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The Glasgow Veterinary College was founded in 1862 and incorporated into the University of Glasgow in 1949. The Veterinary Hospital and School buildings are situated on Garscube Estate, four miles north-west of the main University campus. Veterinary Medicine was awarded an excellent award for the quality of teaching in the latest Quality Assessment Results, and the research output of the faculty was also independently rated as 4 meaning the research is judged to be of national and international excellence.
The Veterinary School has also gained the prized American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA) accreditation one of only three schools in Europe to receive AVMA recognition. Strict guidelines had to be fulfilled in order to gain this prestigious accreditation. The approval has been given for a period of seven years and has endorsed the academic, research and teaching excellence at the highest level.
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow offers a range of opportunities for industry wishing to benefit from its research activities. In addition, the University of Glasgow presents a professional and efficient interface for all commercial transactions. Opportunities currently exist in the following areas:
- exploitation of intellectual property (IP) through licensing and other commercialisation routes;
- collaborative Research in veterinary medicine, biomedical and interdisciplinary areas;
- provision of technical services and consultancy;
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training and short courses.
Research at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is organised within the following groups:
- Applied Neurobiology Group
- CRC/LRF Molecular Oncology Laboratory
- CRC Papillomavirus Research Group
- Equine Virus Research Group
- Farm Animal Health, Welfare and Production Group
- Feline Virus Research Group
- Gene Therapy Laboratory
- Genetic Resistance Group
- LRF Virus Centre
- Molecular and Immunobiology of Parasitism Group
- Poultry Research Unit
- Retrovirus Research Laboratory
- Trypanosomiasis (Tropical Disease) Group
- Veterinary Bacteriology Research Group
- Veterinary Informatics and Epidemiology Group
- Veterinary Pharmacology Group
- Veterinary Reproduction Group
The Retrovirus Research Laboratory in the Department of Veterinary Pathology has an international reputation for the study of mammalian retroviruses. The main interests of the laboratory are the pathogenesis of retroviral disease and the development of retroviral vaccines. Much of the work in the Retrovirus Research Laboratory is devoted to the development of therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of disease caused by the feline retroviruses; feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV).
Research Update: investigations into the mechanism of infection with FIV have demonstrated it should be possible in the near future to not only vaccinate cats against FIV infection, but also to treat FIV-infected cats with drugs that block the spread of the virus, preventing the development of feline AIDS.
In parallel with the studies on FeLV and FIV, the group has a series of research projects looking at aspects of infection with the ungulate lentiviruses, bovine immunodeficiency virus and maedi-visna virus. The work of the Retrovirus Research Laboratory is complemented by studies on the mechanism of retroviral leukaemogenesis in the department's Molecular Oncology Laboratory and the role of viral agents in leukaemia currently being performed in the Leukaemia Research Fund Virus Centre, making the Department of Veterinary Pathology arguably one of the most eminent centres for retrovirus research in the UK.
This group is applying molecular and immunological approaches to the study of several parasite systems at both the fundamental and applied levels. The main research themes are:
- the molecular basis of nematode development and cuticle synthesis;
- the regulation of protozoan proliferation, gene expression and development;
- immunity to parasite infection;
- parasite genetics, epidemiology and phylogeny.
Key recent achievements:
- isolation of key genes regulated during parasite development in Theileria and the development of a sub-set of these as either recombinant sub-unit vaccine candidates or diagnostic ELISA based reagents;
- discovery of developmentally regulated transcriptional switching in African trypanosomes;
- discovery of reiterative cuticle gene expression and the isolation of a series of cyclophilin genes in nematodes which are potential novel targets for the development of antihelmintics.
This group is a joint initiative between the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Statistics and Modelling Science at the University of Strathclyde. The research affiliation bridges Institutions, Faculties and Departments providing an environment for researchers to apply their combined expertise to the study of quantitative epidemiology, statistical and mathematical modelling and information science in the domain of animal and human disease. This group is unique in the UK and is the largest of its kind in the world employing 25 personnel.
