CA Sharp
President, Australian Shepherd Health & Genetics Institute (ASHGI)
C.A. Sharp is a science writer and an internationally recognized lay expert on canine genetics and hereditary diseases.
Sharp has been involved in dogs, specifically the Australian Shepherd, for three decades, breeding and showing from the 70s through the early 90s. She has been active with the Australian Shepherd Club of America since 1976, twice serving on its genetics committees. (1983-1986 and 1996 – present.)
For over two decades Sharp has collected data on hereditary disease in Australian Shepherds, using this information to assist researchers and provide informal genetic counseling and pedigree analysis to breeders and owners.
Sharp has frequently assisted researchers in canine genetics on projects ranging from coat color to ophthalmology to longevity. Her efforts include spreading the word about the projects, educating people about the subject of the research, and facilitating data collection.
Sharp has written extensively on genetics and hereditary disease, initially for breeders of Australian Shepherds but more recently for a wider audience. She has since 1993 published Double Helix Network News, a quarterly canine genetics newsletter. Helix has been a finalist in the Dog Writers Association of America’s annual awards competition numerous times, twice winning "Maxwell" awards, one for the newsletter itself and for the feature article "The Price of Popularity." Sharp was the first recipient of AKC Canine Health Foundation’s Golden Paw Award for the article "The Rising Storm." Sharp is currently working on a book.
Sharp has been involved in dogs, specifically the Australian Shepherd, for three decades, breeding and showing from the 70s through the early 90s. She has been active with the Australian Shepherd Club of America since 1976, twice serving on its genetics committees. (1983-1986 and 1996 – present.)
For over two decades Sharp has collected data on hereditary disease in Australian Shepherds, using this information to assist researchers and provide informal genetic counseling and pedigree analysis to breeders and owners.
Sharp has frequently assisted researchers in canine genetics on projects ranging from coat color to ophthalmology to longevity. Her efforts include spreading the word about the projects, educating people about the subject of the research, and facilitating data collection.
Sharp has written extensively on genetics and hereditary disease, initially for breeders of Australian Shepherds but more recently for a wider audience. She has since 1993 published Double Helix Network News, a quarterly canine genetics newsletter. Helix has been a finalist in the Dog Writers Association of America’s annual awards competition numerous times, twice winning "Maxwell" awards, one for the newsletter itself and for the feature article "The Price of Popularity." Sharp was the first recipient of AKC Canine Health Foundation’s Golden Paw Award for the article "The Rising Storm." Sharp is currently working on a book.
Selected Publications
Rubin, Nelson and Sharp 1991 Collie Eye Anomaly in Australian Shepherd Dogs" , Progress In Veterinary & Comparative Ophthalmology 1(2):105-108
Schmutz, Berryere and Sharp 2003 KITLG maps to canine chromosome 15 and is excluded as a candidate gene for merle in dogs, Animal Genetics Feb 34(1):75-76.
Schmutz, Berryere and Sharp 2003 KITLG maps to canine chromosome 15 and is excluded as a candidate gene for merle in dogs, Animal Genetics Feb 34(1):75-76.
