If not for the pandemic, we would have held the 5th International Dog Health Workshop (IDHW) by now. But we’re watching global developments with cautious optimism that we’ll soon be in a position to determine a date/location/format for the next IDHW. In the meantime, we are developing online events to keep important collaborations going,
Based on recent discussions with key stakeholders 
in canine genetic testing, three topics have been identified as being important to current conversations: Standardizing Genetic Reports, Validation, and Genetic Diversity.
Specific challenges have been identified for each of these topics, and IPFD is planning a series of short online workshops taking each challenge in turn to agree on goals and outcomes, and - as a community - to undertake post-workshops actions to implement necessary actions.
Workshop #2 (Online) - Tuesday, 3 May 2022
Theme: Genetic Diversity
Workshop Overview:
Target Audience: Genetic test providers, breed-health advisors, kennel clubs, and researchers
Progress has been made and is continuing since the first virtual workshop. You can see information on the previous workshop below. Since this meeting, changes have been made to advance the Harmonization of Genetic Testing for Dogs (HGTD) initiative, based on the workshop’s recommendations, and we are still making progress towards more harmonized approaches to genetic testing reports.
The focus of this free workshop is on genetic diversity (primarily from a genetic tests/tools view), and discussions will aim to identify genetic diversity tools and resources, and discuss priorities and actions for the benefit of dogs.
We are thrilled to have a key speaker, Prof. John Woolliams (UK) and confirmed presenters including: Samantha Hauser (Embark, USA), Katy Evans (Guide Dogs, USA), Saija Tenhunen (Viking Genetics, FI), Pieter Oliehoek (Dogs Global, NL), Sally Ricketts (University of Cambridge, UK), and Aimée Llewellyn-Zaidi (IPFD). Additional speakers may be added.
View their bios here.
Selected workshop materials may be made available to members of DogWellNet.com after the event.
Start Times
The workshop will be 3.5 hours in length - please refer to the table below for start times in your time zone.
Start Times by Time Zone
PDT (UTC -7) Seattle 7:30
MTD (UTC -6) Denver 8:30
CDT (UTC -5) Minneapolis 9:30
EDT (UTC -4) Toronto 10:30
BST (UTC +1) London 15:30
CEST (UTC +2) Stockholm 16:30
EEST (UTC +3) Helsinki 17:30
AEST (UTC +9) Melbourne 12:30 (4 May)
Pre-Workshop Resources:
To make the most of our time together, we will be providing background resources and speaker presentations in advance. Registered participants will receive further details via email closer to the workshop date.
Please contact Aimée Llewellyn-Zaidi if you have any questions about the workshop.
Workshop #1 (Online) - Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Theme: Standardizing Genetic Testing
Workshop Overview:
Target Audience:
Genetic test providers, breed-health advisors, kennel clubs, and researchers developing new genetic tests
From Information and Collaboration to Action!
The aim of the workshop is to discuss and share relevant information around these challenges, and others, relevant to standardizing genetic reports. By doing so, we can identify outcomes and agree actions towards improving genetic reports, ultimately to the benefit of dog health and welfare.
Within the topic of Standardizing Genetic Reports, four challenges for discussion have been identified as being key to improving genetic reports:
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Nomenclature: challenges and working towards standardization
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Reporting what is being tested – mutations, variants, linkage, etc.
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Tests for risk and susceptibility – clarity for breeders/health advisors
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Genetic test application and advice
For each challenge, we have a speaker who has kindly agreed to provide their experience and expertise in a pre-workshop presentation. They will also participate in the session on 28 September.
Presenters:
Confirmed presenters include Dr. Cathryn Mellersh (University of Cambridge), Dr. Jonas Donner (Wisdom Panel), Dr. Joanna Ilska (The Kennel Club), Dr. Danika Bannasch (University of California, Davis), Dr. Adam Boyko (Embark), and Aimée Llewellyn-Zaidi (IPFD). Additional speakers may be added. View their bios here.
Our speakers provided brief presentations on their topics (below) prior to the webinar. We are sharing them here for the benefit of those who were unable to participate. Aimée Llewellyn-Zaidi has also provided a summary of these presentations in PDF format: IDHWV Presentation 28 Sept 2021.pdf
Dr. Danika Bannasch
Professor in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction in the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis
Dr. Jonas Donner
Wisdom Panel
Dr. Joanna Ilska
Genetics Research Manager at The Kennel Club (UK).
Dr. Cathryn Mellersh
University of Cambridge
Aimée Llewellyn-Zaidi
IPFD HGTD Project Manager, USA
Outcomes:
We plan to share a more detailed report on the workshop in the near future, but in the meantime, we invite you to read IPFD contributor (and workshop participant) Ian Seath's recap of the workshop in his “Best of Health" article for October 2021.
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in canine genetic testing, three topics have been identified as being important to current conversations: Standardizing Genetic Reports, Validation, and Genetic Diversity.
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