Dr. Claire Guest
With a BS in psychology and an MS in psychology by research, in 1992, Dr. Claire Guest became a full member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors and went on to serve as chair for three years. In 1987, Dr. Guest worked full-time at Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, leaving her director of operations and research post in May 2007. Dr. Guest has been involved with training dogs for tasks involving scent for more than 20 years and is currently chief executive and director of operations for Medical Detection Dogs, an organization that trains dogs to identify human disease by odor. The organization is working on several pioneering research projects involving canine olfaction, including the training of dogs to detect cancer, blood sugar changes, Addison’s disease and, most recently, COVID-19. Dr. Guest is the recipient of many prestigious awards, with a CBI First Women Award for Science and Technology in 2016 being her most recent achievement.