Victoria Lindsay-McGee

Programme Coordinator for MSc in Equine Science & BVM&S Horse Husbandry Teaching Fellow

Tel: 01316506258
Email: victoria.lindsay-mcgee@ed.ac.uk

Street: The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
Easter Bush Campus
City: Midlothian
Post code: EH25 9RG

Biography

Background

I completed my BA(Hons) in 2012 in Preclinical Veterinary Studies with Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. I worked for the Scottish SPCA before establishing my own business as an equine thermographer. I continued this work alongside my Master's in Equine Science from the University of Edinburgh (2017), where I completed my dissertation investigating infrared thermography as a diagnostic tool in equine myopathies.

In 2018 I graduated with a Master's degree in Instrumental Analytical Science from the Robert Gordon University, where I undertook an Erasmus traineeship at the Universidade do Minho in Braga, Portugal, to complete my dissertation project investigating the role of antioxidant genes in a rapeseed pomace extract treatment for human neurodegenerative diseases in C. elegans models.

I then completed a PhD at the Royal Veterinary College investigating the genomic architecture of equine exertional rhabdomyolysis, supervised by Dr Androniki Psifidi, Professor Richard Piercy and Dr Emily Clark (Roslin Institute) and funded by the RVC’s Mellon Fund for Equine Research. I was the 2023 recipient of the McKeever Prize for the Graduating PhD Student with the Best Original Research Paper.

I am now the Programme Coordinator for the postgraduate Equine Science programme at the R(D)SVS, and I teach on the BVM&S programme. I sit on the PGT Teaching and Learning Committee, the R(D)SVS QAE Committee, and I review for the R(D)SVS Veterinary Ethical Review Committee. I also conduct research into equine genetics and genomics of complex traits including polygenic disease and performance.

I was the RVC and now an R(D)SVS representative to the British Society of Animal Science Early Career Council, and I am part of the BSAS Undergraduate Thesis of the Year Award judging committee.

Outside of work, I enjoy horse riding and cycling, and am an active rugby referee.

Qualifications

BA(Hons) Upper Second Class in Preclinical Veterinary Studies with Natural Sciences - University of Cambridge, 2012

MSc in Equine Science with Merit - University of Edinburgh, 2017

MSc in Instrumental Analytical Science (DNA Analysis, Proteomics and Metabolomics) with Distinction - Robert Gordon University, 2018

PhD titled 'Dissecting the genetic architecture of equine exertional rhabdomyolysis' - Royal Veterinary College, 2022 (Winner of the 2023 RVC McKeever Prize for Best Original Research)

Responsibilities & affiliations

Committee membership:

Reviewer for the R(D)SVS Veterinary Ethical Review Committee

Member of the R(D)SVS Quality Assurance and Enhancement Committee

Member of the R(D)SVS PGT Teaching & Learning Committee

Learned society involvement:

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Member of the Association of Veterinary Teaching and Research Work

Member of the Royal Society of Biology

Member of the British Society of Animal Science, accredited BSAS Associate Registered Animal Scientist, and Member of the BSAS Early Careers Council

Member of the Genetics Society

Member of the British Association for Sport and Exercise Science

Member of the International Society for Animal Genetics

Teaching & PhD supervision

Undergraduate teaching

Practical horse husbandry teaching and examining on the BVM&S course. Involvement with preclinical OSCEs and interviewing.

Postgraduate teaching

Course leader for the Equine Exercise Physiology course and Course co-leader for Research Methods Data Analysis on the MSc in Equine Science

Teaching on the Equine Exercise Physiology, Equine Reproduction, and Research Methods Data Analysis courses on the MSc in Equine Science.

Student project supervision:

Current:

MSc Projects:

Developing an equine welfare-based rating tool for stable design assessment.
Inbreeding depression on performance in flat and national hunt thoroughbred racehorses in the UK and Ireland.
Perceived benefits of Brine Inhalation in Horses with Equine Asthma (co-Supervisor)
The Jockey Effect: Assessing the Influence of Jockey Factors on Racehorse Performance
Why equestrians use auxiliary reins on horses: biomechanical perceptions and barriers to human behaviour change. (co-Supervisor)

Past:

At previous institutions:

BSc projects:

Identification of clinical and environmental predisposing risk factors for equine exertional rhabdomyolysis (co-Supervisor)
Investigating lifestyle, behavioural and environmental risk factors for complex genetic diseases across species (hypertrophic cardiomyopthy in cats and recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis in horses) (Co-Supervisor)

Vet student rotation research projects:

Stress and disease: assessing hair cortisol levels in equine recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER) and canine Duchenne musclar dystrophy (DMD) (co-Supervisor)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Research

Research summary

Research interests:

Equine genetics and genomics;
Equine exertional rhabdomyolysis;
Equine neuromuscular disease;
Disease subtyping using clinical records;
Analysis of retrospective clinical data;
Equine muscle physiology;
Equine exercise and performance;
Equine complex genetic diseases;
Equine genetic susceptibility to infectious disease

