Spring Break
CSU equine lab receives $1.14 million to fund cancer research to benefit humans
Alexandra Sieh
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: News
After a nearly 30-year-long career with equine studies and research, Dr. Gordon Woods and his laboratory at CSU received $1.14 million in donations at the end of last year to support work in using horses as a model to better understand human cancer.
As a part of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on campus, Woods' laboratory will be using the donations to fund research of cellular activity in both humans and horses, which Woods believes may create more understanding of cancer in humans.
"We had taken the research as far as we could go," Woods said of his work before the donations.
The money came from two separate sources: $1 million from Jess Jackson, owner of Curlin, the 2007 and 2008 American Horse of the Year as named by the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America and $140,000 from the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, a state-of-the-art hospital for racehorses in Kentucky.
Jackson, owner of Stonestreet Farms, a thoroughbred stable, and Curlin the racehorse, already had a passion for both cancer research and horses.
After hearing about Woods' research in 2006, Jackson expressed an initial interest, promising to consider a donation to his work -- and just last year Jackson donated the $1 million.
The Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital also took an interest in Woods' research after hearing about the work through Jackson.
"We have always felt that giving back to the horse and the equine community that has helped us succeed is important," Bill Rood, cofounder of the hospital, said in an e-mail.
"After learning of his research on cancer benefiting both equine and humans, we were compelled to help continue this great study."
Woods, with his team of veterinary technicians and CSU graduate students, plan to use the money to continue previous work in analyzing the cell division rates in humans and horses to find a relationship between the low cell activity in horses and their low cancer mortality rate.
As a part of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on campus, Woods' laboratory will be using the donations to fund research of cellular activity in both humans and horses, which Woods believes may create more understanding of cancer in humans.
"We had taken the research as far as we could go," Woods said of his work before the donations.
The money came from two separate sources: $1 million from Jess Jackson, owner of Curlin, the 2007 and 2008 American Horse of the Year as named by the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America and $140,000 from the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, a state-of-the-art hospital for racehorses in Kentucky.
Jackson, owner of Stonestreet Farms, a thoroughbred stable, and Curlin the racehorse, already had a passion for both cancer research and horses.
After hearing about Woods' research in 2006, Jackson expressed an initial interest, promising to consider a donation to his work -- and just last year Jackson donated the $1 million.
The Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital also took an interest in Woods' research after hearing about the work through Jackson.
"We have always felt that giving back to the horse and the equine community that has helped us succeed is important," Bill Rood, cofounder of the hospital, said in an e-mail.
"After learning of his research on cancer benefiting both equine and humans, we were compelled to help continue this great study."
Woods, with his team of veterinary technicians and CSU graduate students, plan to use the money to continue previous work in analyzing the cell division rates in humans and horses to find a relationship between the low cell activity in horses and their low cancer mortality rate.
Be the first to comment on this story