Page 60 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

on using whole genome sequencing to identify genetic determinants of structural heart disease in some of the most endangered species on the planet; non- human great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans).
Determined to help conserve these species through use of genetic tools,
my research took off. I have now generated one of the largest great-ape genetic databases in the world, all while managing to continue my clinical work as an emergency clinician.
In February, while investigating the prevalence of cardiomyopathies in
a troop of chimpanzees in Congo, it became apparent that the SARS-COV-2 outbreak would soon be impacting
the entire globe. I returned to the US, where all non-essential research would be temporarily shut down at Stanford University – this included my research.
My mentors and I knew that we had a skill set that could contribute to the pandemic response; genome sequencing.
We put our cardiomyopathy research aside and decided to see how much genetic information we could get from residual nasopharyngeal swab samples used
for COVID diagnostics. We developed
a method to extract both viral and host whole genome sequences, in addition to transcriptomics and detailed data from the host HLA (region of the genome associated with the immune system) from hundreds of patients at the same time.
This method has now been employed
in multiple locations around the world allowing the international community to more precisely and rapidly track the spread of COVID-19 and other pandemics, understand which patients get the sickest and why, and hopefully move more quickly toward effective vaccines and therapies. This research is currently under peer review for publication and the pre-print manuscript is available on MedRxiv titled: High-throughput SARS-CoV-2 and
host genome sequencing from single nasopharyngeal swabs.
Although my primary research was put on hold, I am glad to have been a part of the pandemic response and look forward to completing my thesis and graduating in the spring of 2021.
race for the Melbourne Cup. I think I was travelling for as long as I was in Australia! I have taken on other roles that have come my way through horseracing, including being a director at Market Rasen Racecourse for nine years and a trustee of the British Racing School for the last 15 years. I have been a member of the British Horseracing Authority’s Ethics Committee since its inception, 10 years ago, and am now its Chairman.
More recently, I have been a founder member of the Horse Welfare
Board, an independent body set up
to develop a strategic plan for the welfare of all horses bred for racing. Worldwide, the welfare of racehorses
is being given greater consideration
as society is demanding greater accountability across many aspects of our lives. It is important that horseracing demonstrates to the part of society that is ambivalent about its existence, that
it is a caring industry, which is always working to improve horse welfare
and safety. The work we have done and are doing is helping to show that horseracing is still a valued part of, and relevant to, modern society.
While my journey is not over yet, I could never have imagined as a student how my career was going to pan out, but I am immensely grateful for the opportunities I have had, with the races I have won and the people I have met.
For the love of horseracing
James Given, BVetMed 1990
After graduating from the RVC
in 1990, I worked there as
a Houseman in the small
animal surgery and medicine department. It was a fun year, with
my time split between the Beaumont Animal Hospital and the Queen Mother Hospital. I then spent three and a half years in mixed practice in Keighley, West Yorkshire, where I was able to indulge my lifelong ambition of riding competitively.
I then went to work for Mark Johnston, a vet and an established racehorse trainer, as his resident vet and assistant trainer. In truth, I had pretty much fallen out of love with general practice by then and wanted to find a way to specialise. I had imagined that after a number of years
I would be looking for work in equine practice, using the skills I had developed and my experiences in the sport to offer a perspective that professional horsemen would appreciate.
However, the love of the sport took over and, after three years, I was awarded a scholarship for assistant trainers, which
I took as a month working in Dubai with trainers, vets and administrators in the lead up to one of the early Dubai World Cups. On my return, I spent a few months locuming at Endells Vets in Salisbury, before taking the plunge to start training in my own right at Wolverhampton Racecourse, in November 1998.
There was a moment on the day I moved there when, with a surge of adrenaline, I realised that everything I had worked for – my business, my career, all my property and my dogs – were in two horse lorries and my car on the M1! That was a distinctly sobering moment.
After five months there I had the opportunity to move to the village I now live in, within Lincolnshire. This was a timely and lucky opportunity to meet a lifelong friend, who became my business partner and ran the business for 10 years while teaching me business skills.
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I have now been training from Willoughton since April 1999 and have had some wonderful horses to train
that have taken me successfully to the high days of British horseracing and throughout the world, including Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa, the US and all over Europe. I once memorably went to Melbourne for the weekend to watch a horse I trained run in a prep