Click here to watch a video of last year's Scientific Advisory Board chairs.
- CURRENT SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
- CURRENT WILDLIFE SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
- PAST ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
Current Scientific Advisory Board Members
Thomas K. Graves, DVM, Ph.D.
Chair, Fourth-Year Board Member
University of Illinois
Dr. Graves received his DVM from Cornell University in 1991 and his PhD in pharmacology in 2002 from the University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry. He is currently an assistant professor of veterinary clinical medicine and a full member of the division of nutritional sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, The Endocrine Society, Society for Comparative Endocrinology and American Association of Feline Practitioners. Dr. Graves is also board certified in small-animal internal medicine by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. His interests are in the cell biology of endocrine and metabolic disorders, especially diabetes and obesity in cats and dogs. Other interests include geriatric feline medicine.
Greg Acland, BVSc
Third-Year Board Member
Cornell University
Dr. Acland received his BVSc from the University of Sydney, Australia, and is board certified in veterinary ophthalmology. He is currently a senior research associate at the Baker Institute for Animal Health in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell, an adjunct professor of ophthalmology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and the director of the Retinal Disease Studies Facility at the New Bolton Center, University of Pennsylvania. His research interests center on the comparative, molecular, and medical genetics of canids, including the hereditary eye disorders in dogs — progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) and collie eye anomaly (CEA) — and on the genetics of behavior.
Dorothy Ainsworth, DVM, Ph.D.
Third-Year Board Member
Cornell University
Dr. Ainsworth earned her DVM from Washington State University and a PhD in veterinary science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has been at Cornell University’s department of clinical sciences since 1996, where she is a professor of medicine. Dr. Ainsworth has been a reviewer for numerous journals, including Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine (1991, 1996-1997, 2000-2003) and Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1992-1993, 1995, 1997, 2004). She also has sat on numerous boards, including the organizing committee of the Havemeyer Workshop on Genomic Applications to Equine Immunity (2003) and as chair of the organizing committee for the 3rd World Equine Airway Symposium (2003-2005). Her interests include limitations of the canine and equine respiratory system in health and disease, control of breathing in cursorial mammals (dogs, horses), pulmonary immunology in equids, and respiratory system biology in equids.
Anne Avery, VMD, Ph.D.
Second-Year Board Member
Colorado State University
Dr. Avery earned her VMD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990 and a PhD in immunology from Cornell University in 1991. Dr. Avery began as a research scientist at Colorado State University in 1994 and became an assistant professor there in 2001. She is currently the director of the Core Cell Sorting Facility in the department of microbiology, immunology, and pathology as well as the director of the Clinical Immunopathology Laboratory in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at CSU. Her research interests include mechanisms of autoimmune and immune-mediated disease and infectious diseases of the hematopoietic system.
Anthony Blikslager, DVM, Ph.D., DACVS
Fourth-Year Board Member
North Carolina State University
Dr. Blikslager received his DVM in 1989, from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and his PhD in gastrointestinal physiology in 1997 from North Carolina State University. He is currently an associate professor of equine surgery at North Carolina State University. Dr. Blikslager has developed a companion animal gastrointestinal research program funded by agencies such as the NIH and the USDA and has presented on the subject at numerous meetings across North America and the United Kingdom (where he grew up). Dr. Blikslager serves on the executive board of the Center for the Study of Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease at the University of North Carolina Medical School and is the director of the Colic and Digestive Disease Program at North Carolina State University. His current interests focus on colic in horses and gastric ulceration in dogs.
Mark V. Crisman, DVM, MS
Second-Year Board Member
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (Virginia Tech)
Dr Crisman received his doctorate in veterinary medicine in
1984, from the
Duncan C. Ferguson, VMD, Ph.D.
Second-Year Board Member
University of ILLINOIS
Dr. Ferguson received his VMD in 1979 and his PhD in pharmacology in 1982, both from the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the faculty at Cornell University in 1983 and the faculty of The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 1986. Dr. Ferguson is board certified in both clinical pharmacology and small-animal internal medicine. Dr. Ferguson reviews manuscripts for the American Journal of Veterinary Research, American Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Domestic Animal Endocrinology, and the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. He was on the faculty at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine for 20 years. He recently accepted a position at the University of Illinois where he heads the Department of Veterinary Biosciences. His research interests include thyroid diseases, diabetes mellitus, and obesity in domestic animals. He served on MAF’s advisory board from 1992 to 1996, serving as the chair in 1995.
Steeve Giguere, DVM, Ph.D.