Research social media:

Publications:

Pohl, F, Lindsay-McGee, V, Kong Thoo Lin, P, Maciel, P, Teixeira-Castro, A (2024). Pharmacological inhibition of acetylcholinesterase improves the locomotion defective phenotype of a SCA3 C. elegans model. microPublication Biology. https://doi.org/10.17912/micropub.biology.001086

Lawson, J. M., Shilton, C. A., Lindsay‐McGee, V., Psifidi, A., Wathes, D. C., Raudsepp, T. & De Mestre, A. M. (2024). Does inbreeding contribute to pregnancy loss in Thoroughbred horses? Equine Veterinary Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14057

Cousquer, G., Alyakine, H. & Lindsay-McGee, V. (2023). The history and welfare of working mules in the valleys of the Toubkal massif, in the High Atlas of Morocco. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1256501

Lindsay-McGee, V., Sanchez-Molano, E., Banos, G., Clark, E. L., Piercy, R. J. & Psifidi, A. (2023). Genetic characterisation of the Connemara pony and the Warmblood horse using a within-breed clustering approach. Genetics Selection Evolution, 55: 1-22 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12711-023-00827-w

Banos, G.*, Lindsay, V.*, Desta, T. T., Bettridge, J., Sanchez-Molano, E., Vallejo-Trujillo, A., Matika, O., Dessie, T., Wigley, P. & Christley, R. M. (2020). Integrating genetic and genomic analyses of combined health data across ecotypes to improve disease resistance in indigenous African chickens. Frontiers in genetics: 1169. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2020.543890

Pohl, F.*, Teixeira-Castro, A.*, Costa, M. D., Lindsay, V., Fiúza-Fernandes, J., Goua, M., Bermano, G., Russell, W., Maciel, P. & Kong Thoo Lin, P. (2019). GST-4-dependent suppression of neurodegeneration in C. elegans models of Parkinson’s and Machado-Joseph disease by rapeseed pomace extract supplementation. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13: 1091. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.01091

*Authors contributed equally to the work

Past research interests

Equine thermography; Pharmacogenetic study of human neurodegenerative diseases; C. elegans culture

Affiliated research centres

Conferences

Conference details

Lindsay-McGee V, Clark EL, Piercy RJ, Psifidi A (2024) Poster: "Breed-specific SNP and genomic regions associated with equine recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis susceptibility overlapped with up- and down-regulatory histone modifications." 14th International Havemeyer Foundation Horse Genome Workshop (accepted)

Milner M, Brewster V & Lindsay-McGee V (2024) What’s next? Blended learning frameworks in healthcare curricula: Supporting innovation post-pandemic. 18th International Research in Distance Education and e-Learning (RIDE) Conference.

Lindsay V, Massey C, Li YT, Clark EL, Piercy RJ, Psifidi A (2023) Phenotypic and genetic characterisation of disease subtypes of equine recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis. animal: science proceedings 14 (2) doi: 10.1016/j.anscip.2023.01.454 (British Society of Animal Science Conference 2023)

Lindsay V, Massey C, Li YT, Clark EL, Piercy RJ, Psifidi A (2023) Poster: “Dissecting the genetics of a clinically heterogeneous disease: equine recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis” Plant and Animal Genome XXX Conference

Lindsay V, Clark EL, Piercy RJ, Psifidi A (2022) Poster: "The role of the regulatory genome in complex metabolic diseases: the case of equine exertional rhabdomyolysis " Runner-up for the Poster Prize and recipient of the Early Career Conference Grant at Functional Regulatory Genomics and Disease: Genetics Society Meeting 2022

Lindsay V, Selhorst KB, Clark EL, Piercy RJ, Psifidi A (2021) Genome-wide approaches to dissecting the genetic architecture of equine exertional rhabdomyolysis (ER). animal: science proceedings 12 (1) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anscip.2021.03.057 (Highly Commended in the President’s Prize for Best Presentation at The Challenge of Change: British Society of Animal Science Conference 2021)

Lindsay V, Massey C, Li Y T, Selhorst KB, Clark EL, Piercy RJ, Psifidi A (2021) Equine exertional rhabdomyolysis: A phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous syndrome. animal: science proceedings 12 (1) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anscip.2021.03.164 (Poster at The Challenge of Change: British Society of Animal Science Conference 2021)

Lindsay V*, Selhorst KB*, Clark EL, Piercy RJ, Psifidi A (2020) Poster: "Phenotypic and genetic characterisation of recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER) in Warmblood horses and Connemara ponies." Plant and Animal Genome XXVIII Conference

Lindsay V, Selhorst KB, Clark EL, Piercy RJ, Psifidi A (2019) Poster: "Dissecting the genetic architecture of equine exertional rhabdomyolysis" A Century of Genetics: Genetics Society Meeting 2019