Translating time – for human and animal health

What can a Bengal tiger, a snow leopard or a mountain lion tell us about Alzheimer’s disease or other age-related medical conditions in humans? At Auburn University, veterinary medicine student Eli Morrow is determined to find answers.

Working with Dr. Christine Charvet, an assistant professor of neurosciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine, Morrow builds relationships with zoos across the country to gather data about wild cats, their health and their brain development. Morrow’s goal is to use the data to enrich Translating Time, a web-based tool that has informed hundreds of research studies on a range of developmental processes and diseases. 

The tool gives scientists insight into aging by estimating equivalent stages of brain development across scores of mammalian species.

By adding data from large cats and other zoo animals to the Translating Time database, Morrow and Charvet hope to make it an even more powerful tool for improving health outcomes for both animals and humans.

“Translating Time is already a tremendous resource for many biomedical researchers, and we’re very excited to expand it with more information from uncommonly researched animals,” Morrow said.

CVM Student Eli Morrow and a Malaysian Mahoot, or elephant handler, perform nail care on a Male Asian Elephant at the Ran-tong Save and Rescue Elephant Centre in Thailand.

CVM Student Eli Morrow bottle feeding a Bengal tiger named Karma at The Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College in California.

CVM Student Eli Morrow helped care for Asian Elephants at the Burm and Emily’s Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand.

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Beyond the mouse model

Morrow sees several advantages to expanding the tool’s database to zoo species. For one thing, the data can provide important clues for improving veterinary care for rare or exotic animals that tend to be less well-studied.

For another, added data could help researchers get around a drawback of relying on the mouse as a model for certain human health conditions. 

“Mice don’t develop Alzheimer’s or cognitive dysfunction like humans may, so right now laboratories will use mice that are genetically altered to show those similar pathologies,” Morrow said. “Considering how many different animals we have on the planet, I think it would be better to find an animal that has a natural disease process than for us to induce one into an animal.”

Because felines can exhibit signs of cognitive decline, they could prove to be a better model for Alzheimer’s and related human conditions, Morrow added.

Diverse interests united by One Health

Translating Time is grounded in the One Health concept, which recognizes the interrelatedness of human and animal health, and Morrow found that his work on the project unites his interests in nature, wildlife and human health.

Morrow came to Auburn in 2023 to pursue a doctorate in veterinary medicine. 

As an undergraduate at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, he majored in biology and minored in chemistry with a goal of becoming a trauma surgeon. When he wasn’t studying or playing football, he found himself drawn to the mountainsides encircling Salt Lake City.

“I had a 4Runner, and I’d go car camping,” he recalled. “When I was able to go up in the mountains and chase that herd of elk or be lucky enough to spot a wolf, a grizzly bear, a black bear or whatever it may be, that truly reignited a childhood love that I had of wildlife. 

“That led me down the route of wanting to work with wildlife.”

Morrow decided to apply to vet schools, and Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine was a natural first choice. 

“My father was a third-generation graduate, and I grew up going to Auburn football games,” Morrow said. “This may be a little cliché, but the Auburn Family is a real thing. They’re always willing to offer that helping hand or that extra push for whatever you may need.”

Toward a career in conservation, Vet Med

Such support has enabled Morrow to pursue several opportunities he hopes will open doors to a career combining clinical practice with research at a zoo or conservation organization. In 2024, he began work toward a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and joined Translating Time, a project started by Charvet.

Already, he’s reached out to more than 100 zoos across the United States in search of collaborative research opportunities and data on 32 species of felines. The data he’s searching for range from blood test results to X-rays to records of husbandry and welfare.

“Eli has paved the way for our research through multiple collaborations with U.S. zoos,” said Charvet. “With a keen passion for exotic animal health, he brings a complementary and forward-thinking perspective to the biomedical problems we are working to resolve.” 

Last summer, Morrow worked with Chattanooga Zoo, the Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College in California and the Montgomery Zoo to see firsthand what being a zoo vet entails. He was even able to help with different procedures, including a laser therapy performed on the zoo’s most charismatic big cat, a Bengal tiger. Now, he serves as an intern at the Montgomery Zoo.

Morrow’s summer also included a two-and-a-half-week trip to wildlife sanctuaries in Thailand, where he studied with a veterinarian specializing in elephants.

Providing more time for vulnerable species

In coming years, Morrow hopes to focus his research on how genetics and environmental factors interact to affect reproduction in endangered species. With contributions from Christy Gault, a preliminary project compares developmental stages among golden retrievers, other dog breeds, cats and humans, and he hopes that research will lead to statistical models that can inform efforts to re-establish endangered red wolf populations.

Morrow also plans to do a fourth-year preceptorship at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Texas. The center has been involved in efforts to breed and reintroduce scimitar-horned oryx into the central African country of Chad, where they had become extinct.

Morrow sees efforts to add more zoo animal data to Translating Time as a way to advance similar efforts to save other endangered species.

As Charvet put it, “The study of zoo animals offers untapped and unique opportunities to preserve biodiversity while advancing our understanding of human health.”

Those twin goals, Morrow said, could have implications for generations to come.

“Whether it’s red wolves or black rhinos, while we have them, I would certainly hope that we do everything we can to try and save them,” he said. “And I would love for my kids, and their kids, to be able to see these animals.”