Dr. Carrie Finno Named a UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow
Dr. Carrie Finno has been named to the new class of UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellows — faculty members who will carry the chancellor’s imprimatur for five years in recognition of their outstanding work in academia.
“These 12 newest fellows represent our university at its very best,” Chancellor Gary S. May said. “They are now part of a proud 22-year history for the Chancellor’s Fellows program. These fellows are making advances that help solve complex and critical issues, while also helping our students become critical thinkers and problem-solvers.”
Finno serves as associate professor in the school's Department of Population Health and Reproduction, as well as director of the Center for Equine Health. She is an equine internal medicine specialist and veterinary geneticist whose research focuses on companion animal genetics, particularly the genetic and environmental risk factors associated with equine neuromuscular diseases. Finno is currently testing whether early long-term vitamin E intervention might slow or prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Most impressive is her translation of discoveries from genomic studies of vitamin E deficiency in horses to a novel hypothesis," said Professor Pamela Lein, chair, Department of Molecular Biosciences. "If borne out by experimentation, this translation would represent a potential low-cost, low-regret therapeutic strategy for mitigating a devastating human disease for which there is currently no treatment to slow or prevent its progression.”
UC Davis has designated 178 Chancellor’s Fellows since 2000. For all that time, the UC Davis Annual Fund, Davis Chancellor’s Club and the UC Davis Parents Fund have provided unrestricted philanthropic support to each of the fellows for research or other scholarly work.
“We are so grateful for donor support of the Chancellor’s Fellows,” said Shaun Keister, vice chancellor of Development and Alumni Relations. “This program gives our faculty the resources to conduct innovative research that helps UC Davis make even greater contributions to the world.”
The 2021-22 Chancellor’s Fellows, each of whom has been awarded $25,000, are listed here with their department or school in parentheses: John Albeck (molecular and cellular biology), Ching-Hsien Chen (internal medicine), Gerardo Con Diaz(science and technology studies), Carrie Finno (veterinary medicine), Evgeny “Eugene” Gorskiy (mathematics), Michele La Merrill (environmental toxicology), Marina S. Leite (materials science and engineering), Barbara Linke (mechanical and aerospace engineering), Gerardo Mackenzie (nutrition), Danny C. Martinez(education), Mijke Rhemtulla (psychology) and Jaroslav Trnka (physics and astronomy).