Karin Allenspach DVM, FVH, DECVIM-CA, PhD, FHEA, RCVS, AGAF
Prof. Allenspach is a clinician-scientist and Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. She is currently employed as Professor of Comparative Medicine at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA, and is a PI of the SMART Translational Medicine Lab at the University of Georgia, which focuses on the development and culture of adult stem stem-cell-derived organoids (mini tissue organ cultures) from dogs. Her goal is to contribute to the reduction of live animal use in drug discovery by replacing some of the pre-clinical screening with canine organoids. Dr. Allenspach has established the first canine bladder cancer organoid bioarchive, which will enhance research efforts to find novel treatments for dogs with bladder cancer. Dr. Allenspach is passionate about animals and has a 3-year-old Pitbull, 2-year-old Dachshund, a 5-year-old cat and 3 guinea pigs in her house near Athens, GA.
Vanessa Hale MAT, DVM, PhD
Dr. Hale is an Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She received a Masters in Teaching at Western New Mexico State University and her DVM PhD at Purdue University. Dr. Hale then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Mayo Clinic Microbiome Program. Her research employs translational animal models of disease to explore the role of the gut and urine microbiome in human and animal diseases. One major research focus of her lab is defining chemical-microbe-host interactions, and how gut and urine microbes metabolize environmental chemicals, and the impacts of this metabolism on the host. She works with a naturally-occurring canine model of bladder cancer, and ultimately, her goal is to reveal ways in which we can manipulate the microbiome to prevent or treat diseases like bladder cancer.
Carlos Fonseca-Alves, DVM, MSc, PhD
Prof. Fonseca-Alves is an Associate Professor at Universidade Paulista (UNIP) and also serves in the Department of Veterinary Surgery at the University of São Paulo (USP). He is the Director of the Institute of Veterinary Oncology (IOVET) in Brazil.
Christopher Pinard, DVM DVSc DACVIM (Oncology)
Dr. Pinard is a board-certified veterinary oncologist and founder of the Toronto Animal Cancer Centre. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Sunnybrook Research Institute, leading AI-driven projects in human and veterinary oncology, and is the co-founder and CEO of ANI.ML Health, a company researching and building AI tools to support veterinary teams and improve cancer care. Dr. Pinard has contributed to numerous clinical trials and peer-reviewed publications (h-index 10), with a research focus on comparative oncology and cross-species insights through artificial intelligence. A frequent podcast guest and advocate for responsible innovation, he has served on advisory boards for DVM360 and the Morris Animal Foundation. His passion lies in advancing veterinary oncology while delivering compassionate, personalized care to every patient.
Tracy Hill, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
Dr. Hill is the Senior Director of Science at Ethos Veterinary Health, where she leads a national research program across more than 150 specialty and emergency hospitals, advancing multicenter clinical studies in oncology, gastroenterology, and internal medicine. Dr. Hill earned her DVM from the University of Minnesota and PhD in Comparative Biomedical Sciences from North Carolina State University, where her research focused on gastrointestinal injury and barrier function. Board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, she has held academic appointments at the Universities of Edinburgh, Georgia, and Minnesota, where she served as Clinical Associate Professor and program director for residency and fellowship training. Her current work emphasizes building collaborative research infrastructure to accelerate translational discoveries in veterinary and comparative medicine, with a particular interest in urologic and oncologic disease models.
Rachel Kovac DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
Dr. Kovac received her DVM from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 2014 and subsequently completed a general rotating internship at VCA West Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. This was followed by an oncology residency at The Ohio State University. She is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine-Oncology. She joined VCA Dallas in 2018 and became the director of clinical trials in 2024.
Samantha Schlemmer DVM, MS, DACVP
Dr. Schlemmer is a board-certified veterinary clinical pathologist whose research interests span clinical pathology, cytology, oncology with a focus on tumor markers, and pedagogy. She earned her DVM from the University of Florida, followed by internships in Small Animal Medicine & Surgery and Medical Oncology at The Animal Medical Center. Dr. Schlemmer holds an MS in Biomedical Sciences and completed her residency in Clinical Pathology at Texas A&M University, where she also became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. She further advanced her expertise through a post-doctoral fellowship at the Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University. Her teaching portfolio includes Clinical and Diagnostic Pathology, Cytology, Cellular Pathology, Advanced Hematology, Advanced Clinical Biochemistry, and Clinical & Professional Skills.
