Celebrating the Breakthroughs Shaping the Future of Canine Health. Meet the 2025 Canine Health Discovery Award Finalists.

1 min read Grant Period: July 1, 2022 - December 31, 2023 Closed Grant

03040: Identification of Novel Epilepsy Genes in Dogs

Epilepsy is the most common neurological problem in dogs and affects most breeds. Genetics plays a significant role in seizure susceptibility, but gene discoveries have been rare due to clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Investigators have recently completed a genome-wide association study in ~600 Labrador Retrievers (LRs) and successfully mapped two loci with genome-wide significance in dogs affected by focal epilepsy or paroxysmal dyskinesia. In this study, investigators will recruit new epileptic LRs with focal seizures or paroxysmal dyskinesia to independently replicate the identified loci, and then perform in-depth analysis of the regions to identify candidate causal variants. If successful, the study will validate new epilepsy loci and reveal new epilepsy genes to improve diagnostics, understanding, and care of the disease in LRs and possibly other breeds.