Functional Dog Breeding with Jessica Hekman

Join Sarah as she interviews Dr Jessica Hekman. Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD is a veterinary researcher at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and teaches online classes about the biology and genetics of canine behavior. Jessica received her Ph.D. in Animal Sciences (Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics) in 2017 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studied canid behavioral genetics. Previously, Jessica graduated from the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in 2012 with a dual DVM/MS degree. Her Master's work was on the behavior and cortisol responses of healthy dogs to being hospitalized overnight. She also completed a shelter medicine veterinary internship at the University of Florida Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program. Jessica's current work focuses on the genetics of behavior in both pet and working dogs through a citizen science approach. Jessica is passionate about using genetics to discover how brain function differs between confident and anxious dogs. www.functionalbreeding.org www.dogzombie.com