Dr. Dawn Clarke
Dr. Dawn Clarke graduated from Purdue University with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1995. During veterinary school she was introduced to clinical oncology research and pursued further training in this area through an Oncology Internship and Medical Oncology Residency at Purdue. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the area of Medical Oncology in 2001. After completing her medical oncology residency, Dr. Clarke worked in the fields of comparative oncology and comparative biogerontology at Purdue University and the Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation. During this time, Dr. Clarke authored or co-authored numerous scientific articles, abstracts and proceedings in the veterinary and human medical literature. She left academia in 2005 to work as a medical oncologist in a private specialty practice in the Memphis, TN area. In 2007 her family moved to North Carolina where she worked at North Carolina State University and at a private specialty practice where she was able to continue her interests in clinical oncology research. In 2012, her family relocated to Georgia where she joined the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine where she works with the Medical Oncology Service. She is the current Program Director for the University of Georgia medical oncology residency training program. Her research interests include urothelial neoplasia, musculoskeletal neoplasia, novel anticancer agents in dogs and cats and comparative aspects of mammalian aging and cancer risk.
Deborah W. Knapp, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Oncology)
Dr. Knapp is a Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology and holds the Dolores L. McCall Professorship at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. She also serves as Director of the Evan and Sue Ann Werling Comparative Oncology Research Center within the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. Dr. Knapp earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Auburn University in 1983, followed by a residency and Master of Science (MS) degree at Purdue University in 1988. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Oncology) in 1990. Her primary area of interest is comparative oncology, where she leads pioneering research bridging veterinary and human cancer studies.
Deepika Dhawan, PhD
Dr. Dhawan is a Research Scientist in Oncology within the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. She earned both her PhD (1995) and MS (1990) from Delhi University in Delhi, India. Dr. Dhawan is also a member of the Evan and Sue Ann Werling Comparative Oncology Research Center at Purdue, where she contributes to advancing cancer research through comparative approaches that benefit both human and animal health.
Shay Bracha, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
Dr. Bracha is an Associate Professor (tenure track) in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine. A board-certified medical oncologist, he is a member of the Translational Therapeutics Program and focuses his research on extracellular vesicles, oncoimmunology, and comparative aspects of osteo and soft tissue sarcomas. He is also the cofounder of a company dedicated to developing veterinary immunotherapies. Dr. Bracha earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Saint Istvan University in Budapest, Hungary.
Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD, DACVIM, FRCVS
Dr. Mason is Professor of Medicine and Pathobiology and holds the Paul A. James and Charles A. Gilmore Endowed Chair in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine. A veterinarian, researcher, and animal advocate, Dr. Mason is dedicated to translating cutting-edge immunotherapy research from bench to bedside to improve the lives of pets. She earned her BVetMed from the University of London and a PhD in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania and is board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Her laboratory focuses on developing innovative cancer treatments, including genetically engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies that harness the immune system to target tumors, particularly B-cell malignancies such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Current research also investigates canine cancers including hemangiosarcoma, lymphoma, osteosarcoma, and transitional cell carcinoma. Through her work, Dr. Mason strives to create new therapeutic options for previously challenging diseases, ensuring pets can live healthier, longer lives.
Brian D. Husbands, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
Dr. Husbands is a Clinical Professor, Vice Chair of Small Animal Faculty Success, and Integrated Oncology Section Head at The Ohio State University. He earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine and completed residencies in Small Animal Internal Medicine and Comparative Oncology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Husbands has held academic and clinical positions including Assistant Professor of Oncology at the University of Minnesota, Staff Oncologist at BluePearl Veterinary Partners, and Associate Professor of Oncology at the University of Minnesota before joining Ohio State in 2020. His research focuses on novel cancer therapies and hematologic malignancies such as lymphoma and leukemia, emphasizing the bidirectional benefits of translational research for both companion animals and human medicine. Dr. Husbands is also a member of the Translational Therapeutics research program at the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Felipe Diaz Soler DVM, PhD
Dr. Soler is a internal medicine specialist and director of Graduate Programs at Universidad Mayor, Chile.
