Osteoarthritis: Over the last 10 years, Dr. Todhunter's research investigations have focused on the problem of hip dysplasia in dogs. The process by which hip dysplasia in dogs has been investigated has mostly focused on pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment. He is bringing contemporary methods to bear on this major canine problem. His focus has been:

• To reduce the false positive and negative diagnoses that arise with the current radiographic methods to diagnose hip dysplasia with an imaging method called the dorsolateral subluxation test; and
• To find genetic markers for the traits underlying hip dysplasia in dogs and, in the long term, the mutations that predispose to these traits and their concomitant osteoarthritis.

He has undertaken a genome-wide screen on an experimental pedigree of Greyhounds and dysplastic Labrador Retrievers. With a combination of linkage and linkage disequilibrium mapping, he and his group has identified chromosomal regions harboring the genes that confer susceptibility to, and protect against, canine hip dysplasia. Now they need to narrow these regions by testing for conserved regions that harbor these mutations across breeds.

• BVSc, University of Sydney, 1976
• MS and Equine Residency, Michigan State University, 1980
• PhD, Cornell University, 1992