Rachael Thomas
E-mail: rachael_thomas@ncsu.edu
Originally from the UK, Rachael received her first class honors degree in Biology from the University of Bath in 1996 and her PhD in Molecular Biology and Cytogenetics from the University of Leicester in 2000. She then embarked on postdoctoral studies with Dr Matthew Breen at the Animal Health Trust, a veterinary referrals and research institution, investigating techniques for cytogenetic evaluation of canine cancers. Since moving to North Carolina State University in 2004 she has been responsible for developing and applying microarray-based technologies for genomic analysis in a range of spontaneous dog cancers, focusing predominantly on lymphoma and brain tumors. Currently Rachael is using this approach to investigate the molecular pathogenesis of canine B-cell lymphomas in key breeds that are highly predisposed to this form of cancer, towards improved disease subclassification both in a veterinary setting, and also as a model for the human counterpart. More recently she has received funding to develop similar approaches for feline lymphoma and vaccine site sarcomas.