Simone de Brot PhD, Dipl. ECVP
Dr. de Brot is is a board-certified veterinary pathologist at the Institute of Animal Pathology, University of Bern, Switzerland. Her research focuses on canine bladder and prostate cancer, as well as comparative models of human cancer. She has developed strong expertise in computational pathology and routinely applies AI-based digital image analysis in her own work and in collaborations with external research groups. Dr. de Brot earned her PhD from the University of Nottingham, where her thesis centered on the comparative histopathological and transcriptomic evaluation of urologic cancer models. Her professional experience includes serving as an Assistant Professor of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Nottingham and completing a residency in veterinary pathology (ECVP) at the University of Zurich. Outside the laboratory, Dr. de Brot shares her home with her family, two Shetland Sheepdogs, and a Border Collie
Paul Hess BA, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM, Oncology)
Dr. Hess is an Associate Professor at the NC State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He is actively involved in graduate education as a member of the NCSU Comparative Biomedical Sciences program with an Immunology concentration and contributes to the NCSU Biotechnology Program and Comparative Medicine Institute. Dr. Hess is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Small Animal Internal Medicine, Oncology) and maintains professional affiliations with the American Association of Veterinary Immunologists and the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. His expertise spans veterinary oncology and immunology, with a strong commitment to advancing research and education in these fields.
Jeannette M. Kelly DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)
Dr. Kelly founded Veterinary Cancer Care in 2004 to meet the growing need for a specialized cancer treatment center for pets in New Mexico. Her mission goes beyond treating cancer — she is committed to improving quality of life and preventing recurrence through compassionate care. Dr. Kelly combines conventional medicine with alternative therapies and advances veterinary oncology through multi-institutional clinical trials. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Colorado State University in 1994, completed an internship at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital of San Diego, and pursued her oncology residency at the University of Pennsylvania and Veterinary Oncology Services and Research Center in Pennsylvania. Board Certified in oncology since 2009, Dr. Kelly lives in Santa Fe with her children and a variety of pets, and she actively supports local animal shelters while enjoying outdoor activities.
Samuel Hocker, DVM, MS, DACVIM (Oncology)
Dr. Hocker earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Political Science from Illinois State University before completing his veterinary degree at Kansas State University. Following veterinary school, he expanded his clinical experience through a small animal rotating internship at the University of Missouri. He later returned to Kansas State University to pursue a residency in medical oncology. Before joining Colorado Veterinary Specialty Group (CVSG), he was a faculty member at both the Mona Campbell Centre for Animal Cancer at the Ontario Veterinary College and the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Louise Van Der Weyden BSc (Hons), PhD
Louise is a Senior Staff Scientist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK (https://www.sanger.ac.uk/person/van-der-weyden-louise/). Her research passion is investigating the genetics of cancer, including sequencing of human tumours and the generation of mouse models. In 2019, she started studying spontaneous animal models of cancer, focussing on the sequencing of tumours from cats, dogs, cows and horses. She strongly believes in the strength of comparative oncogenomics, for the benefit both animals and humans, in line with the ‘One Medicine’ concept.
Ismael Pereira Salas, DVM, PhD
Dr. Salas is a licensed veterinarian from the University of Chile. He holds a postgraduate diploma in Small Animal Medicine from the same institution and a diploma in Veterinary Gastroenterology from UCASAL. In addition, he earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chile. Currently, he specializes in clinical care focused on gastroenterology and digestive endoscopy in small animals. Dr. Pereira is a faculty member at Universidad Mayor and serves as a guest lecturer at various universities across Chile. He frequently speaks at national and international conferences and conducts clinical research at CIAVet (Veterinary Applied Research Center) at Universidad Mayor, focusing on chronic digestive diseases, where he participates as a co-investigator and collaborator in multiple scientific projects.
Sandra Bolduc, CVT, VTS (Oncology, Internal medicine)
Ethos Veterinary Hospital Network.
