Randolph-Macon College will welcome Professor Mark Neff to campus April 28, 2016. Neff will present “Citizen Science, Natural Experiments, and the Big Data of Dog Biology” at 6 p.m. in SunTrust Theater, Brock Commons (304 Henry Street). Refreshments will be served. This event, which is sponsored by the Committee for Assemblies and Special Events (CASE), is free and open to the public. Map and Directions

Mark Neff
Neff is founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Brindle, a “23andMe” for dogs that aims to harness the power of the 78 million dogs in the U.S. to improve both canine and human health through translational genomics. Prior to starting Brindle, Neff was associate professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), head of the Laboratory for Canine Genetics at the Van Andel Research Institute, and associate director of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at UC Davis. Neff earned his Ph.D. in classical yeast genetics in 1993 prior to joining the Dog Genome Project as a DoE Distinguished Human Genome Fellow at UC Berkeley.

Neff will discuss his team’s effort to dovetail informatics resources with the natural advantages of purebred genetics to innovate personalized and preventive healthcare through new products (drugs and diagnostics) and processes (clinical algorithms). “We plan to bring every data point to bear on each patient’s care, first for dogs and ultimately for humans,” he says.

Bridging the Fields of Human and Animal Health
“Dr. Neff’s work bridges the fields of human and animal health and aims to make a significant impact on both,” says RMC Biology Professor James Foster. “This talk will be of particular interest to dog lovers but is for anyone interested in learning about new approaches to understanding the basis of some of the most complex human health problems. Scientifically he’s asking big questions and the strategy he is undertaking has great potential to find big, important answers.”