Third-Year Board Member
University of Florida
Dr. Giguere received his DVM from the University of Montreal and his PhD in veterinary microbiology and immunology from Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, and is board certified in large-animal internal medicine. Dr. Giguere has been on the faculty at University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine since 1999 and is currently an associate professor of large-animal medicine in the department of clinical sciences and the director of the Hofmann Equine Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He has received numerous honors, including the Florida Veterinary Medical Association Clinical Investigator Award (2004); Large Animal Clinician of the Year, University of Florida (2004); and Large Animal Clinician of the Year, University of Florida (2002). Dr. Giguere's research interests include Rhodococcus equi infections in foals, equine neonatal diseases, and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobial agents in horses.
Marlene Hauck, DVM, Ph.D.
Third-Year Board Member
North Carolina State University
Dr. Hauck earned her DVM from Colorado State University and a PhD in pathology from Duke University. She is currently an associate professor in North Carolina State University’s department of clinical sciences and has been in that department since 2000. She also has been a research associate at Duke University since 1999. Dr. Hauck is board certified in oncology by the American College of Veterinary Medicine. Her career distinctions include receiving the AACR Clinical Trials Workshop Junior Faculty Scholarship, 2000, and Molecular Biology Fellowship, 1992-1995. Dr. Hauck sits on a variety of committees, including the executive committee for the Center for Comparative Molecular Medicine and the NCSU University Research Committee. Her research interests include canine cancer with specific interest in osteosarcoma in the Scottish deerhound.
Barbara Kitchell, DVM, Ph.D., D-ACVIM
First-Year Board Member
Michigan State University
Dr. Kitchell received her DVM from Purdue University in 1979 and her Ph.D. from the University of California-Davis in 1994. She is the director of the Center for Comparative Oncology, Animal Cancer Care Clinic, Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Michigan State University. She is board certified from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in internal medicine and oncology. Throughout her career, Dr. Kitchell has received numerous awards and distinctions including the Service Excellence Award from the University of Illinois, Outstanding Instructor Award, Gaines Cycle Award for Veterinarian of the Year from the American Animal Hospital Association, and the National Cancer Institute Physician Scientist Award. She previously served on the AVMA/AAHA, AAFP, VCS Joint Task Force on Feline Vaccine-Associated Sarcomas as the subcommittee chair for the Molecular Etiopathogenesis Section. She is a past and current president of the Veterinary Cancer Society. Her areas of interest include medical oncology, molecularly targeted therapeutics, translational modeling in spontaneously arising tumors, mechanisms of drug resistance and cancer biology.
Jeff Lakritz, DVM, Ph.D.
Third-Year Board Member
Ohio State University
Dr. Lakritz earned his DVM in 1987 and a PhD in comparative pathology in 1996 from the University of California-Davis. He has been a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Large Animal, since 1997. Dr. Lakritz has been an associate professor of food animal medicine and surgery at Ohio State University since 2003 and is currently the interim section head. His research interests include large-animal respiratory disease, antimicrobial agents, non-antimicrobial actions of pharmacologic agents, host response to inflammation, and matrix degrading proteases. He serves on the editorial review board for the American Journal of Veterinary Research and Veterinary Therapeutics and is on the ACVIM credentials committee.
James N. Moore, DVM, Ph.D.
Second-Year Board Member
University of Georgia
Dr. Moore received his DVM in 1974 from the University of California-Davis and his PhD in physiology in 1980 from the University of Missouri. He joined the faculty at The University of Georgia in 1981 with joint appointments in the departments of large-animal medicine and physiology and pharmacology. He became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1984, served as the head of the department of large-animal medicine from 1995 until 2002, and became a distinguished research professor in 2002. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the David Tyler Award for Innovation in Teaching (1998), the World Equine Veterinary Association’s Applied Research Award (1999), and the Alumni Achievement Award from the University of California-Davis (2006). His areas of interest include gastrointestinal diseases and endotoxic shock in the horse.
Lauren Trepanier, DVM, Ph.D.
Second-Year Board Member
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Dr. Trepanier received her DVM in 1986 and a PhD in pharmacology in 1997, both from Cornell University. She completed a residency in internal medicine at the Animal Medical Center in New York and is board certified in both small-animal internal medicine and veterinary clinical pharmacology. She is currently an associate professor in the department of medical sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine and an affiliate professor in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include pharmacogenetics and the metabolic basis of idiosyncratic drug toxicity.
Current Wildlife Scientific Advisory Board Members
Barbara A. Wolfe, DVM, Ph.D., D-AZVM
Chair, Third-Year Board Member
The Wilds, Cumberland, Ohio
Dr. Wolfe earned her DVM and her PhD in veterinary physiology from Texas A&M University. Previous to her position as director of wildlife and conservation medicine at The Wilds, she was with the North Carolina Zoological Park since 1997, becoming the senior veterinarian in 2002. Dr. Wolfe is a member of numerous organizations, including the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, the International Embryo Transfer Society and the Wildlife Disease Association. She has conducted many studies on reproductive techniques in wild species, including elephants, gerenuk, felids and Eld’s deer.
