Golden Retriever Lifetime Study Calls for Research Proposals

Morris Animal Foundation is accepting research proposals for Golden Retriever Lifetime Study collaborative projects that will enhance the understanding of nutritional, environmental, lifestyle, and genetic risk factors for cancer and other diseases. Applications are due by February 1, 2019.

Launched in 2012, the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study is the largest and most comprehensive observational study attempted in veterinary medicine. It is comprised of owner- and veterinarian-reported data as well as biological samples—including serum, whole blood, DNA, urine, feces, hair, and toenails—collected annually from more than 3000 privately owned dogs living throughout the United States.

The study’s primary goal is to identify the incidence of and risk factors for various cancers. Secondary goals include understanding other disease processes common in golden retrievers and dogs in general, including hypothyroidism, atopy, orthopedic problems, and heart disease.

“Right now, we don’t have robust evidence-based veterinary care,” Rod Page, DVM, principal investigator on the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, has said. “This study provides an important base for establishing new paradigms in treatment, helping us to support or deny long-held casual assumptions in such areas as early spay/neuter, obesity, exercise and dental hygiene on cancer development as well as other non-cancer health outcomes. The opportunity to obtain genetic information on this cohort of dogs is particularly exciting as veterinary medicine moves toward individualized medicine.”

The foundation’s goal in requesting research proposals is to generate data that will identify priorities for further study within the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study. However, this call does not include funding. When submitting a proposal, applicants are expected to provide brief evidence of how the research and analysis will be paid for.

Other proposal guidelines include a timeline for the project (maximum of 2 years), background on the problem on which the study will focus, justification of the need for the study, and any data that support the proposed research. Complete details about creating and submitting a proposal are available here.