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For Episode 52 we talk to Dr Stuart Patterson, who successfully completed his PhD last year and when we recorded this podcast was working as a lecturer in Dairy Medicine here at the RVC. He has now taken a permanent post at the RVC as a Lecturer in Wild Animal Health. We discuss how he has managed his career and aligned it with his interests as well as taking advantage of opportunities when they presented themselves. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it, something for everyone, especially if you like meerkats. To find out more about Dr Patterson’s work, use the following link   /about/our-people/stuart-patterson     If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

Welcome back to the RVC podcast, where we are going to focus on the researchers and their research. For our 51st episode we talk to Dirk Werling, Professor of Molecular Immunology about how he started his research career, what research he is currently involved with and advice to those people interested in pursuing a career in research. We hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed recording it. To find out more about Prof Werling’s work, use the following link  /about/our-people/dirk-werling   If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email dbarfield@rvc.ac.uk; tweet @dombarfield. We would greatly appreciate your time to rate us on Apple podcast or Acast and kindly write us a review.

A number of diseases arise because the immune system begins to attack the body’s own cells. Here Dr Oliver Garden describes how these diseases arise and his research into the role of a particular type of immune cell, the regulatory T cell, in this phenomenon across species.

The possibility of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infection is now a concern for many patients receiving hospital treatment. However, accumulating evidence shows that MRSA can also be carried by animals and then passed on to people in contact. Here Professor Katharina Staerk and colleagues describe their research to identify novel methods of preventing MRSA infection and transmission as part of an EU consortium.

Anal furunculosis is a particularly unpleasant disease of the rear end that particularly affects German Shepherd dogs. Here Dr Brian Catchpole and Prof Susan Gregory outline the traditional way the disease is identified and treated, their recent findings on how it may be caused, and how these findings inform current best treatment practices.

Methods of locomotion vary greatly across the animal kingdom according to size, number of legs and evolutionary niche. However, it seems that there are a great many common themes between species. Here Dr Andrew Spence discusses the latest ideas in locomotion research, with particular reference to the dog... and the cockroach!

A foetus presents an immunological, as well as a nutritional, challenge to its mother. Here Dr Mandi de Mestre describes how the equine placenta, hormonal and immune systems interact to handle these challenges and how her research is revealing the mechanisms involved.

Diseases caused by parasitic worms are a common problem in humans and animals, especially in the developing world. Here Dr Rachel Lawrence describes how filarial infections occur and manage to evade the immune response of the host.