Department to Increase Emphasis on Health Issues & New Technologies
New York, NY –The American Kennel Club has announced that Elaine A. Ostrander, Ph.D., will serve as a consultant to the DNA department. Ostrander will work closely with staff of the DNA department and Compliance Division Assistant Vice President Tom Sharp.
“We couldn't be more pleased to have Elaine join us,” said Sharp. “With the sequencing of the canine genome near completion, this is an ideal time to bring someone of Elaine's caliber on board. I have no doubt that together with our tremendously dedicated and talented DNA staff, the department will make remarkable strides in DNA banking, canine health, and be able to continue our progress in ensuring the integrity of the registry.”
“DNA technology is here to stay,” said Ostrander. “I am deeply excited about the prospect of what can be accomplished in the field of DNA research through close collaboration with the AKC. I feel that together, we can use emerging and existing technologies to facilitate our understanding of canine genetics. The more we can do with DNA, the more resources we'll have to work with scientists to improve canine, and potentially, human health.”
Ostrander is a member of the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center and Head of the Program in Genetics. She is also an Affiliate Professor of Zoology and Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. She has been awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Innovation Award in Functional Genomics and has received numerous grants from the AKC Canine Health Foundation (including mapping of the canine genome). Ostrander was recently quoted and referenced in thousands of news stories around the world regarding her study “Genetic Structure of the Purebred Dog” http://www.akcchf.org/news/press/releases/
2004/introelain.htm which appeared in the journal Science.
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