The major objective of this inter-University collaborative research group, integrating clinical science with statistical modelling, is to develop fundamentally unique approaches for clinical decision making. Further information about this research group can be found at www.vie.gla.ac.uk/.
The research activities of the group can be broadly divided into the following areas:
- Informatics;
- Clinical and molecular epidemiology;
- Statistical and mathematical modelling;
- Experimental design and data analysis consultancy.
Highlights of recent VIE research achievements:
- identification of key risk factors for injuries in racing thoroughbreds resulting in recommendations to the Australian Racing Industry;
- development of appropriate methods for the statistical interpretation of clinical biochemistry based on the demonstration that current practices are flawed and provide incorrect interpretations of clinical data from sick patients;
- demonstration of an MHC association with neoplastic disease in equidae, that genes within or in linkage with the MHC DQB locus are associated with susceptibility to cancer in the donkey, increasing the likelihood of tumours by up to three times;
- identification and nucleotide sequence determination of the equine p53 tumour suppressor gene, and the demonstration of abnormal p53 protein accumulation associated with E6 expression in equine sarcoid tumours.
This first joint enterprise between the CRC (Cancer Research Campaign) and LRF (Leukaemia Research Fund) was launched in 1992, to consolidate a long-standing collaboration between staff of the Veterinary Pathology and Clinical Studies Departments and the CRC Beatson Institute.
The objective is to study the genetics of lymphoid neoplasia using transgenic animal technology. Following a site visit, the laboratorys work was given a high alpha/alpha* rating and recommended for further funding. Recent key achievements include:
- the development of a transgenic model for myc oncogene-induced cancer;
- the identification, by retrovirus superinfection, of two new cancer genes (oncogenes til-1 and fit-1); and
- the demonstration of the synergistic interaction of loss of the p53 tumour suppresser gene with myc expression.
This group, comprising of ten scientists, is dedicated to the investigation of the role of leukaemogenic viruses in human cancer and the role of Epstein Barr virus in the pathogenesis of Hodgkin's disease.
Key recent achievements:
- demonstration of the role of clonal Epstein Barr virus in the aetiology of a sub-set of Hodgkin's disease, work that has moved from experimental observation to text book status within five years;
- a new subtractive technique, representational difference analysis, has been developed and used to characterise HHV-7 viral sequences and the status of HHV-7 infection in the human population.
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is associated with two hospitals which are also situated on the Garscube Estate.
The Weipers Centre for Equine Welfare was opened in 1995, and houses the Division of Equine Clinical Studies at the University of Glasgow Veterinary School. One of the imaging modalities available at the Weipers Centre is Nuclear Scintigraphy, a useful imaging technique for the diagnosis of lameness in horses.
The Weipers Centre is committed to supplying the health needs of all equidae. The entire project is being completed in four phases and the first phase of the building focuses on outpatient examinations and diagnostic imaging.
The Small Animal Hospital is based in the Division of Small Animal Clinical Studies. The Hospital offers a secondary and tertiary referral service to general practitioners with clinicians for all specialities. Specialist areas include:
- Orthopaedics
- Soft Tissue Surgery
- Neurology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Diagnostic Imaging
- Anaesthesia
- Dentistry
- Small Animal Internal Medicine Small Animal Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition
- Cardiology
- Gastroenterology
- Dermatology
- Reproduction
- Behaviour
- Small Mammals & Birds
Further information about the work and research of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the services on offer, can be found at www.gla.ac.uk/Acad/FacVet/index.html.
Research and Enterprise (R&E) is the entry point to the University for those in business and commerce. R&E welcomes contact from companies and other organisations, and can arrange partnering meetings with scientific staff. For further information please contact:
Melville Anderson, Business Development Manager
Research and Enterprise
University of Glasgow
10 The Square
GLASGOW G12 8QQ
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
Web: www.gla.ac.uk/R-E
For information about the Animal Health Technology Transfer Complex please contact:
Dr Sylvia Morrison, Commercial Manager
Animal Health Technology Complex
University of Glasgow Veterinary School
Bearsden Road
GLASGOW G61 1QH
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
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