Contact
Teaching Summary
I deliver lectures, practicals and facilitated sessions on the majority of the clinical modules including urinary, LCB, cardiotrespiratory, endocrinology and gastroenterology.
I previously ran the final year small animal referral rotation which focused on developing clinical reasoning skills and practical techniques using referral cases to enable a deep appreciation of clinical medicine.
Research Summary
One of my current areas of research activity is in the development of non-invasive diagnostic techniques and the validation of point-of-care methodologies to expand the possibilities for cases to be… read more
Current Research
One of my current areas of research activity is in the development of non-invasive diagnostic techniques and the validation of point-of-care methodologies to expand the possibilities for cases to be investigated and diseases monitored in primary care practice. A number of current projects are being carried out including those evaluating remote markers of disease activity in blood, urine and faeces.
In addition, allied to the development of techniques to facilitate the effective investigation and management of cases in primary-care practice, we are developing research projects to address important questions arising from problems encountered in primary care practice. These are developing in liaison with the evidence-based medicine group. Our network is currently working directly with primary-care practices avoiding extrapolating anticipated outcomes from referral populations.
A further area of my research activity is in the development of owner and breeder focused canine research. This approach has been designed to empower and enhance owner and breeder involvement in prospective research projects. The ethos is that those people owning and breeding dogs have fundamental questions over the health of their animals. This approach is therefore dedicated to facilitating the development of these concerns into active research projects. At present we are collaborating with a number of breed groups and involve a number of primary research and clinical research groups within the School of Veterinary medicine and Science and the University of Nottingham and other groups in the UK, along with groups in the USA and Europe. One particular area of breed-specific research is into the apparent breed predispositions to the develop and outcome of canine osteosarcoma and other cancers. This is in collaboration with a number of groups both within and outside of the University of Nottingham. This research is allied to similar research in humans and in breeds in both the USA and Europe.
In addition to these areas, I am passionate about student engagement with research and run clinical research projects for students who are keen to experience research. These projects are designed around the students individual areas of interest. These projects have invariably led to students presenting their research at international conferences and writing their research up for publication in peer reviewed journals.
Past Research
My historic research background is in experimental neuroscience. This primarily investigated the potential for glial cells to be labeled with a number of different paramagnetic contrast agents in vitro prior to transplantation into the CNS. The impact of this labeling on the function of the glial cells was assessed both in vitro and in vivo. The ability of the fates of those labeled cells to be followed in vivo using MRI was also investigated at various time points.
Other historic areas of clinical research have included the use of radiotherapy to treat cats with acromegaly, the comparative outcome of dogs managed with medical and surgical approaches that are suffering with portosystemic shunts, identifying therapeutic markers in dogs with nasal tumours and clotting disorders in Weimaraners.