work, use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/stuart-patterson If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

Welcome back to the RVC podcast, where we are going to focus on the researchers and their research. For our 51st episode we talk to Dirk Werling, Professor of Molecular Immunology about how he started his research career, what research he is currently involved with and advice to those people interested in pursuing a career in research. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it. To find out more about Prof Werling’s work, use the following link https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/dirk-werling If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

A number of diseases arise because the immune system begins to attack the body’s own cells. Here Dr Oliver Garden describes how these diseases arise and his research into the role of a particular type of immune cell, the regulatory T cell, in this phenomenon across species.

The possibility of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection is now a concern for many patients receiving hospital treatment. However, accumulating evidence shows that MRSA can also be carried by animals and then passed on to people in contact. Here Professor Katharina Staerk and colleagues describe their research to identify novel methods of preventing MRSA infection and transmission as part of an EU consortium.

Anal furunculosis is a particularly unpleasant disease of the rear end that particularly affects German Shepherd dogs. Here Dr Brian Catchpole and Prof Susan Gregory outline the traditional way the disease is identified and treated, their recent findings on how it may be caused, and how these findings inform current best treatment practices.

Methods of locomotion vary greatly across the animal kingdom according to size, number of legs and evolutionary niche. However, it seems that there are a great many common themes between species. Here Dr Andrew Spence discusses the latest ideas in locomotion research, with particular reference to the dog... and the cockroach!

A foetus presents an immunological, as well as a nutritional, challenge to its mother. Here Dr Mandi de Mestre describes how the equine placenta, hormonal and immune systems interact to handle these challenges and how her research is revealing the mechanisms involved.

Diseases caused by parasitic worms are a common problem in humans and animals, especially in the developing world. Here Dr Rachel Lawrence describes how filarial infections occur and manage to evade the immune response of the host.

Heart murmurs in young dogs are a fairly frequent finding in small animal practice, but in some cases they may reflect severe congenital abnormalities. Here, Professor Dan Brockman describes the treatments available for these dogs, with particular reference to the surgical repair of pulmonic stenosis.