Funding

Dogs are helping us improve our national health! Dogs and humans have very similar genes and diseases, and with the help of canine genetic research new possibilities open up for the prevention and better treatment of also our human diseases.

Genetic research is costly and requires a great deal of recourses to cover the costs of personnel, laboratory equipment and reagents. Finnish funders of our research include the Academy of Finland, Sigrid Juselius Foundation, Biocentrum Helsinki, University of Helsinki, Folkhälsan Research Center, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation. We have also received donations from several breed and kennel clubs in Finland and abroad. Our research is also sponsored by Musti ja Mirri, the largest pet food chain in Scandinavia, as well as Royal Canin, one of the leading cat and dog food manufacturers in the world.

We are continually looking for new funding from different foundations. We are also part of a large EU-funded project, together with 22 other research groups from 12 different countries. The European Union's 7th Framework Programme is supporting dog genomics until the end of 2011 by 12 million euros! Our research group receives approximately 1 million euros of this sum. Our group leader Hannes Lohi is a member of the consortium's steering committee and leads the study of epilepsy genes in dogs. The European Research Council granted a five year funding period for genetic research in different behavioral traits.

You can support this valuable research that benefits the society by making a donation or by sponsoring us. We are grateful for the new sources of funding we have already found. If you would like to know more about how to participate, send an email to this address:

hannes.lohi(at)helsinki.fi