Good afternoon CGIL,

This week we are happy to have Dr. Nora Laseca García and Dr. Davinia Perdomo-González, researchers at the MERAGEM research group, presenting for us on Friday, March 1st, 2024. The seminar will begin at 1:30 PM EDT/EST on the virtual platform Microsoft Teams. The presentation title is: “Population structure and inbreeding from the quantitative and genomic perspective: the case of the Pura Raza Española horse”.

Speakers Biography: Dr. Laseca García holds a Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from the University of the Basque Country. She completed her Ph.D. in Equine Genomics at the University of Cordoba in September 2023. Currently, she is a researcher in the MERAGEM research group and collaborates with the EQUIGENOM task force led by the Royal National Association of Purebred Spanish Horse Breeders in designing an equine genotyping chip. Her main areas of research include inbreeding and genomic homozygosity, whole-genome association analyses, distortion of allelic transmission ratios, analysis of genome copy number variations, and the search for candidate genes related to numerous economically important traits in horses for subsequent implementation in equine breeding programs. Her future perspective involves continuing genomic animal research.

Dra. Perdomo-González received her BS degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, and has recently finished her PhD from Sevilla University in Quantitative Genetics. She is currently a researcher in the MERAGEM researcher group and is responsible for the annual genetic evaluations for Pura Raza Española and Pura Raza Menorquina horses, but also collaborates in the genetic management of other autochthonous equine breeds of Spain. She has two main research focus areas: 1) the analysis of populations’ genetic structures based on pedigree information, and 2) the implementation, in equine breeding programs, of new methodologies developed to estimate non-additive genetic variances such as “parent-of-origin” effect, dominance deviations, or inbreeding depression loads. Looking ahead, her professional aspirations align with her continued commitment to animal research and genetic improvement.

Information to attend: To join this seminar, please ensure you have downloaded the Microsoft Teams application to your computer, or join the meeting online using the web browser version of Microsoft Teams. Please join the meeting with your microphone on mute and the camera turned off. After the presentation, you can unmute the microphone, and optionally turn on the camera, if you wish to ask a question. Alternatively, if you wish to pose your question in the chat function, the presenter will answer questions made through the chat.

Teams Link to attend: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%3Ameeting_NjQyZmNjYjMtMDMzMC00MGFhLWJhOWItNjQ0NzYwZGQyYmU0%40thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%2522be62a12b-2cad-49a1-a5fa-85f4f3156a7d%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%2522522551ba-0e93-4d61-8464-d782a9e7306d%2522%257d%26anon%3Dtrue&type=meetup-join&deeplinkId=96544bdc-0cb4-4047-92f1-411cda718a05&directDl=true&msLaunch=true&enableMobilePage=true&suppressPrompt=true

*Recordings of previous CGIL seminars are available at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAQ_5WCTMRQ6Gs35yROqGIQ/featured

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Samla Cunha and Kristin Lee