Summary

Cardiac arrhythmias are an important cause of collapse and sudden death in racehorses. This is a welfare concern for both horses and their riders as riders are almost always injured when a horse collapses on the track. Racing jurisdictions worldwide fund comprehensive post-mortem examination of horses that die during racing. Cardiac tissue is examined as part of these examinations. However, myocardial inflammation and fibrosis are not easily observed with routine histopathology.

Program

Thoroughbred Horses

Research Organisation

The University of Adelaide

Objective Summary

Dr Nath will undertake postgraduate research on risk factors for exercise induced arrhythmias in Thoroughbred racehorse, as part of a larger project “Detection of cardiac inflammation and fibrosis in Thoroughbred racehorses”. Work will supervised by A/Prof Samantha Franklin, A/Prof Andre La Gerche and Dr Adrian Elliot.