Human & Animal Health

Twenty-eight project teams of students, faculty and staff across UC Davis and UC Davis Health raised $107,025 from 1,093 gifts during February’s Crowdfund UC Davis campaign. A record 14 project teams met or exceeded their goals.

• Assist with inventory and stocking 
• Assist with setting up project binders and forms.
• Assist with renaming and uploading digital images
• Attend lab meeting when schedule permits
• Assist with holding animals for eye exams
•  Assist with cleaning cages, laundering towels and lab coats
• Assist in setting up for exams and procedures
• Observation of animal physical appearances and behavior
• Work well in a team based environment
• Follow USDA, IACUC

The Plan: We will test the safety and effectiveness of an optogenetic therapy in dogs blind from Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS). This gene therapy will insert a light-sensing gene in the retina of SARDS-affected dogs to restore their vision. If successful, this optogenetic therapy can be used in dogs and people with blinding retinal diseases to return their vision years after they went blind.

from The Pharmacologists
September 2023
by ASPET

**This article appears in the Spring 2023 issue of CCAH Update.**

• Australian Reptile Park conducts yearly health check on echidnas, ensuring good health and necessary medical attention.
• The check-up included an overall health check, eye examination by professionals from the Animal Eye Clinic, and weighing and checking of their feet and spines.
• The echidnas receive top-notch care at the Australian Reptile Park, including regular check-ups to ensure their ongoing health and wellbeing.

See Video Here:

Autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA) is a rare genetic disease that causes progressive and irreversible vision loss in both eyes starting in the first decade of life. There is currently no treatment for ADOA, which affects approximately 3 people per 100,000 worldwide.

UC Davis researchers will use a new 3.5 million grant from the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to develop a nonhuman primate model of ADOA to speed the development and testing of treatments for humans.

UC Davis is home to the world’s brightest students studying to become the next generation of veterinarians. As the leading veterinary school in the country, we are committed to providing them with the highest caliber of training and access to the latest technology.

I was devastated,” said Blondell-Timmerman. “He was going to be the stud with which I started my kennel.”

With those plans dashed, Blondell-Timmerman enlisted the help of Dr. Sara Thomasy, a UC Davis veterinary ophthalmologist, who was conducting a clinical trial for a new CED treatment drug. Gabriel showed improvement during the trial, and Blondell-Timmerman’s breeding community connections enabled her to track down 32 owners of dogs related to Gabriel to also participate in the study.

Dr. Arianne Pontes Oriá stands firm: She does not make animals cry for a living.

Technically, only humans can cry, or weep in response to an emotional state, said Dr. Oriá, a veterinarian at the Federal University of Bahia in Brazil. For humans, crying is a way to physically manifest feelings, which are difficult to study and confirm in other creatures.