91°µÍø

Research interests: molecular metabolism; angiogenesis; vascular repair; diabetic angiopathy; diabetic cardiomyopathy

Insulin is widely recognised for its role in reducing blood glucose levels, however it has recently been shown by our research group and others, that insulin plays a role in inflammation. This dual function may have evolved to protect us from contaminated foods which until recently in human history, we would have been frequently exposed to.

The mechanism of how insulin affects blood glucose has been well studied, but how insulin regulates inflammation is less understood because it is such a recent finding.

It is important to find out how insulin effects inflammation because insulin levels are significantly higher in the years preceding diabetes diagnosis compared to healthy people; this may be contribute to the increased risk of inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, that people with diabetes suffer from.

Liz is part of the Cardiovascular and Renal Biology section of the Comparative Physiology and Clinical Sciences research group. She has a particular interest in equine endothelial cells.

Harriet is particularly interested in nephrology, urology and endocrinology. She is also interested in the development of non-invasive methods for the management of urolithiasis through the use of laser lithotripsy.

Rosanne is Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine and Nephrology. Her clinical and research interests are in both canine and feline nephrology and urology. She is interested in all aspects of urinary tract disease but is part of the team offering minimally invasive procedures such as laser ablation of ectopic ureters and laser lithotripsy for stone disease. She is a co-director of the extracorporeal therapies team at the 91°µÍø, providing advanced dialysis support for patients with acute kidney injury and plasmapheresis for patients with conditions such as immune mediated haemolytic anaemia, myasthenia gravis and more recently as a novel therapy for cutaneous renal glomerular vasculopathy (CRGV/Alabama Rot). She provides the clinical support and advice for the 91°µÍø's GFR service. 

Rosanne's research is focussed on systemic hypertension and chronic kidney disease in cats. She is currently supporting two PhD students evaluating chronic kidney disease - mineral and bone disorder and oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in feline CKD. Further active research includes the genetics of feline hypertension and whole genome sequencing of E.coli associated with subclinical bacteriuria and urinary tract infections. Rosanne is also chair of the infection control group and responsible for antimicrobial stewardship in the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals.

She supervises postgraduate senior clinical training scholars and is actively involved in the clinical training of undergraduate BVetMed students. Rosanne is also module leader for three medicine modules in the Certificate of Advanced Veterinary Practice (CertAVP) and has lectured both nationally and internationally at both general practice and specialist level in her areas of clinical and research interest. 

Rebecca enjoys all internal medicine cases, but is particularly interested in dogs and cat presenting with renal and lower urinary tract disorders or with endocrinopathies. She oversees the medical management for cats that are seen for management through our subcutaneous ureteral bypass (SUB) clinic and her current research focuses on calcium disorders and formation of calcium-based kidney stones.

Jack is interested in all aspects of canine and feline internal medicine, although is keen to focus on nephrology.

Dom is particularly interested in sepsis, transfusion medicine and care of the critically ill patient. He has a particular interest in progressing our understanding of sepsis in dogs, and development of teaching non-technical skills. Dom is also interested in a range of critical care therapies including mechanical ventilation, cardiac bypass and continual renal replacement therapy.

Adrian's main research interests lie in the diagnosis, progression and treatment of acquired canine cardiovascular diseases. He worked as a primary investigator on the , which demonstrated a significant benefit to administering the drug pimobendan to dogs with preclinical mitral valve disease.

Adrian helped establish the Mitral Valve Clinic and has been working there as the cardiologist since the start of the project in 2004. This is a longitudinal study of naturally occurring myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Dan is particularly interested in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, surgical management of urinary incontinence, gastrointestinal surgery and surgery of the conducting airways. Dan is Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the 91°µÍø, a service that delivers surgical therapies for congenital and acquired cardiac disease in dogs and cats. These techniques include valve repair for degenerative mitral valvular disease and congenital mitral and tricuspid valve dysplasia, open patch graft for pulmonic stenosis and palliative shunting for cyanotic heart disease.  In addition, we have corrected more complex congenital heart defects in dogs such as tricuspid stenosis, atrioventricular septal defect, double chamber right ventricle and single common atrium.

His research focus is companion animal epidemiology and he co-leads the VetCompass Programme that collects de-identified clinical data from over 1800 veteinary practices across the UK. 

Dan is particularly interested in coagulation disorders, nutritional support of the critically ill patient and acute pancreatitis in dogs. He has particular interest in progressing our understanding of immune-mediated heamolytic anaemia in dogs and sepsis.

David's clinical interests include interventional cardiology for the management of congenital heart disease and the use of advanced echocardiographic techniques for the diagnosis and prognosis of cardiac disease in companion animals. He has a particular interest in feline cardiomyopathies which form the basis of the majority of his research. The Cardiology Team consists of four specialists, four residents in training and one dedicated cardiology nurse and our goal is to provide an outstanding secondary and tertiary service at the forefront of veterinary medicine.

Simon is part of the Emergency Referrals and Critical Care services with particular interests in patient side ultrasonography, cardiovascular monitoring, endothelial function and ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Research interests would include neuromodulation and management of pericardial effusions.

Stefano is interested in all aspects of sepsis, although is particularly interested in lactate in sepsis, acute kidney injury and urinary biomarkers.

