NEWS
20 Dec 2019
NEW Cambridge BOAS Research Group Facebook Page!
Follow the new and exciting QVSH BOAS research page for updates, case studies and research news.
Search "Cambridge BOAS Research Group" on Facebook.
We hope this page will help spread awareness of the hard work performed daily at QVSH to better the standards and welfare of BOAS breeds.
10 Dec 2019
BOAS Charity T-shirt designed by Katy Fox
Following two surgeries Coco the French bulldog had to correct breathing issues her owner, Katy Fox, has designed a beautiful embroidered t shirt which is being sold to raise funds to support the work being undertaken by the BOAS research team at The Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital, University of Cambridge.
You can find further details of Coco’s BOAS t-shirt, and her story, at www.cocosboastshirt.bigcartel.com or on Instagram @cocothefrenchie8 or @katyfox.x and hear Katy talking about Coco and the inspiration behind the t-shirt at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVxs-1Qu690&t=
Past Events and Announcements
11 Nov 2019 Lydia Smith RVN jointed us today and is receiving training of BOAS assessment. Lydia will be the main BOAS assessor at BOAS clinic on Mondays and Tuesdays from December under the supervision of Nai-Chieh.
27 Sep 2019 There have been some queries and confusions about whether we are still running our BOAS assessment clinic and surgical referral service (including the procedure of laser-assisted turbinectomy). We are running the same service by our BOAS Research Team and the Soft Tissue Surgery Team as usual! For further query please contact boas@vet.cam.ac.uk
01 Sep 2019 Jane Ladlow has moved to the Animal Health Trust (starting in September) to start a BOAS clinic there. The two centres will continue to work together and all data will be pooled in future studies.
09 Aug 2019 We are recruiting a soft tissue nurse, who will be assisting BOAS assessment and BOAS surgery. Further information: http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/22523/
30 May 2019 Jane Ladlow and David Sargan attended the 4th International Dog Health Workshop in Windsor to help highlight the importance of BOAS to the delegates.
15 Mar 2019 Jane Ladlow and Mike Frill (final year vet school) talked about BOAS and demonstrated the breathing chamber to 11 years old kids at St Matthew's primary school! Great interactive lecture, kids volunteered to be tested in the chamber while mimicking BOAS dogs snoring and pinched nostrils!
Mar 2019 We are carrying out an important research project into the development of the nostrils in brachycephalic (short-faced) dog breeds. The breeds that we are looking at in this study are French Bulldogs, English Bulldogs and Pugs. If you are a new owner of one of these breeds and would like to help us by taking part in this study, please take a look at the following page: https://puppynostrilstudy.weebly.com
02 Feb 2019 University of Cambridge - Kennel Club respiratory function scheme to be launched
16 Jan 2019 Woodgreen Animal Charity BOAS day
04 Nov 2018 BOAS testing at Northern pug show + 20 pugs tested!
22 Sep 2018 Nai-Chieh Liu is giving a talk on BOAS at Cambridge Alumni Festival
Sep 2018 Kennel Club Pug testing day in Stoneleigh
Jul 2018 BOAS lectures at ECVS congress in Athens
06 April 2018 BOAS lectures at BSAVA in Birmingham
24 Mar 2018 Nai-Chieh Liu is giving a talk on BOAS at Science Festival, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge (postcode CB3 0ES). Talk title: When cuteness goes wrong - the truth about flat-faced dogs
15 Mar 2018 1367 dogs had BOAS tested and participated in our study!
15 Mar 2018 Tested 24 pugs in Stoneleigh, a BOAS testing event organized by the Kennel Club.
14 Mar 2018 Our research work is featured in a BBC One documentary "Saving the British Bulldog"! Presented by Catherine Tate http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09tt539
05 Feb 2018 BOAS testing biannual report for pugs, French bulldogs, and bulldogs.
26 Nov 2017 Phoenix French Bulldog Rescue BOAS testing day
05 Nov 2017 Great work! 28 pugs (Northern Pug Dog Club Champ Show) and 10 French bulldogs (French bulldog show
at Penkridge) were BOAS tested at dog shows!
