Cancer Research – Pets to People: Comparative Anatomy

February 10, 2022
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

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Program Series:
Health and WellnessScience and Society

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Join C2ST and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) for Anticancer Discovery from Pets to People (ACPP), a limited series detailing the latest in cutting-edge research conducted at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (Illinois). Learn how the analysis of cancers in pet dogs and cats can help identify promising new anticancer drugs for humans. Dr. Timothy Fan, a veterinary oncologist, and cancer researcher, will walk us through the work being done at the Comparative Oncology Research Laboratory on a subject that has far-reaching implications for the human and animal worlds.

The first program will answer the question, What is Comparative Oncology? 

Comparative oncology studies naturally developing cancers in animals as models for human diseases. Scientists can advance cancer gene discovery by exploring how the shared environments between our pets and humans impact our health. This field of study uses naturally occurring cancers to understand environmental risk factors, genetics that underlie the development of certain cancers, evaluation of novel therapeutics and diagnostics, and biomarker discovery. 

Cancer in the pet population remains a deadly problem, with limited options available for achieving a cure. Motivated by the desire to prolong animal quality of life, pet owners frequently seek out the specialized care and treatment of veterinary oncologists at private referral veterinary hospitals and veterinary teaching hospitals across the country. It has been estimated that there are approximately 65 million dogs and 32 million cats in the United States. This large population of pets with cancer allows the study of spontaneous cancers like those seen in humans. We will discuss how we can include animal models in treating people.

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Event Details

Thursday, February 10th, 2022 from 5:00 – 6:00 pm CT, C2ST Facebook Live & C2ST YouTube TV.

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Featured Guests

Dr. Timothy Fan, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM), DACVIM (oncology)

Dr. Fan received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 1995. He completed a Small Animal Rotating Internship at the University of Illinois from 1995 to 1996. Following his internship, Dr. Fan fulfilled a Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency at Cornell University in 1998. Following his stay at Cornell, Dr. Fan returned to the University of Illinois to receive advanced clinical training in the subspecialty of Medical Oncology. Dr. Fan completed his Board Certification in Internal Medicine in 2000 and Medical Oncology in 2001. After completing clinical training, Dr. Fan pursued and completed a Ph.D. in Tumor Immunology, whereby he investigated the anticancer effects of cytokine manipulation strategies for the treatment of locally-invasive and metastatic tumors in mice models of disease.

Upon completing his Ph.D. in 2007, Dr. Fan became the principal investigator of the Comparative Oncology Research Laboratory housed in the Small Animal Clinic, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine. Dr. Fan’s laboratory works closely with other scientists for evaluating novel drugs or drug delivery strategies for the treatment of cancer. Uniquely, Dr. Fan’s training as a scientist and veterinarian has allowed him the opportunity to rapidly investigate and translate novel treatment strategies in dogs with spontaneously arising cancers and conduct meaningful comparative oncology research to aid in treating cancer in not only companion animals but also human beings.