Matthew Breen, Ph.D.
Third-Year Board Member
North Carolina State University
Dr. Breen received his doctorate in cytogenetics from the University of Liverpool, U.K., and did post-doctoral work in molecular cytogenetics at the Medical Research Council, Edinburgh, U.K. Dr. Breen then spent four years working as a senior research officer at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where he was involved in developing molecular biology approaches for parentage verification in horses and applying this technology to other equids species as part of international captive breeding programs. Before becoming an associate professor of genomics at North Carolina State University, he was the head of molecular cytogenetics at the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, U.K. He is currently a member of the American College of Veterinary Pathology Oncology subcommittees on myeloid neoplasms and lymphoma, and his lab played a key role in the Canine Genome Project. His professional awards include the Sir W.H. Tate University Scholarship for Outstanding Achievement in Science, 1996, and the NCSU Faculty Professional Research and Development Award, 2004.
Janine L. Brown, Ph.D.
First-Year Board Member
Conservation & Research Center at Smithsonian National Zoological Park
She received her doctorate in animal sciences from Washington State University in 1984. She is a reproductive physiologist in the Department of Reproductive Sciences, Conservation & Research Center at Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Dr. Brown currently coordinates one of the world’s largest and most productive endocrinology laboratories that benefits wildlife species. She is also reproductive advisor to the Felid Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) and the Elephant SSP/TAG and serves on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals, including Biology of Reproduction, Zoo Biology, and Animal Reproduction Science. Her research interests include the scientific disciplines of behavior, reproductive endocrinology and stress management, and her specific research areas include studying reproductive and behavioral relationships in felids and rhinoceroses. She also is a world authority on elephant reproductive biology and helped coordinate one of the first successful artificial inseminations in Asian elephants.
Frances Gulland, VetMB, MRCVS, Ph.D.
Third-Year Board Member
The Marine Mammal Center
Dr. Gulland earned her doctorate of veterinary medicine and her PhD in zoology from the University of Cambridge, U.K. She has been at the Marine Mammal Center since 1994, where she is the director of veterinary services. She is involved in numerous professional associations including serving as scientific advisor for the Marine Mammal Commission since 2000 and chairing the Southern Sea Otter Recovery Implementation team since 2004. She also chaired the Working Group on Unusual Marine Mammal Mortality Events, National Marine Fisheries Service, 2001-2004, and was the president of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine, 2001-2002. Dr. Gulland is the associate editor of Marine Mammal Science.
Linda Munson, DVM, Ph.D.
Second-Year Board Member
University of California-Davis
Dr. Munson received her DVM in 1980 and her PhD in experimental pathology in 1988, both from Cornell University. She has been a faculty member at the University of California-Davis since 1997, where she began as an associate professor. She is currently a professor of veterinary pathology and was the 2003 recipient of the UC-Davis Faculty Development Award. She is the pathology advisor for the Cheetah, Red Wolf, Lion, and Jaguar Species Survival Plans, and is the president of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. She was also the 2001 recipient of the American Association of Zoological Veterinarians Emil Dolensek Award. Her research interests include diseases of wild and captive cheetahs, pathogenesis of endometrial growth disorders and effects of progestins in carnivores, and infectious diseases of wild canids and felids.
Mark Stetter, DVM
Second-Year Board Member
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Mark Stetter received his DVM from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 1988. He then completed an internship in medicine and surgery at the Animal Medical Center in New York. He served as associate veterinarian at the Audubon Zoo and the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans for three years, followed by a residency in zoological medicine at the Bronx Zoo/Wildlife Conservation Society. Dr. Stetter joined Disney’s Animal Programs as a staff veterinarian in 1997 and advanced to the role of vet services director in 2000. He is a diplomate in the American College of Zoological Medicine and served as president of that organization for 2006. His areas of interest include clinical medicine with a focus on the use of advanced medical technologies in zoo and wildlife medicine. He has published scientific articles and book chapters and delivered numerous presentations on the use of advanced imaging techniques (ultrasonography, radiology, laparoscopy, etc.) with non-domestic species. Dr. Stetter has participated in field conservation projects in South America, Africa and North America. Most recently he was involved with developing laparoscopic techniques in elephants.
Dominic Travis DVM, MS
Fourth-Year Board Member
Davee Center for Veterinary Epidemiology, Lincoln Park Zoo
Dr. Travis earned his DVM from Michigan State University in 1997 and completed an internship with USDA, ARS, in foreign-animal disease research at Plum Island, New York. He completed a residency in applied veterinary epidemiology at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and a master’s degree in epidemiology at the University of Maryland in 2000. Since then, he has been the veterinary epidemiologist at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, where he has conducted epidemiological research on both captive and free-ranging wildlife. Special interests are disease surveillance and risk assessment as applied to ecosystem health and conservation issues.
