Dr. Camilo Jaramillo-Morales with the Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate group at the University of California, Davis recently received prestigious funding from The Racing Medication & Testing Consortium (RMTC) for a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship research project “Micro RNAs as Sensitive Biomarkers for Detection of Drug Administration in Horses.”

Assessment of RNA or protein biomarkers offers an alternative, and potentially more sensitive approach to the detection of prohibited substances administered to racehorses. The overall goal of the current study is to develop an alternate approach, using microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers, for the detection and regulation of banned substances in racehorses.

“The RMTC is proud to support the professional development of young scientists who are the future of our drug testing and research programs”, said Alex Waldrop, RMTC Board Chair. “It is particularly rewarding to be able to fund Dr. Jaramillo-Morales as he will be under the supervision and tutelage of Dr. Heather Knych whose own post-doctoral training program was funded by the RMTC over ten years ago.”

The goal of the RMTC’s post-doctoral program is two-fold:

• To promote a sustained research program with a core focus on anti-doping to include topics related to drug testing, development of new analytical methods with application to racing chemistry, pharmacokinetics/ pharmacodynamics, forensic toxicology, or other related disciplines. The future of horse racing’s anti-doping programs requires new scientists to enter the field as researchers with the hope that they will develop into racing laboratory directors and industry leaders. Innovation and application of newer, more sophisticated technological advancements will come from those developing scientists.
• To establish a mechanism to identify, recruit, and retain beginning scientists and encourage their research pursuits relevant to horse racing’s need for a rigorous anti-doping program and the promotion of enhanced safety for racehorses.

“The recruitment and retention of motivated, highly trained personnel and support of competitive research programs are critical to anti-doping, medication control, and racing safety programs”, said Dr. Michael Hardy, Executive Director. “The racing industry has a responsibility to solicit qualified individuals, support their advanced training, provide incentives for relevant research programs, and foster productivity in research laboratories.”