Barbara is particularly interested in haematological and immune mediated diseases. She has a particular interest in progressing our understanding of optimal immunosuppressive therapy protocols in patients, e.g. with immune mediated haemolytic anaemia.

Students, staff and visitors are supported in their flow cytometry investigations, which gives me broad access to multiple fields of research as well as Clinical Diagnostics development plans for the hospital

Karen is co-head of the Emergency Referrals and Critical Care services and Director of the Transfusion Medicine Service. She has a particular interest in progressing our understanding of anaemia and transfusion medicine in dogs and cats. 

Karla is Head of Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery and Clinical Lead for Small Animal Minimally Invasive Surgery (laparoscopy and thoracoscopy).

Karla has completed extensive training in minimally invasive surgery at the Royal Free Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and offers a wide range of laparoscopic and thoracoscopic surgeries.  She is a proponent of virtual reality simulation training in minimally invasive techniques, as means of providing excellent standards of care to the greatest number of veterinary patients.

Karla has many years of experience in emergency surgery of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, biliary system, chest, urinary system and skin.

Vicky is interested in abdominal, thoracic, oncologic, wound management and reconstructive surgery. She has a particular interest in progressing our understanding of the surgical treatment of portosystemic shunts in dogs and cats. Vicky is also interested in treating a range of conditions using interventional radiology and minimally-invasive surgery techniques.

Francisco is part of the Diagnostic Imaging Service and is particularly interested in vascular diseases and malformations and the use of IT to better teach those interested in Imaging. Francisco has been working as a clinical radiologist at referral only level in the UK since finishing his residency in 2002. He is a Diplomate of the RCVS and the ECVDI and has been an RCVS Recognised Specialist since 2004. He has taught and examined residents involved in ECVDI residencies and has published in English and non-English Speaking journals and books.

Virginia is particularly interested in cardiomyopathies in cats and mitral valve disease in dogs. She has particular interests in progressing our understanding of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats, and defining the key pathological changes in this disease. She is also interested in aortic thromboembolism, and in particular its pathogenesis and risk factors. Virginia also has interests in cardiac imaging, including echocardiography, CT angiography and cardiac MRI.

Nicola graduated from Cambridge University in 1997. She spent nearly 3 years in first opinion equine practice in Essex before coming to the 91°µÍø in 2000 to undertake a 3 year Senior Clinical Training Scholarship (residency) in equine medicine. She then went on to complete her PhD in equine laminitis at 91°µÍø between 2003 and 2004.

In January 2005 she gained became a Diplomate of the European College of Equine Internal Medicine and took up the position of Lecturer in Equine Medicine at 91°µÍø. Nicola was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2011 and to Reader in 2017. She is a European and RCVS specialist in equine internal medicine.

PhD: VetCompass eClinical Trials (VETs). Funded by Dogs Trust, this study aims to develop innovative statistical approaches to veterinary electronic patient records to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical interventions in dogs.

PhD: Re-Inventing Diagnosis and Management of Canine Hyperadrenocorticism. Funded by Dechra Veterinary Products, this project aims to evaluate the survival characteristics of dogs with hyperadrenocorticism, to identify novel technology methods to apply to VetCompass-derived clinical data to aid the diagnosis of hyperadrenocorticism and to develop and validate novel tools to assist the monitoring of treatment for hyperadrenocorticism.  

PhD: Antimicrobial usage in farm animal veterinary practice in the UK: A mixed-methods approach. This study aims to estimate current AM usage in Farm Veterinary Practice and investigate the intrinsic factors and extrinsic factors associated with farm veterinarian decision-making when prescribing antimicrobials as well as exploring the drivers behind farmers' decision when using antimicrobials.

PhD: Hot Dogs – investigating the epidemiology of canine heatstroke presenting to UK primary care veterinary practices. Funded by Dogs Trust, this study aims to report the incidence and risk factors associated of canine heatstroke cases presenting to primary care veterinary practices in the United Kingdom, and to identify the predominant underlying cause of canine heatstroke in the United Kingdom (exertional versus environmental heatstroke).

PhD: Canine leptospirosis: Improving diagnostics and understanding of the epidemiology of disease in UK dogs. This project aims to improve the diagnostics of Leptospirosis in canids through novel bacterial outer membrane targets and to utilise VetCompass™ data to characterise aspects of the epidemiology of Leptospirosis disease and vaccine trends in dogs attending UK practices.

Evidence-based prioritisation of disorders within dog breeds. Funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and Agria Pet Insurance, this study aims to build on collaboration between the Kennel Club and the 91°µÍø to expand the evidence base for breed related conditions and identify breed health related priorities.

91°µÍø Pandemic Puppies Survey. Funded by the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation, this study aims to investigate how, why and by whom puppies were purchased during the COVID pandemic in the UK and compare this with puppies purchased in 2019.

Carolina is particularly interested in local anaesthesia, mechanical ventilation and the uses of alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonists. She has a particular interest in progressing our understanding of the anaesthetic management of patients with sepsis. Carolina is also interested in the anaesthetic management of patients with liver and renal disease.

Ludovic is interested in anaesthesia, pain management and clinical pharmacology. His research focus is on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modelling.