Paw-sitive Impact: Leading FidoCure’s Fight Against Pet Cancer, Christina Lopes, CEO

In my recent discussion with Christina Lopes, founder of FidoCure and fellow Young Global Leader, we examined a troubling but under-discussed reality: cancer incidence in companion animals is rising sharply. The trend mirrors human oncology—rooted in extended lifespans, environmental exposures, and improved detection—and raises critical questions for both veterinary and human medicine.

The epidemiological data are compelling:

• 1 in 4 dogs will develop neoplasia during their lifetime.
• Nearly 50% of dogs over 10 years old receive a cancer diagnosis.
• An estimated 6 million canine cancer cases are identified annually in the U.S.
• Breed-specific predisposition is pronounced; purebred dogs are almost twice as likely as mixed breeds to develop certain cancers, with high-risk breeds showing onset as early as 5–7 years, compared to a median of 9 years in mixed breeds.

Christina’s work at FidoCure is predicated on a big-data, precision-medicine model for veterinary oncology. By aggregating and analyzing genomic, clinical, and longitudinal health data from thousands of dogs, her team is building predictive algorithms capable of identifying at-risk individuals before symptomatic disease emerges. The vision is a transparent, owner-facing platform—one that transforms the “four-legged life course” into a navigable, data-informed journey that prioritizes prevention over reaction.

From a translational science perspective, this work has profound implications. Comparative oncology—the study of naturally occurring cancers in animals to inform human health—benefits enormously from canine genomic data. 

Recent research underscores the potential:

• The largest canine tumor sequencing study to date (671 dogs, across over 20 tumor types) identified dozens of mutation hotspots that parallel human oncogenic drivers.
• Comparative genomic analyses have demonstrated high concordance in mutations such as TP53, PIK3CA, and BRAF, opening the door for cross-species therapeutic strategies.
• Clinical trials in dogs using targeted therapies (originally developed for humans) have yielded response patterns that closely predict human outcomes—accelerating drug validation timelines.

Christina’s mission exemplifies a systems-level approach: build robust datasets in veterinary health, leverage machine learning to forecast disease risk, and allow those insights to cycle back into both animal and human oncology. In our conversation, it became clear that advancing predictive and preventive medicine in dogs is not a niche pursuit—it is an accelerant for innovation in global cancer care.

About

Christina Lopes is the CEO and co-founder of FidoCure, a platform that utilises artificial intelligence and genomic sequencing to deliver personalised treatments for pet dogs with cancer, while also accelerating the development of lifesaving cancer therapies for humans. Under her leadership, FidoCure has expanded to over 1,350 veterinary clinics worldwide and has treated nearly 6,000 dogs afflicted with cancer.

In collaboration with the AI Health leadership at Stanford University, Christina has developed the world’s largest and most comprehensive canine cancer dataset, comprising over two billion data points collected from patients in real-world clinical settings. She has co-authored peer-reviewed research published in leading scientific journals, including Nature Precision Oncology.