01 Nov 2017 Amy Stelman RVN, research nurse now joined our group! who will be assisting in our routine BOAS assessments at QVSH!
31 Oct 2017 Brachycephalic Working Group (BWG) at the Kennel Club, we will be hosting the BWG webpage for a short term.
01 Aug 2017 New article published on University Research News: "No simple way of predicting breathing difficulties in pugs, French bulldogs and bulldogs from external features"
14 Jul 2017 Congratulations! Cambridge BOAS Research Group received the University Public Engagement with Research Awards 2017!
01 Jul 2017 Nai-Chieh Liu won the Zoetis Clinical Research Award and Abcam post-doc research prize!
21 Jun 2017 The Cambridge BOAS research group attended the Brachycephalic Working Group meeting to discuss further actions to improve the welfare of brachycephalic dogs
28 Feb 2017 Filming Day (Channel 4) - Film for Crufts 2017: Interview with Iwan Thomas and his French bulldog, Frank.
23 Feb 2017 Congratulations! Our MPhil student Hattie Wright passed her MPhil viva successfully!
09 Feb 2017 Filming Day (The kennel Club) - BOAS education film.
02 Feb 2017 New paper published on the Veterinary Surgery! Objective evaluation of the outcome of the BOAS surgery.
18 Jan 2017 Brachycephalic breeds working group meeting at the Kennel Club.
20 Dec 2016 Congratulations! Our PhD student Nai-Chieh Liu passed her PhD viva successfully!
23 Nov 2016 Our MPhil student Eileen Troconis passed her viva successfully!
02 Aug 2016 New article published on The Conversation: "How to save inbred, short-faced dogs such as pugs and bulldogs from poor health". Full article can be found: https://theconversation.com/how-to-save-inbred-short-faced-dogs-such-as-pugs-and-bulldogs-from-poor-health-63341
27 Jul 2016 David, Jane, and Nai-Chieh attended the Brachycephalic Breeds Working Group meeting at the Kennel Club
18 Jul 2016 Jane Ladlow was interviewed by the Naked Scientists, chatting about the problem with pedigree dogs. http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/interviews/interview/1001927/
01 Jul 2016 Brigitta Kara joined our group as a summer student working on audio signal analysis
25 Jun 2016 Nai-Chieh Liu won the Zoetis Clinical Research Award!
20 Mar 2016 BOAS testing at the Pennine and Scottish French Bulldog Association Dog Show. 24 French bulldogs were tested :) Big thanks to Mrs Mavro-Michaelis for arranging the testing!
27 Feb 2016 Presentation at the Brachycephalic Conference held by the Swedish Kennel. Dr David Sargan presented our published study and on-going work on genetic basis of BOAS.
05 Jan 2016 Hattie Wright joined the BOAS team as a MPhil student working on the genetic project
15 Dec 2015 BOAS testing at the Finstar Kennels, big thanks to Abigail!
15 Nov 2015 BOAS testing at the FBCE End of the Year Party. 11 French bulldogs were tested!
08 Nov 2015 BOAS testing at the Bulldog Show in Willenhall held by the Birmingham and Midland Counties Bulldog Club
17 Oct 2015 BOAS testing at the Bulldog Show in Willenhall held by the Junior Bulldog Breed Club
11 Oct 2015 Presentation at the Pug and Bulldog Health Improvement Day, event held by the Kennel Club
05 Oct 2015 Dr Lajos Kalmar (post-doc research associate) and Eileen Troconis (MPhil student) joined the BOAS team
02-04 Jul 2015 Nai-Chieh Liu presented an abstract at ECVS annual meeting. "Using whole-body barometric plethysmography to evaluate the effectiveness of upper airway surgery for brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome in French bulldogs"
13 Jun 2015 BOAS testing at the Unbenched Single Breed Open Show (Yorkshire Bulldog Club)
31 May 2015 BOAS testing at the bulldog show (Manchester and Counties Bulldog Club)
(to be documented)