Lauren Baker joined the UW–Madison faculty in May 2024 as an assistant professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences.

What is your hometown? Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Genoa City, Wisconsin. It is a small town in southeastern Wisconsin, on the border of Illinois.

What is your educational/professional background, including your previous position?
My background is a bit unusual because I have been at UW-Madison for all of my education after high school! I think one of the great things about UW is that I was able to train in a variety of disciplines that make me the scientist that I am today. My undergraduate degree is in psychology. My primary goal during undergrad was to gain acceptance into veterinary school, and I really enjoyed the number of courses in the psychology department that had animals and animal behavior as a focus. I was lucky to get into veterinary school here at UW-Madison. It was during vet school that I became heavily involved in genetics research. I decided to complete a MS during veterinary school and a PhD immediately after completing my DVM. I earned my PhD as a part of the Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine program, which is a bioinformatics training program funded by the National Library of Medicine. I then worked as a scientist in the School of Veterinary Medicine before beginning my current position in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences.  

How did you get into your field of research?
I started working on a dog genetics project as a student hourly during the summer after my first year of vet school. At the time I was just looking for a summer job, then I was really captured by the big picture of the project: discovery of genetic variants that predispose dogs to disease. That information could be used to understand the molecular basis of the disorder (which could lead to disease-modifying treatment), and to predict risk of developing the disorder in the first place. All the disorders our lab studied in dogs had analogous disorders in people. The idea that we could study pet dogs to improve the health of both dogs and people was very exciting to me, and it changed the course of my career.

What are the main goals of your current research and outreach programs?
Some of my current research goals include:

1. Discovering genetic drivers of complex disorders in dogs with comparative analysis in human populations.  My current projects center on urinary disorders e.g. kidney stones and urinary incontinence.
2. Evaluating the impact of spay/neuter on animal physiology, and whether gonadectomy can be related to long-term health outcomes in dogs.
3. Identifying gene-environment interactions that are relevant to dog and human health

I am still developing my outreach program, but would love to educate more broadly on companion animal health and how it relates to health in their humans.

What was your first visit to campus like?
My first visit to UW-Madison was in summer before I started my freshman year of undergrad. It felt like a very big city to me then, and I remember being both overwhelmed by all the people and very excited that I could walk to stores and restaurants.

What’s one thing you hope students who take a class with you will come away with?
I plan to teach a course on canine and feline care and management, essentially what I think anyone who wants to work with dogs and cats in a career should know. There is a lot of misinformation surrounding pet health, and I would love students to leave with the tools they need to make evidence-based decisions related to pet care.

Do you feel your work relates in any way to the Wisconsin Idea? If so, please describe how.
Of course—all of the work that I do fundamentally relates to improving animal and human health. Ultimately, I would love my research to inform novel disease-modifying medical treatments for both animals and people. On an educational level, I want my students to leave my classroom as better advocates for the companion animals in their lives.

The pandemic forced us all to reconsider many things we took for granted. Is there something you’ve learned that has helped you through these challenging times, personally or professionally?
Through the pandemic, I learned to practice gratitude. I am so grateful for my work, the professional opportunities I have been given, my husband, our children, and our lives together. Life has dealt me many challenges, but I have also been incredibly lucky, and I’m thankful that I am able to recognize that.

What’s something interesting about your area of expertise you can share that will make us sound smarter at parties?
Pet dogs are affected by many of the same disorders that affect people—cancers, auto-immune disease, osteoarthritis, you name it. In dogs, many of these disorders tend to be pretty breed-specific. For example, a Miniature Schnauzer is much more likely to develop a kidney stone than a Labrador Retriever. One theory is that when humans selected dogs for breeding to propagate traits that they wanted e.g. hunting ability, they ended up also selecting for genetic variants that increase risk for health problems. We can look at DNA to identify the regions of the genome that are/were under selection through breeding. When we evaluate the genes that are in these regions, we can make hypotheses about what happened—e.g. one gene in the region might be connected to body size (the intended target), and another gene might be connected to a disorder (an unintended target). This is just one technique where dogs are uniquely positioned to help us identify genes that might lead to health problems.

What are your hobbies and other interests?
I really love to be outside, and I enjoy the occasional crafty venture e.g. drawing, painting, and jewelry-making. I also love to cook! My husband and I just started competing in local BBQ competitions. But let’s be real: I have small children, so most of the time that I am not working, I’m just trying to keep my kids happy!