WSHE Presents Speaker Dr. Katie Flynn

Dr. Bellone earned her Ph.D. in Equine Genetics from the University of Kentucky in 2001.  Subsequently she was on faculty in the Department of Biology at the University of Tampa for twelve years while there she was a three time recipient of the College of Natural and Health Sciences Outstanding Scholar Award She relocated to California and joined that faculty of UC Davis in 2014.  Since 2002, she has led an equine genetics and genomics research program involving both graduate and undergraduate students investigating many diverse traits in the horse including pigmentation, ocular disorders, and performance.  The overarching goal of her research program is to identify and understand genetic variation that can explain phenotypes of interest and those of medical importance. Her research team has discovered causal mutations for several pigmentation traits and ocular disorders in horses including Appaloosa spotting, congenital stationary night blindness, and ocular squamous cell carcinoma, among others.  She is currently investigating the genetics of several additional ocular disorders in horses and is co-leading the team of scientist working to gain a better understanding of the regions of the horse genome that regulate tissue specific gene expression.  Dr. Bellone is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction and is the Director of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, a unit of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis with an international reputation as experts in veterinary genetic testing.