Dr Eleanor Raffan MRCVS
Eleanor is a veterinary surgeon who worked in mixed (farm, equine and small animal) practice before settling on a career that could combine specialist clinical work with research. She completed specialist clinical training at the Universities of Liverpool and Cambridge before heading to the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Metabolic Science to do a PhD in the genetics of diabetes. She now combines clinical work and teaching with research as a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellow. She is a European Specialist in Small Animal Medicine.
She lives near Cambridge with her family and a charming cat called Loki. She leads the GOdogs project and is the first point of call if you are interested in hearing more. You can contact her using the details on this page.
Alyce McClellan
Alyce is a PhD student in the Physiology, Development and Neuroscience departement at the University of Cambridge. She graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2015 studying Biomedical Science and completed a Masters at the same institute immediately after. She transitioned to research for animals through a research assistant role at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket. Here she gained two years experience in molecular biology and cell culture as part of the stem cell research team investigating tendon injury in Thoroughbred racehorses.
Alyce’s project is looking at the genetic basis of obesity by comparing the genes of hungry vs. not hungry Beagles. If you have a Beagle and would like to find out how greedy they are, or even submit their DNA for our research please take our quick 10 minute survey below.
Natalie Wallis
Natalie is a current PhD student in the GOdogs team. She is originally from Liverpool but studied her undergraduate degree of Animal Science (BSc) at University of Nottingham, where she then got a job as a research associate in bioethics – investigating the ethics of bioscience research. Natalie also completed a year industry placement at Mars Petcare’s WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute, where she contributed to nutrition and behavioural research in cats and dogs – research that underpins the UK’s leading pet food brands.
Based at the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Natalie focuses on identifying new genetic variants associated with obesity in dogs. She investigates this using both single breed and multi-breed populations, therefore not only identifying why dogs of the same breed do/do not develop obesity but also why some breeds are more at risk of developing obesity than others. This discovery-based approach may lead to identification of novel obesity loci and provide translational benefits to human and companion animal obesity research more widely.
Anna Morros-Nuevo LVet PGCert(AnBeh) MSc MRCVS
Anna is a veterinary surgeon who has been working in small animal practice and behaviour medicine for almost a decade. She is now combining clinical practice with her PhD as a Morris Animal Foundation Fellow at the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. The focus of her research is to understand how canine genetics interact with behaviour and owner management leading or not to obesity.
Tomi Berczik
Tomi is a clinical year veterinary student at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) completing an MPhil in Veterinary Science at the University of Cambridge as an intercalated degree. Using his veterinary background, he is immersing himself in a year of full-time research in the GOdogs lab.
Based at the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, Tomi is looking into the risk factors associated with obesity, focusing on how neutering (spaying or castration) may predispose dogs to be overweight. He will be assessing dog behaviour, food motivation, physical activity and other factors. Outside of research, Tomi is a very involved member of the profession, he previously sat on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) and currently works with American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and SAVMA.
Past Members
Jodie Wainwright
Jodie is a Animal Science graduate from the University of Nottingham. In the GOdogs lab she was studying energy expenditure in relation to the POMC gene mutation in retrievers. Now, she is working in New Zealand in an animal welfare position.
Dr Marie Dittmann
Marie was a postdoctoral researcher on the project, studying how dogs’ genes affect their behaviour and metabolism. She went on to a prestigious postdoctoral position in Switzerland.