Mission Statement
The goal of the Clinical Investigation Centre is to investigate companion animal health and work to improve the diagnosis and treatment of pets suffering from ill health.
The CIC consists of a Veterinary Director and a team of specialist clinical investigations nurses, all with Good Clinical Practice training. All of our team are pet owners themselves and are very sensitive to the needs and concerns of companion animals and their owners. Our work takes place within the largest veterinary referral centre in Europe, The Royal Veterinary College.
The CIC brings together the College’s academic clinicians and scientists to run ethical, welfare considerate, controlled and regulated investigations. Our studies are thoroughly assessed by the Royal Veterinary College ethics committee. Pharmaceutical studies must pass the rigorous analysis of the Home Office Inspectorate and Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
Additionally, the CIC collaborates internationally with other leading academic institutions studying animal health. The CIC liaises with first opinion veterinary practices located within the UK. All clients on trials are treated as normal referral cases and receive the full expertise of the RVC clinicians as well as use of the extensive facilities.
Our studies involve pet animals with naturally occurring disease. With the permission of their owners, we use residual (left over) samples collected from animals who have had diagnostic testing done. The residual samples are stored and analyzed for research purposes. We are currently storing samples from dogs and cats suffering from a variety of diseases. We hope to use these samples to identify specific genes that cause inherited disease. To this end, we are most anxious to work with dog and cat breeders to help them assess and improve their breeding lines.
Our particular research interests include: comparative oncology, cardio-respiratory medicine, dermatology, epilepsy, pain management and metabolism. If you have an animal suffering from an illness in one of these areas, please explore our website to see if we are running a trial that could be helpful to you and your pet.
