Dr Victoria Lindsay-McGee

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

Biography

Background

I am 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, and am interested in statistical modelling of equine health and performance data.

I was the Royal Veterinary College and now an R(D)SVS representative to the British Society of Animal Science Early Career Council, the ECC rep on the BSAS Publications Committee, and I am part of the BSAS Undergraduate Thesis of the Year Award judging committee.  I'm also on the Organising Committee for the 2024 Edinburgh Next Generation of Genomics Symposium (ENGoGS).

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. 

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:

Organising Committee member for the 2024 Edinburgh Next Generation of Genomics Symposium (ENGoGS)

Member of the BSAS Early Careers Council, Early Careers Rep on the BSAS Publications Committee, and member of the Judging Panel for the BSAS Undergraduate Thesis of the Year Competition

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 Royal Society of Biology

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

Member of the Genetics Society

Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society

Undergraduate teaching

Practical horse husbandry teaching and examining on the BVM&S course. Involvement with 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:

  • The Jockey Effect: Assessing the Influence of Jockey Factors on Racehorse Performance
  • The western pleasure lope and hunter-under-saddle canter: a comparison of biomechanical measurements of stock-breed show horses (co-supervisor)
  • A systematic review of noseband tightness and its effects in the horse (co-supverisor)
  • Training flat racehorses in hot climates: experiences and practices of trainers in Qatar (co-supervisor)
  • The use of horses in sport: opinion of the general public versus equestrians in the context of the Olympics (co-supervisor)
  • A systematic review of equine infrared thermography: applications for limbs and hooves

 

Past:

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)
  • Why equestrians use auxiliary reins on horses: biomechanical perceptions and barriers to human behaviour change (co-supervisor)

 

At previous institutions:

BSc projects:

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

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

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

 

Current research projects:

  • Meta-analysis of GWAS using commercial SNP genotyping in the horse;

  • Stakeholder assessment in equine genetics;

  • Genetic characterisation of native UK and Irish pony breeds;

  • Communication and collaboration between equine vets and farriers in hoof care cases;

 

Research social media:

ORCiD | LinkedIn | ResearchGate | GitHub | EqSci@Ed FaceBook | EqSci@Ed Twitter | EqSci@Ed LinkedIn

 

Publications:

Lindsay-McGee V, Clark EL, Piercy RJ & Psifidi A (2024). [Preprint] Breed-specific effects of inbreeding and artificial selection on susceptibility to equine exertional rhabdomyolysis. Authorea [Online]. https://www.doi.org/10.22541/au.173514418.88123685/v1  

Lindsay-McGee V, Massey C, Li YT, Clark EL, Psifidi A, & Piercy RJ (2024) Characterisation of phenotypic patterns in equine exertional myopathy syndrome. Equine Veterinary Journal https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/evj.14128

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., Kaiser, P., Hanotte, O. & Psifidi, A. (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

Organiser

Organising Committee member for the Edinburgh Next Generation of Genomics Symposium 2024

Involved in organising the 2023 BSAS conference, including coordinating session assistants.

 

Papers delivered

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 

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

 

*Authors contributed equally to the work

In the press

Research in the news:

Murray B (2024) The impact of inbreeding on equine pregnancy loss. Horse & Hound Magazine (available online 29/03/2025)

 

In the popular press:

David Marlin's Animalweb (2024). "Introduction to Animal Genetics with Dr Victoria Lindsay-McGee." Stable Science Podcast.  available online 24/11/2024

Lindsay V, Psifidi A and Piercy RJ (2021) All Tied Up. Your Horse Magazine April 2021 Issue (available adapted online 21/12/2023)

 

Press releases:

New Study Seeks Equestrian Community’s Views on Equine Genetics – Animalweb (available online 14/10/2024)

SURVEY: Professional Farriers' and Equine Veterinarians' Attitudes, Knowledge, and Opinions Sought by University of Edinburgh Researchers - The Hoof Blog (available online 12/06/2024)

Participate in an Online Survey on Hoof-Care Knowledge Among Farriers & Vets - American Farriers Journal (available online 12/06/2024)

Researchers Seek Input from Farriers, Vets for New Study on Equine Foot Health - Thoroughbred Daily News (available online 12/06/2024)

Researchers Seek Input From Professional Farriers And Vets - The Chronicle of the Horse (available online 12/06/2024)

Auxiliary reins in horse training: why do equestrians use them in the first place? - The Horse (available online 31/10/2023)

Share your experience with auxiliary reins. - Equus (available online 31/10/2023)

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