Koko the horse appeared to be a typical mare but when she began acting overly aggressive and trying to mount her female counterparts, her owner became suspicious.

After a barrage of tests at the Ontario Veterinary College, researchers discovered that Koko was in fact a male horse that appeared female.

The scientists tested Koko's relatives and found her sister Sequoia and her cousin Pandora were also intersex.

Researchers Allan King, Tracey Chenier and Daniel Villagomez are the first to identify a family of horses with a rare genetic abnormality called pseudo-hermaphroditism, which causes genetically male horses to appear female on the outside.

This discovery has caught the attention of media and has been featured on CBC.ca and CTV.ca.

Initially they thought Koko had an ovarian tumour, which can cause mares to exhibit stallion-like behaviour because of heightened levels of testosterone. But when they examined the animal's reproductive system, the researchers found Koko had internal testes.

"It was a very exciting discovery," said Chenier. "To be expecting a tumour but discover an entirely different internal system than anticipated sparked a lot of questions."

For more, read the U of G news release.

A University of Guelph researcher will expand his work on ovarian cancer with support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Prof. Jim Petrik has received a Mid-Career Investigator Salary Award, worth $200,000 over 2 ½ years, from the CIHR's Institute of Gender and Health and the Ontario Women's Health Council.

A professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Petrik is one of only two scientists to receive the highly competitive award this year.

The funds are intended to contribute to the salary of mid-career scientists who have made outstanding contributions, demonstrated leadership in their field and developed a reputation for excellence in research.

"I feel very fortunate to receive this award," said Petrik. "It's a great opportunity for us to refocus the work on ovarian cancer. The lab is expanding, and the funds will allow me to devote more resources and intellectual energy toward taking the research to the next level."

Petrik's research team is investigating how anti-angiogenic therapies --targeting the blood vessels that feed the growth of tumours -- can be used in combination with chemotherapy drugs to improve treatment for ovarian cancer.

"The goal is not only to make the treatments more effective and improve outcomes for women, but also to improve their quality of life by reducing the use of chemotherapy drugs that have toxic side-effects."

Petrik's lab is also supported by a CIHR operating grant and his work on ovarian cancer with colleague Prof. Roger Moorehead was funded by the Ontario Cancer Research Network. In 2008, their team published research that identified a protein expressed by ovarian cancer cells that may act as a marker to help with early detection of the disease.

Petrik's lab is also looking at possible links between elevated blood sugar and cancer and more specifically how women with hyperglycemia may be prone to developing a more aggressive form of ovarian cancer.

"All cells use glucose in the blood as a source of fuel, but cancer cells use more than healthy cells," said Petrik. "We want to take a closer look at the effects of hyperglycemic drugs and how we might use them to slow the growth of tumours, encourage regression and maybe even make them go away."

A world-recognized leader in cardiovascular science and medicine will deliver the 2010 Chappel Memorial Lecture at the Ontario Veterinary College on April 9.

Dr. Kenneth Chien leads a research team at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital that recently succeeded in taking embryonic stem cells from mice and growing heart tissue. Their work may one day lead to new treatments for cardiac patients using pluripotent stem cells harvested from skin, marrow or fat and injected into the heart to repair damaged tissue.

All interested members of the University community are invited to attend Chien's talk, "How to Make a Heart: Toward Stem Cell Therapeutics," on Friday, April 9 at 12 p.m. in the Lifetime Learning Centre Room 1714.

A reception will follow.

Chien is Scientific Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Charles Addison and Elizabeth Ann Sanders Professor at Harvard Medical School. In addition, he is a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, where he leads the Cardiovascular Stem Cell Biology Program. He has a strong interest in physician- scientist training, having served as the Director of the Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of California at San Diego and a professor at the Salk Institute.

The annual Chappel Lecture was established by 1950 OVC graduate Clifford Chappel in memory of his father, to give students and faculty the opportunity to meet internationally known scientists. It is hosted by the Office of Research, Graduate Studies, the College of Biological Science and OVC.

Dream Big, Dream Royal. That's the theme for this year's College Royal event at the University of Guelph March 20 to 21.

More than 30,000 people are expected to visit when U of G opens its doors to North America's largest student-run university open house.

"For those two days, we take over the whole campus to showcase everything that's going on," said Amy Thomson, a second-year DVM student who is this year's president of College Royal. "College Royal may have started out as an Aggie event but it's gone way beyond that now. There will be displays and activities from every department."

• Teddy bear surgery -- Lifetime Learning Centre cafeteria
• Old MacDonald's New Farm -- Dairy Barn
• Petting zoo -- Lunging ring
• Interactive and hands-on displays and activities organized by student clubs on a variety of topics such as anatomy, biology, farm animals, pathology and infectious disease

Other events include livestock shows, dog show, cat show, square dancing competition, a lecture series, logging competition, synchronized swimming demonstrations, junior tractor rodeo, art and photography shows and flower-arranging competition.

Visitors can also check out Curtain Call Productions' performance of Reefer Madness.

"We've tried to build on our history and traditions by adding or expanding each year, and 2010 is no exception," said Thomson.

One of the plans for this year is to make the campus more visitor-friendly by putting up large street signs to help guests orient themselves.

This year's Open House will also see an expansion of the popular Pancake Flip contest, where teams of students gather in the University Centre courtyard to prepare a variety of pancakes â€" flavoured with fruit, Smarties and even pumpkin. The event will run both mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

"I think everyone will find something to enjoy, and something that will make you proud to be connected to the University," says Thomson. "Tell your friends and family to come, too. I promise you'll have fun."

Complete schedules for the Open House weekend are available online.

OVC graduate students took home top honours from last week's North American Conference on Precision Dairy Management in Toronto.

Janet Higginson, a PhD candidate in the Department of Population Medicine, received the AfiMilk Young Scientist Award for her presentation "Validation of a New Pedometry System for Behavioural Research and Lameness Detection in Dairy Cattle."

Her colleague in the department, PhD candidate Cindy Todd, was the runner-up for her work, "Effects of Free-Access Feeding and Milk Replacer Acidification on Calf Performance and Development of Digestive Anatomy."

The awards, each of which comes with a cash prize, are given to encourage excellence in dairy research and communication of results by young investigators.

"Both Janet and Cindy did an excellent job and the University of Guelph was well represented," said Dr. Ken Leslie, Population Medicine, one of the organizers of the inaugural conference. The event highlighted technologies such as robotic milking equipment and sensor-based tools to improve cow health, welfare and productivity.

U of G is a founding partner for the conference. Other OVC presenters included Drs. David Kelton and Stephen LeBlanc.