Dr. Sykes is board-certified in small animal medicine and has a 50% clinical appointment in the VMTH. Her specific research interests are in small animal infectious diseases, and she has a research laboratory in Tupper Hall. She also has an interest in immune-mediated diseases of dogs and cats.
Projects currently underway include research on the following diseases of dogs and cats:
Examples of projects for STAR students include these as well as projects on:
Tools used in her laboratory include polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis, Western blotting, cell culture, cloning, sequencing, and statistical analysis software. Her laboratory interacts frequently with other infectious disease researchers on campus.
{Please email jesykes@ucdavis.edu for more information}
Some examples of recent publications:
Sykes JE, Kyles AE, Ball LM, and Leutenegger CM. Experimental infection of cats with a novel canine hemoplasma. Am J Vet Res. Submitted.
Kadar E, Sykes JE, Gregory C and Bernsteen L. Infections in canine and feline renal transplant recipients 1986-2002. J Am Vet Med Assoc. Published. 2005.
Sykes JE, Fry MM, Bailiff N, and Ball LM. ‘Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum’ sp. nov., a novel small haemotropic mycoplasma from a dog. Int J Systematic Evol Microbiol. 55 (Pt 1): 27-30. 2005.
Sykes JE, Bailiff N, Ball LM, Foreman O, George JW and Fry MM. Identification of a novel hemotropic mycoplasma in a splenectomized dog with hemic neoplasia. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 224 (12): 1946-51, 1930-1. 2004.
Foreman O, Sykes JE, Rasor L, DeCock H. Disseminated infection with Balamuthia mandrillaris in a dog. Vet Pathol. 41 (5): 506-10. 2004.
Sykes JE, Allen JL, Studdert VP and Browning GF. Detection of feline calicivirus, feline herpesvirus 1 and Chlamydia psittaci in mucosal swabs by multiplex RT-PCR/PCR. Vet Microbiol 81 (2): 95-108, 2001.