Predicting failure: Exploring genetic variants associated with pregnancy loss

10.30am – 11.15am BST, 17 July 2025 ‐ 45 mins

Talk/Presentation

In the UK and Ireland over 75% of the diagnosed cases of abortion and stillbirth are non-infectious in origin, with the majority of these cases attributed to an umbilical cord related pathology. There is a significant increase in the risk of abortion in mares that have suffered prior losses, highlighting the importance of intrinsic factors including, although not limited to, genetics. Dr Lawson will present some of the findings of her Alborada Trust-funded research which is aiming to identify genetic variants associated with abortion in Thoroughbreds. Whilst this work is particularly focussed on umbilical cord torsion as a cause of abortion, the importance of the genome to pregnancy loss has proven to be wide ranging. An important example of this is the contribution of genomic inbreeding and its role in pregnancy loss which will be discussed in detail (work funded by the Alborada Trust, TBA and an HBLB grant).

Speakers

Dr Jessica Lawson

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Dr Jessica Lawson

Dr Lawson graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2013 and spent much of her clinical career working in Thoroughbred breeding practice in the USA. Jess returned to the UK to undertake a PhD at the Royal Veterinary College, investigating the incidence, causes and diagnostic features of abortion attributed to an umbilical cord torsion in Thoroughbreds. Following completion of her Doctorate in 2022, Jess has stayed on at the RVC as a Research Fellow and is continuing her work exploring umbilical cord torsion, and causes of Thoroughbred abortion more widely, using epidemiological and genetic methodologies. This work is generously funded by the Alborada Trust with collaborations with Rossdales Laboratories, Prof. de Mestre’s Equine Pregnancy Lab at Cornell University and veterinarians in both the UK and Kentucky.