Our Mission is simple -- It's all about the dogs !!!

GETTING BETTER

It has taken over 20 years of research and experience to gather the knowledge we now have about the health of the Chinese Shar-Pei. These advances are the result of the efforts of so many who contributed their time, their money, their information, their energy and optimism over the years. In 1995, the Chinese Shar-Pei Charitable Trust was established expressly for the purpose of raising funds and leading the way to learning as much as possible about the causes, treatments, and heredity of the unique diseases of the Chinese Shar-Pei.

The help and support from CSP Charitable Trust was in part what made possible..

• An international research group led by scientists at Uppsala University, Sweden and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in collaboration with veterinarian Linda Tintle, Wurtsboro, New York, which uncovered the genetics of the Shar-Pei dog’s characteristic wrinkled skin and connected this mutation to a periodic fever disorder. Details appear in the March 17, 2011 issue of the open-access journal PLoS Genetics: View the Article
  
  
• A second study, published in October 2013 in PLOS ONE, which delves deeper into Shar-Pei disease to identify genetic variants associated with disease risk. The research showed that the same genetics underlie different clinical signs of inflammation, demonstrating that the periodic fevers are just one part of their auto inflammatory syndrome (Shar-Pei Auto inflammatory Disease or SPAID). The genetic information makes it possible to develop a DNA test to help gauge individual dogs' risk of auto inflammatory disease and a test is currently under development. View the Article
  
  

Still more research needs to be conducted to learn more about the disorders that affect our beloved breed. We need your help and cooperation for this research to happen. One future goal is to make it possible for members of the Chinese Shar-Pei breeding community to participate conveniently, affordably and confidentially in these studies to develop a longitudinal view of the various conditions and possible underlying genetic causes.

The list of those we would like to thank is long and growing. We are grateful to Lee and Romana Arnold for their skillful stewardship of the Charitable Trust over the years, Dr. Linda Tintle of the Wurtsboro Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Jeff Vidt of the West Suburban Veterinary Associates, the staff who volunteered their time and effort to build and manage the Chinese Shar-Pei Charitable Trust, our generous donors, our fund raisers, our prize makers and gatherers, our Facebook community Administrators, the Chinese Shar-Pei breeders and owners who participate in the research studies, the veterinarians and veterinary technicians who help collect samples, those who have developed and shared protocols to help our Shar-Pei live the healthiest lives they can, and many others for giving their time and efforts.

Each contribution, no matter the size or effort, has helped to make these advances; without each one, we cannot make a difference. It takes a village to help these special dogs, who give us so much and teach us what is important.

Let us join together, channeled by the efforts of the Chinese Shar-pei Charitable Trust, to move toward our common mission: to support and improve the health of the Chinese Shar-Pei breed through continued research.