Research

Dr. Rachel Hanford, a third-year resident in medical oncology received the Edward L. Gillette Memorial Award for Outstanding Research Poster Presentation, presented recently at the annual Veterinary Cancer Society Conference. 

A free bilingual training program developed by the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine and The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine has received global recognition from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Some of the most difficult cancers to treat occur in the brain. Despite decades of research, outcomes for many children, adults and companion animals with aggressive brain tumors have improved little.

UC Davis is bringing together experts from human and veterinary medicine to help change that trajectory.

A pioneering study at the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, funded by the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation, is utilizing advanced, blood-based technologies to understand the underlying causes of copper hepatopathy in Labrador retrievers and develop non-invasive diagnostic tools for this silent disease. To support this vital research and encourage participation, the cost of the liver biopsy is covered for enrolled dogs.

Ocean plastic pollution is accidentally on the menu for southern giant petrel chicks. Even small nibbles of it may affect their physiology during development, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, and Argentina's National Research Council (CONICET).

Lea este comunicado de prensa en español. 

This article first appeared in the CCAH Update newsletter, Spring 2026.

It isn’t often that researchers involved in the fundamental aspects of translational medicine get to meet a patient who has benefitted from a decade or more of basic science. So, when Dr. Stephen McSorley and his postdoctoral researcher Dr. Marietta Ravesloot-Chavez met Snoopy on the last day of his clinical trial, there were lots of ear scratches to deliver. 

Dr. Heather Knych and her team at the Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory were recently awarded the 2025 Dechra Analgesia Prize from the Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists. The team was recognized for their publication, “The impact of transdermal application site on pharmacokinetics and selected pharmacodynamics of buprenorphine in horses” in the journal Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (VAA). 

The Reaching Across the Causeway (RAC) Awards program, now in its fourth year, is a joint funding initiative led by the Vice Dean for Research of the School of Medicine (SOM), the Associate Dean of Research at the Weill School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), with contributions from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center.

Dr. Xiner Zhou has joined the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology as assistant professor of biostatistics effective July 1, 2026.

Red-tailed hawks can compensate for feather loss during molt by subtly changing their wing and tail movements, according to a new study by University of California, Davis, researchers in the College of Engineering and the Weill School of Veterinary Medicine.