Equine Genetics and Genomics

Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst

BVMS, MS, PhD, DACVIM (LAIM)

Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst earned her B.V.M.S. With Commendation from the University of Glasgow (2009) before completing a Large Animal Internal Medicine residency at the University of Minnesota, where she became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Large Animal) in 2016. She subsequently earned an MS (2016) and PhD (2020) in Comparative and Molecular Biosciences at Minnesota, with doctoral research focused on tools for precision medicine in the horse. Now an Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics, and Large Animal Internal Medicine in the Veterinary Clinical Sciences Department, Dr. Durward-Akhurst leads a research program at the intersection of equine cardiology and genomics. Her work investigates the genetic and transcriptomic basis of sudden cardiac death, cardiac arrhythmias, and atrial fibrillation in Thoroughbred racehorses, with translational implications for sudden arrhythmic death in human athletes. She holds funding from the American Heart Association, Morris Animal Foundation, and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.